1. INTER-AMERICAN JURIDICAL COMMITTEE

This Committee is one of the bodies through which the Organization of American States accomplishes its purposes (Art. 52 of the Charter). Its composition, powers and functions are defined in Chapter XV of the Charter. Its purpose is to serve the Organization as an advisory body on juridical matters; to promote the progressive development and the codification of international law, and to study juridical problems related to the integration of the developing countries of the Hemisphere. Its seat is in the city of Rio de Janeiro and it is composed of eleven jurists, nationals of member states, elected by the General Assembly.

In 1995 the Inter-American Juridical Committee held two sessions, the first in March in Washington, D.C., and the second in August at its headquarters in Rio de Janeiro. It also carried out the twenty-second Course in International Law, organized in collaboration with the Secretariat for Legal Affairs of the General Secretariat.

First regular session

The Committee's agenda included the following matters stemming from mandates of the General Assembly and the Permanent Council: the juridical dimension of integration and international trade, improvements in the administration of justice, democracy in the inter-American system, international cooperation against terrorism, international cooperation against corruption, the juridical aspects of the foreign debt, and the right to information. The Committee approved reports and adopted resolutions on those matters and on others relating to studies and papers to be considered in the next session.

In its resolution on "Democracy in the Inter-American System," the Juridical Committee stated the principles and standards followed by the Organization and its member states in relation to the real exercise of representative democracy, and decided to propose to the competent organs of the Organization the adoption of a variety of measures for making real progress in the development of international law on this subject. Regarding the juridical development of integration, and in particular the settlement of disputes in the different regional and subregional economic integration schemes, the Juridical Committee adopted a long series of conclusions based on a comparative study of those schemes. The Juridical Committee met often with the officials in charge of other organs of the Organization and with representatives of the member states and of other international institutions on a variety of matters it has under consideration.

Second regular session

In its second session the Committee considered in particular, as requested by the General Assembly, the preliminary project for the Inter-American Convention against Corruption drafted by the Chairman of the Working Group of the Permanent Council. In this session the Juridical Committee prepared an alternative draft for the Convention and an accompanying report and transmitted them to the Permanent Council for consideration.

Course on International Law

Together with the second session was held the XXII Course in International Law, organized by the Inter-American Juridical Committee with the cooperation of the General Secretariat through the Secretariat of Legal Affairs and of the Getulio Vargas Foundation. The course was attended by fellowship recipients from almost every OAS member country. The course was conducted by university professors, diplomats, members of the Committee and lawyers of the Secretariat of Legal Affairs, who spoke on the following aspects of international law, international relations, and the inter-American system: settlement of disputes in American regional integration schemes, the international protection of human rights, democracy in the inter-American system, the legal system of the European Union, the development of international law in the OAS, humanitarian intervention, privileges and immunities of the international organizations, application of international law in domestic legal systems, the law of the sea, terrorism, the international responsibility of states, the World Trade Organization. The students organized two working groups, one on means to the settlement of disputes and their application to regional economic integration schemes, and the second on the inter-American system for the protection of human rights.

2. INTER-AMERICAN COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS (IACHR)

An organ of the OAS (Art. 52 of the Charter), the IACHR was created by resolution VI of the Fifth Meeting of Consultation of Ministers of Foreign Affairs at Santiago, Chile, in 1959, and was formally constituted in 1960 with the approval of its Statute by the Council of the OAS.

The Commission represents all the states members of the Organization of American States. It consists of seven members, each elected in an individual capacity by the General Assembly.

In conformity with Article 111 of the Charter, its principal function is to promote the observance and defense of human rights, and to serve as a consultative organ of the Organization in these matters.

The Commission held two regular sessions: the 88th from 6 to 17 February, and the 90th from 11 to 22 September 1995. The 89th Special Session took place from 13 to 17 April 1995. The 91st regular session will be held from February 26 to March 8, 1996.

Regular sessions

The Commission elected its new officers: Chairman, Dr. Alvaro Tirado Mejía; First Vice Chairman, Professor Claudio Grossman; Second Vice Chairman, Ambassador John Donaldson. It considered and approved the report presented to the twenty-fifth regular session of the General Assembly. It approved a Special Report on the Status of Human Rights in Haiti, considered the status of human rights in several countries of the hemisphere, and continued its monitoring of the human rights situation in Cuba. The Commission considered and approved a preliminary draft of the Inter-American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and sent it out to the governments of the member states for observations and commentary. It also adopted a resolution agreeing with the conclusions and recommendations of the report of the Trujillo Commission, in Colombia.

