PERMANENT COUNCIL OF THE
ORGANIZATION OF AMERICAN STATES
COMMITTEE ON HEMISPHERIC SECURITY |
OEA/Ser. G
CP/CSH-333/00
25 January 2001
Original: Spanish/English |
SPECIAL MEETING OF THE
COMMITTEE ON HEMISPHERIC SECURITY: “NEW APPROACHES TO HEMISPHERIC
SECURITY” [AG/RES. 1744 (XXX-O/00)]
RAPPORTEUR’S REPORT
I. INTRODUCTION
The Committee on
Hemispheric Security held the Special meeting to discuss new
approaches to hemispheric security, pursuant to mandates emanating
from the Second Summit of the Americas and endorsed by the OAS General
Assembly in AG/RES. 1566 (XXVIII-O/98), as follows:
Paragraph 15: “To instruct
the Permanent Council, working through the Committee on Hemispheric
Security, to:
a. Follow up on and expand
topics related to the strengthening of confidence-and
security-building measures;
b. Analyze the meaning,
scope, and implications of international security concepts in the
Hemisphere, with a view to developing the most appropriate common
approaches by which to manage their various aspects, including
disarmament and arms control; and
c. Identify ways to
revitalize and strengthen agencies of the inter-American system
related to the various aspects of hemispheric security.”
Paragraph 16: “To hold the
Special Conference on Security once the tasks envisaged in the
previous paragraph have been completed.”
These mandates have been
reiterated in subsequent General Assembly resolutions, and the
Committee has been instructed to hold special meetings to deal with
these issues, as is stated in the General Assembly resolution AG/RES.
1744 (XXX-O/00):
Paragraph 3: “To request
the Permanent Council to hold, through the Committee on hemispheric
Security, a special meeting with the participation of experts from
member states to continue discussing the most appropriate common
approaches with which to manage the various aspects of international
security in the Hemisphere.”
The Committee accordingly
held two such special meetings –one in April 1999 and one in March
2000, and decided to hold a third on November 13 and 14, 2000. The
Committee therefore prepared the draft Agenda (CP/CSH-321/00 rev. 2)
and government experts were invited to participate. The Chair also
prepared an Annotated Agenda (CP/CSH-328/00).
II. PROCEEDINGS
The opening session was
held from 3:15 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Monday, November 13th. The First
Vice-Chair of the Committee, Ambassador Luis Lauredo, Permanent
Representative of the United States was elected Rapporteur of the
special meeting.
The OAS Secretary General,
Dr. Cesar Gaviria, delivered a statement covering the wide range of
security-related issues confronting the Hemisphere and the work done
by the OAS and the Committee on Hemispheric Security to address these
in accordance with the General Assembly mandates.
The Committee Chair,
Ambassador Marcelo Ostria Trigo, Permanent Representative of Bolivia
to the OAS, explained the methodology to be followed in this meeting,
noting in particular the presence of the Chairman of the
Inter-American Defense Board (IADB), Major General Carl Freeman and
the representative of the Secretariat for Legal Affairs, Dr. Luis
Jimenez, to assist the Committee during these deliberations. The Chair
gave an overview of the topic, recalling the origin of the mandates to
be discussed during this meeting and offering some reflections on the
work entrusted to the Committee. In this context, the Chair noted that
the Committee has held two special meetings to date in furtherance of
these mandates –in April 1999 and March 2000 –and that in these
meetings Member States have put forward in general terms ideas with
respect to the new perceptions of security.
Ambassador Walter Pecly
Moreira, Permanent Representative of Brazil delivered a statement on
the topics discussed at the Fourth Conference of Defense Ministers of
the Americas, held in Manaus, Brazil in October 2000, making specific
reference to the recognition given during that Conference to the OAS
and the Committee on Hemispheric Security.
Also attending this
opening session were the Assistant Secretary General, Ambassador Luigi
Einaudi, and the Chairman of the Inter-American Defense Board, Major
General Carl Freeman.
The delegations of the
Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, El Salvador, Mexico and the United
States commented on the presentations and delivered general
statements. The delegation of Canada circulated a paper on aspects of
hemispheric security. The delegation of the United States also made
available two books related to confidence- and security-building
measures and world military expenditures and arms transfers. On the
following day, the position paper of the delegation of Brazil was also
circulated.
On November 14th, the
special meeting opened at 10:00 a.m. to consider the items on the
agenda:
1. Evaluation and
identification of ways to revitalize and strengthen the institutions
of the inter-American system involved in the various aspects of
security; and
2. Analysis of the most
appropriate common approaches used to address the various aspects of
international security in the Hemisphere.
The delegations of Antigua
and Barbuda, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia,
Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Jamaica, Mexico, United States, and
Venezuela made statements with respect to item two and also commented
on the following institutions and mechanisms: IADB, Inter-American
Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance (TIAR), the American Treaty of Pacific
Settlement of Disputes (Pact of Bogota), the Conference of Defense
Ministers of the Americas, the Charters of the OAS and the United
Nations, and the OAS itself, including the Committee on Hemispheric
Security. The delegation of Antigua and Barbuda also put forward a
proposal that the Inter-American Development Bank be included in this
discussion. A wide range of proposals were put forward with respect to
both agenda items.
The Chairman of the IADB
delivered a brief statement on the Board’s role in the new security
environment and suggested that it could be revitalized to make its
membership more inclusive and its functions more relevant to members’
needs. During the discussions that followed, Major General Freeman and
Dr. Jimenez responded to a number of questions from delegations.
Comments by delegations on
the IADB touched on membership, relevance and modernization.
Comments by delegations
with respect to the TIAR and the Pact of Bogota similarly addressed
their relevance and membership.
Comments by delegations
with respect to the OAS and the CSH touched on the authority and
capacity of these bodies to deal with the hemispheric security agenda.
The Committee considered
next steps, and decided to develop a questionnaire to solicit Member
States’ views on issues related to hemispheric security and the future
Special Conference on Security. The delegations of Brazil, Canada,
Mexico and the United States intervened on this point.
The Committee Chair
requested that delegations make available copies of their
interventions for the record of the meeting.
November 14, 2000
Ambassador Luis J. Lauredo Rapporteur