On 9 February, the UN Security Council addressed the impact of terrorism on international peace and security. In the Council, Switzerland strongly condemned all forms of terrorist activity. This is because terrorism – particularly the Islamic State and sympathising groups in Africa and Central Asia – poses a threat both to individuals and to international stability, peace and prosperity. Terrorism knows no borders or nationalities and is a challenge that the international community must address together. However, this fight against terrorism must be conducted with the rule of law and human rights and international humanitarian law must be respected.
Switzerland, too, has not been spared acts of terrorism. This shows that the terrorist threat has become more diffuse in recent decades, especially in Europe. It now usually emanates from individual radicalised persons.
Every terrorist threat has its own root causes and its own dynamics of radicalisation and violence. To address this threat at its core and to be preventive, solutions need to be adapted to the specific context in the state concerned, taking into account the different needs of society to prevent radicalisation and violent extremism that can lead to terrorism. Women and youth can play an important role in this. "The fight against terrorism can only be successful if we look at the situation as a whole, taking into account all the factors that lead to radicalisation and violence. Thus, we can only succeed if we abide by the rule of law", underlined Riccarda Chanda, Deputy Head of the Permanent Mission of Switzerland to the United Nations in New York, at the Security Council.