The Commission welcomed the assurances given by the Government of Honduras that the compensation set by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in its judgements on the Velásquez Rodríguez and Godínez Cruz cases would be paid in full.

The Commission deplored the hostilities that had broken out between Ecuador and Peru, which ended with a cease-fire on February 14, 1995, reaffirmed by the Declaration of Peace of the 17th of that month, and expressed concern over the effects of the confrontation on the civilian population in the area of the border between the two countries.

Regarding its obligations within the case system, it was found that the claims being generated in the new situation of the hemisphere differ from those that arose amid the massive, systematic violations of human rights of the seventies. In a press release of February 21, 1995, the Commission explained that the new situation had generated a rising number of cases, in a situation that was made juridically more complex by the need to submit a larger number of them to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.

In its regular sessions the Commission heard statements by representatives of governments, of nongovernmental organizations, and of persons concerned with the observance and protection of human rights. It heard their testimony on the general situation of human rights and basic liberties in different countries and also on individual cases it was considering, and examined, studied and adopted several resolutions in those cases. The Commission issued a progress report on the prisons project and decided to reiterate to the member states that had not yet done so the request that they fill out the questionnaire on this subject. The Commission held a highly constructive dialogue with the Secretary General of the Organization on the strengthening, promotion and defense of human rights in the favorable atmosphere created in the hemisphere by the presence of democratic governments, and said it was important to remain in ongoing contact with the Secretary General.

Special session

In this working session the following subjects, among others, were considered: the future of the inter-American human rights system; the procedure in individual cases, and the presentation of the Annual Report of the Commission to the Committee on Juridical and Political Affairs of the Permanent Council. There was a meeting with a delegation from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, made up of its President, Vice President and Secretary, to discuss cooperation between the Court and the Commission. Consultations were held with Ambassador Edmundo Vargas Carreño, former Executive Secretary of the Commission, and Ambassador Sonia Picado, former Judge of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. The Commission participated together with the American University, in a conference on the inter-American system for the protection of human rights.

Other Activities

Visits were paid to Lompoc, California, and Leavenworth, Texas, from 3 to 5 May to determine the conditions under which the immigrants from Mariel, Cuba, were being held in those federal penitentiaries. The Commission also traveled to Brazil in December, and has scheduled a visit to Venezuela in the first half of 1996. The Commission made several presentations before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in relation to advisory opinions, cases in litigation, and requests for precautionary measures to protect the lives of victims and witnesses in cases pending before the Court.

3. INTER-AMERICAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS

Established by the American Convention on Human Rights, with its seat in San José, Costa Rica. An autonomous judicial institution of the OAS with the purpose of interpreting and applying that Convention. It exercises adjudicatory and advisory jurisdiction. It consists of seven judges elected in an individual capacity at the General Assembly of the Organization by the states parties to the Convention.

Members of the Court

The members of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights at its XVII Special and XXXII and XXXIII Regular Sessions were as follows: Héctor Fix Zamudio, President; Hernán Salgado Pesantes, Vice President; Alejandro Montiel Argüello, Máximo Pacheco Gómez, Oliver Jackman, Alirio Abreu Burelli, and Antônio A. Cançado Trindade. At the XVIII Special Session the members were Héctor Fix Zamudio, President; Hernán Salgado Pesantes, Vice President; and Rafael Nieto Navia, Alejandro Montiel Argüello, and Máximo Pacheco Gómez.

At the twenty-fifth regular session of the General Assembly of the OAS, El Salvador accepted the compulsory jurisdiction of the Court.

Activities of the Court

On April 12 some of the judges of the Court and several members of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights met in Washington, D.C., to comply with a request that the General Assembly had made in Resolution AG/Res. 1041 (XX-O/90). In that meeting they examined possible ways to reform the American Convention on Human Rights and matters relating to the cases in litigation before the Court, including presentations, documentary evidence and expert testimony, and precautionary and provisional measures, as well as the attendance of representatives of the Commission for the reading of judgments and advisory opinions of the Court. As a result of this meeting, the President of the Court and Chairman of the Commission sent a letter to the Chairman of the Permanent Council of the OAS advising that both bodies considered unnecessary for the moment to introduce any ammendments to the American Convention.

