India challenged a UN report describing Dawood Ibrahim’s D-Company as an “India-based” criminal group.
New Delhi said Ibrahim had fled India before his 2003 UN listing over links to Al-Qaeda.
India warned that factual inaccuracies in reports by UN special rapporteurs undermine the organisation’s credibility.
India has strongly rejected a UN special rapporteur's description of Dawood Ibrahim-led D-Company as an "India-based" criminal group and warned that such inaccuracies damage the United Nations' credibility. India Today reported, citing PTI, that India called the report's wording factually flawed.
The rebuttal came after a report by UN Special Rapporteur Ben Saul referred to the Security Council's 2003 listing of the leader of "the India-based D-Company" over his association with Al-Qaeda. India challenged that phrasing and argued that Dawood Ibrahim had fled the country well before the UN listing.
India also warned that repeated factual errors by UN mandate holders weaken the organisation at a time when its legitimacy is already under strain. The dispute turns on how the report described D-Company, Ibrahim's wanted status in India since 1993 and the basis of his listing under the UN Security Council's 1267 sanctions regime against Al-Qaeda.
UN Committee Rebuttal
Raghoo Puri led the rebuttal. Puri, First Secretary in India's Permanent Mission to the UN, issued the response in the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly on Wednesday. He was addressing a report by Ben Saul, the Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms while Countering Terrorism.
"My delegation has been pointing out in other forums as well our serious concern at the unacceptable situation of the SR releasing reports with factual inaccuracies, while not being held accountable for them," Puri told PTI. He added that this presented member states with a fait accompli and was unfortunate for an organisation already facing challenges to its legitimacy.
"It is in this context that we would like to point out some particularly glaring inaccuracies as far as my country is concerned," Puri said.
D-Company Listing Dispute
The dispute centres on one line. Puri pointed to Saul's report, which said the Security Council had in 2003 listed the leader of "the India-based D-Company" over his association with Al-Qaeda. India rejected that description and argued that the line, if read without context, distorted the record.
"Read in isolation, this line paints a very different picture from the actual reality," Puri said.
He said the criminal organisation and its listed leader, Dawood Ibrahim, had been wanted in India in connection with terror attacks since 1993. Puri added that this was clearly stated in the summary explaining the reasons for Ibrahim's listing under the UN Security Council's 1267 sanctions regime against Al-Qaeda.
"Not mentioning this fact is regrettable, and such incompetence on part of special mandate holders does this organisation tremendous harm," he said.
Fleeing India Before Listing
"Let me correct it for the record. This individual fled India much before the 2003 listing, and it was during this period from outside our country that he was listed for being associated with Al Qaeda and with Osama bin Laden," Puri said.
He said Ibrahim remained a wanted criminal in India. Puri added that, according to the UN listing, Ibrahim was in the same country where Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was found and killed, a clear reference to Pakistan.
That reference pointed to Abbottabad. Bin Laden was killed by US Navy SEALs during a raid in Abbottabad, Pakistan, in 2011.
India's response centred on two points, its rejection of the description of D-Company as India-based and its assertion that Ibrahim had left India before his 2003 UN listing for links to Al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden.
