United against Terrorism

"The OAS plays an integral part in the worldwide effort involving the United Nations, regional organizations and individual states collaborating in what will be a long war against a difficult, highly mobile and transnational enemy."

U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft, speaking at meeting of the Inter-American Committee against Terrorism (January 28, 2002)  

On the morning of September 11, 2001, 34 foreign ministers from around the Americas were meeting in Lima, Peru, to reaffirm their commitment to representative democracy.
What was to have been a celebration—the adoption of the Inter-American Democratic Charter—became an occasion for somber resolve, as participants in the special session of the OAS General Assembly learned of events unfolding in the United States.  

The General Assembly immediately “condemned in the strongest terms, the terrorist acts visited upon the cities of New York and Washington, D.C.” The 34 countries reiterated the “need to strengthen hemispheric cooperation to combat this scourge that has thrown the world and the hemispheric community intomourning” and expressed “full solidarity” with the government and people of the United States.  

Before he returned to Washington to help manage the crisis, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell joined his colleagues in adopting the Democratic Charter, underscoring its particular urgency in light of the attacks. “They can destroy buildings, they can kill people, and we will be saddened, but they will never be allowed to kill the spirit of democracy,” Powell said. 

Since the events of that day, the nations of the Americas have stepped up efforts against terrorism. On September 21, the foreign ministers reconvened at OAS headquarters in Washington for a Meeting of Consultation, which under the OAS founding charter may be held “to consider problems of an urgent nature and of common interest to the American States.” It was the first time in more than a decade that this type of meeting had been called. 

In a resolution adopted by acclamation, the foreign ministers condemned the attacks and called on the OAS member states to “take effective measures to deny terrorist groups the ability to operate within their territories.” They called on countries to work together to pursue those responsible for the attacks and bring them to justice, strengthening cooperation in such areas as extradition, mutual legal assistance and information exchange. They also directed the OAS Permanent Council to begin drafting a hemispheric anti-terrorism treaty and to convene a meeting of the Inter-American Committee against Terrorism (known by its Spanish acronym, CICTE). 

In a separate Meeting of Consultation that immediately followed, the foreign ministers invoked the 1947 Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance (the Rio Treaty) in declaring that “these terrorist attacks against the United States of America are attacks against all American states.” In their resolution, the 22 countries that subscribe to the Rio Treaty agreed to “provide effective reciprocal assistance to address such attacks and the threat of any similar attacks against any American state, and to maintain the peace and security of the continent.” These countries “shall use all legally available measures to pursue, capture, extradite, and punish” anyone in their territories believed to be involved in terrorist activities, and “shall render additional assistance and support to the United States and to each other, as appropriate to address the September 11 attacks, and also to prevent future terrorist acts,” the resolution states.  

In the months since the attacks, the Inter-American Committee against Terrorism has held two high-level meetings. At the most recent of these, which took place January 28-29, government ministers and experts in terrorism from around the hemisphere adopted recommendations encouraging OAS member countries to strengthen border and financial controls. "Our challenge is to maintain the political will to make the fight against terrorism a top hemispheric priority -- beyond the emotional level, which is sometimes volatile and transitory," OAS Secretary General César Gaviria told the meeting.   

The OAS member countries are in the process of negotiating a comprehensive hemispheric treaty against terrorism. This is expected to be a priority topic when the ministers of foreign affairs gather for the next regular session of the OAS General Assembly, scheduled for June 2002 in Barbados. The General Assembly will also consider how to strengthen the role of the Inter-American Committee against Terrorism. 

The countries of the region are also concerned about the social and economic impact of the September 11 terrorist attacks, particularly in smaller countries. The OAS Permanent Council held a special session in October to address this issue and the OAS Tourism Unit has since developed a number of projects designed to help strengthen the Caribbean tourism sector.  

Terrorism Not a New Problem 

The events of September 11 were not the first terrorist attacks perpetrated in a country of the Americas. In 1992, for example, bombs exploded at the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires, killing 22 people; two years later, 86 people died in the bombing of the Argentine Israeli Mutual Association building. Six people were killed by a bomb explosion in the parking garage of the World Trade Center in 1993. In 1996, the Japanese Embassy in Peru was seized by rebels who held 72 dignitaries for more than four months. Today, countries such as Colombia face terrorism—including kidnappings and car bombings—as an everyday reality. 

In 1996 the countries of the Americas outlined an anti-terrorism action plan at the first Inter-American Specialized Conference on Terrorism, held in Lima. A follow-up conference, held in November 1998 in Mar del Plata, Argentina, created the framework for the Inter-American Committee against Terrorism. The OAS General Assembly formally established that entity in June 1999 in Guatemala and CICTE held its first meeting in October of that year in Miami.

 The line between terrorism and other types of crimes is not always clear, but terrorist acts do have certain things in common, including motivations that may transcend the crime itself. The Declaration of Lima to Prevent, Combat and Eliminate Terrorism calls terrorism a “serious form of organized and systematic violence, which is intended to generate chaos and fear among the population, results in death and destruction and is a reprehensible criminal activity.” The 1998 Commitment of Mar del Plata calls terrorist acts “serious common crimes that erode peaceful and civilized coexistence, affect the rule of law and the exercise of democracy, and endanger the stability of democratically elected constitutional governments and the socio-economic
development of our countries.” 

Last updated:  February 2002