During the General Assembly of the OAS members of the Court and the Commission met again and coordinated the dates of the public hearings to be held by the Court in its next session.

In April ended the first project of cooperation between the Court and the European Union, called "Support to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights," in which the publications of the Court were brought up to date and the commemorative volume La Corte y el Sistema Interamericanos de Derechos Humanos was published; the Court's information processing system was upgraded, and the Library was enlarged by the purchase of books and 5-year subscriptions to periodicals. On April 24, on the occasion of the XXIV External Program of the Academy of International Law of The Hague, the government of The Netherlands donated to the Joint Library of the Court and the Inter-American Institute of Human Rights 246 volumes of the Recueil des Cours published by that Academy, and the volumes containing the Colloquia conducted by it.

Cases Submitted by the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights

On May 29 the Commission submitted to the Court the case of Garrido and Baigorria vs. Argentina. On June 1 the Commission presented a request for provisional measures in a case that had not yet been submitted to the Court, that of former Guatemalan presidential candidate Jorge Carpio Nicolle. On June 4 the President of the Court asked the Government of Guatemala to take without delay all necessary measures to effectively safeguard the life and personal integrity of the family members and other persons concerned in this case.

On August 3 the Commission submitted the case of Blake vs. Guatemala, and on September 16 the government raised three preliminary objections to the suit.

Sessions

In its XVII Special Session, held on May 17 and 18, 1995, the Court examined the presentation of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights of April 18 about several requests concerning interpretation of the Court's judgment on the El Amparo case. It decided not to pass on the matter at that time, and reserved the right to review and approve the agreement that might be arrived at among the parties; it heard and declared unwarranted requests for suspension of the proceeding on the merit of the cases Castillo Páez and Loayza Tamayo vs. Peru and of Paniagua Morales et al. vs. Guatemala, until resolution of the preliminary objections raised by the governments concerned, and decided to continue advancing these cases through their different procedural stages; it decided on the membership of the Court that would hear and decide on the merits of the case of Genie Lacayo vs. Nicaragua. It unanimously decided that it was competent with its present membership to determine the composition with which it would continue the Genie Lacayo case, and decided to continue considering its merits with the membership of the Court at the time when judgment was handed down on the preliminary objections.

On May 20 the Court called two public hearings on this case, the first on November 27 to hear arguments of the parties on the disqualification and objection to the appearance of several witnesses, and the second for November 28 to hear the statements of the witnesses proposed by the Commission and not disqualified or objected to. On May 18 it handed down a decision in which it deferred to February 1, 1996, the provisional measures ordered in the Colotenango case. On May 17 it swore in Judge Alirio Abreu Burelli (Venezuela), who took up his duties. It also administered the oath of office to Mr. Edgar Larraondo, appointed Judge ad hoc by the Government of Guatemala for the case of Paniagua Morales et al. The Permanent Commission of the Court, consisting of Judges Fix Zamudio, Salgado Pesantes, Montiel Argüello, and Pacheco Gómez, met on May 19 and 20.

The Court held its XXXII Regular Session from 11 to 23 September. On 16 and 23 September the Court held three public hearings in which it heard oral pleadings by the parties in the cases Paniagua Morales et al., Castillo Páez et al., and Loayza Tamayo. Judge Larraondo Salguero sat as Judge ad hoc for the case of Paniagua Morales et al. In this session the Court ratified the urgent measures taken by the President on August 16 in the Blake case; decided to open the proceeding for reparations and indemnifications in the El Amparo case, giving the Commission until November 3 to produce a written presentation and the available evidence, and the Government of Venezuela until January 2, 1996, to frame observations on the Commission's presentation; reviewed the status of compliance with the judgment for compensation and costs in the case of Aloeboetoe et al. vs. Suriname and asked the Commission for its observations on the matter; reviewed the status of execution by the Government of Suriname of the judgment on law in the case of Gangaram Panday, and asked that Government for updated information; reviewed the reports presented by Guatemala on the provisional measures in the Colotenango case and the observations of the Commission; held a public hearing in which it heard the oral pleadings of the parties on the request for provisional measures in the Carpio Nicolle case, decided to uphold and endorse the urgent measures taken by the President in that case; set a deadline of 6 months from the date of notification of the decision; it requested the Government of Guatemala to provide a monthly report and asked the Commission for its observations.

