UN Secretary-General António Guterres paid tribute to the victims, survivors and first responders of the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks in a statement marking the anniversary. More than 30 UN independent experts separately urged States to review counter-terrorism laws and practices for compliance with international human rights, humanitarian and refugee law.
Guterres remembered the nearly 3,000 victims from the United States and more than 90 other countries and expressed solidarity with their families and loved ones. He said the United Nations continued to stand with New York City, the United States and everyone whose life was affected by the attacks on the World Trade Center and other targets.
The Secretary-General also noted that 2026 marks 20 years since Member States adopted the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy. He described the fight against terrorism as a shared and unfinished task and called for renewed commitment to a future free from terrorism.
The independent experts, who are appointed by the UN Human Rights Council but are not UN staff and receive no salary for their work, also paid tribute to victims of terrorism. They said that some responses adopted after the attacks were unnecessary and disproportionate, seriously undermining rights, civil society, civic space, democracy and the rule of law. According to the experts, monitoring over the past 25 years has identified grave violations of international law carried out in the name of countering terrorism, including wars of aggression, unlawful occupations, war crimes and crimes against humanity, as well as plausible allegations of genocide.
The experts also cited assassinations presented as targeted killings, torture characterized as interrogation, secret detention, enforced disappearances, unfair military trials and special courts. Their statement specifically included the US-operated Guantanamo Bay facilities among the examples requiring scrutiny and called on States to bring their laws and practices into line with their international legal obligations.
At UN Headquarters on 11 September 2001, the annual Peace Bell ceremony was cancelled as staff evacuated amid reports that another aircraft might be targeting the United Nations. Then-Secretary-General Kofi Annan remained at his nearby residence. UN staff members later recalled panic inside the building, followed in the ensuing days by unusual unity across the organization, including within the Security Council, as the attacks began reshaping global security policy and the UN’s work.