On September 19 the Court decided that all matters relating to the setting of compensation and indemnifications and to verification of execution of the judgments were the responsibility of the judges sitting on it when the judgments were made, unless a public hearing had already been held, in which case the responsibility would lie with the judges who had been present at that hearing.

The Court reelected Judges Héctor Fix Zamudio and Hernán Salgado Pesantes President and Vice President, respectively. The judges were advised of a fresh grant from the European Union, in the amount of 200,000 ECUS.

The Court held its XVIII Special Session from November 27 to December 8. On 27 and 28 November the Court held public hearings. The first day it heard pleadings by parties on the disqualification and objections to the appearance of witnesses by Nicaragua in the Genie Lacayo case, and on 28 November heard three witness statements on this case and denied the objections and disqualifications of the other witnesses. On December 8 judgment was handed down on the substance of the Caballero Delgado and Santana case. In a session on December 2 the Court rewrote Article 6.1 of its own Rules of Procedure. The Permanent Commission of the Court, consisting of Judges Fix Zamudio (President), Salgado Pesantes (Vice President), Montiel Argüello, Pacheco Gómez, and Cançado Trindade, in a meeting held that same day, decided matters relating to the program of work of the coming sessions of the Court.

The XXXIII Regular session was held from January 22 to February 3, 1996. The Court held public hearings on January 26, 27, 28, and February 1. On January 26 and February 2, public sessions were held for reading judgments. On January 26 the decision on preliminary objections in the case Paniagua Morales and others against Guatemala was read. On February 2, there was a reading of the judgment on the substance in the case Garrido y Baigorria against Argentina, and on preliminary objections in the Castillo Paez and Loayza Tamayo cases. The Court heard the allegations of the parties on reparation in the cases Neira Alegría and others against Peru, El Amparo against Venezuela, and Garrido and Baigorria against Argentina. It also received the preliminary objections presented by Guatemala in the Blake case. On February 1 the Court extended the provisional measures in the Colotenango and Carpio Nicolle cases for an additional six month period. As requested by the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights, the Court adopted a resolution on provisional measures relating to Nicaragua in the Alemán Lacayo case, under consideration by the Commission. During this session the Court administered the oath of office to Mr. Alfonso Novales Aguirre, who was appointed as an ad-hoc judge by Guatemala in the Blake case, and Mr. Julio A, Barberis, who was appointed as an ad-hoc judge by Argentina in the Garrido and Baigorri case. Ad-hoc judge Jorge Orihuela Iberico participated in the Neira Alegría and other cases; ad-hoc judge Edgard Larraondo Salguero participated in the Paniagua Morales case as well as in others.

4. INTER-AMERICAN DRUG ABUSE CONTROL COMMISSION (CICAD)

Established by the General Assembly in 1986, CICAD is in charge of developing, coordinating, evaluating, and implementing the Inter-American Program of Action of Rio de Janeiro against the Illicit Use and Production of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances and Traffic Therein. The Commission currently comprises 29 member states: Argentina, The Bahamas, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador (Vice Chair), El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama (Chair), Paraguay, Peru, Saint Lucia, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, United States, Uruguay, and Venezuela.

During 1995, the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD) worked on three main strategies.

Hemispheric Strategy to Combat Drug Trafficking in the 21st Century

As mandated by the member states, the Working Group responsible for formulating a draft for an "hemispheric strategy to combat drug trafficking in the 21st century" was installed in Washington, D.C. on November 22, 1995. The Working Group, chaired by Uruguay and comprising high-level representatives from the OAS member countries, began its evaluation and consideration of the basic document, with a view to presenting its first progress report to CICAD at its Nineteenth Regular Session in Quito, Ecuador, in March 1996.

Participation in the Preparatory Work and Follow-up of the Results of the Hemispheric Ministerial Conference on Money Laundering

The Executive Secretariat participated as an observer in the two working conferences in preparation for the Ministerial Conference of the Summit of the Americas on the laundering of criminal gains and instrumentalities, held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, November 30- December 2, 1995, and is about to start working on an ongoing evaluation of the implementation of the Plan of Action within the framework of the OAS, in compliance with the ministerial statement and the Plan of Action agreed to by the Ministerial Conference.

Implementation of the CICAD Plan of Action

Demand Reduction

CICAD placed high priority on professional training in education for drug abuse prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation, and methods of investigation. It has also provided regional support to national drug control commissions, ministries of education and health, and nongovernmental organizations, through human resource development, data sharing, research on materials, policy formulation, and project development. It placed special emphasis on programs designed for youth and other groups with a high risk of drug abuse, and on innovative or experimental pilot projects that can be adapted or replicated in other places.

During 1995, CICAD continued to carry out the following activities in this area:

With regard to project execution, the Andean regional program for the prevention of drug abuse by street children; epidemiological surveillance of drug use in Central America; youth and family encounters on drug abuse prevention; community mobilization in Central America (in conjunction with the Youth Integration Centers in Mexico); follow-up of the impact of drug abuse on women and the family; essay competition on drug prevention; and global drug abuse prevention program in Central America, Panama, and the Dominican Republic.

Human resource training activities included: seminars on prevention and treatment of drug addicts in the Caribbean; a master's course on addiction studies, Madrid, Spain; a certificate course on addictions, University of the West Indies, Caribbean; communication strategies for drug abuse prevention; seminar on epidemiology, Dominican Republic.

CICAD participated in the following missions and consultation: The second meeting of the international working group on epidemiology, sponsored by the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the United Nations International Drug Control Program (UNDCP) (Vienna, May 1995); evaluation of the Youth Encounter, Tarata, Bolivia; seminar on health communications in the Caribbean, sponsored by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) (Bahamas, June 1995); the third OAS-UN coordination meeting (New York, April 1995). It also served as a technical advisor for a training course for street educators in Rio de Janeiro, sponsored by the World Federation of Therapeutic Communities (WFTC) and local institutions working with high-risk youth (March 1995).

Legal Development

In accordance with the Inter-American Program of Action of Rio de Janeiro, CICAD has taken action to increase the legal and operational capacity of governments of the member countries to work at the national level to coordinate judicial, police, and customs procedures related to drug trafficking and to promote regional cooperation in the judicial, police, and customs areas with respect to drug trafficking. The following activities were carried out in 1995 in this connection:

In the area of project execution:

Detailed analytical study of the legal and administrative context of drug abuse control measures in each of the seven Central American countries, through the Center for Legal Development and Cooperation in Central America, in conjunction with UNDCP, the Latin American Institute for the Prevention of Crime and Treatment of Offenders (ILANUD), and the Central American Permanent Drug Control Commission (CCP). Development of a draft model agreement on control of chemical precursors with the European Commission, which fully reflects the key points identified by the CICAD group of experts on the control of precursors at its February 1995 meeting. Survey to determine the status of legislation on the control of precursors and other existing control measures in the member states. Update of the survey on the status of measures to control money laundering in the member states. Survey of measures to facilitate investigations of drug and related offenses.

With regard to human resource training: a seminar was held in Barbados in April 1995, in conjunction with the OAS Port and Harbor Conference for the Caribbean countries; two follow-up conferences for other regions are to be held. In Santiago, Chile, in early December 1995, CICAD held a training seminar on control measures, in cooperation with the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB), for officials responsible for the movement, sale, and elimination of controlled substances, chemical precursors, substances, machines, and materials. In conjunction with the Government of France and with UNDCP participation, a seminar was held in Martinique, France, on money laundering control techniques. During 1995, two police training programs on drug control were held for the Central American police forces, in addition to the seventh RCMP/CICAD training course.

Alternative Development

CICAD is taking action to enable the OAS member states to combat the illicit production and distribution of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances by providing substitutes for illegal crops used to produce narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, where conditions permit and the predominant socioeconomic conditions of the crop-growing areas so warrant. This should be done by means of biologically and ecologically sound methods for eradicating crops that are illegal—under each state's legislation and from which narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances can be extracted. The following work was done in this area:

Continued efforts were made to enable the Working Group on Alternative Development to complete the drafting of the Inter-American Plan on Alternative Development, which should be presented to the member states during the nineteenth regular session, to be held in Quito, Ecuador, in March 1996. Between March and October 1995, the Working Group conferred with a number of international organizations involved in alternative development programs. Particularly noteworthy was the Group's statement at the annual meeting of the Dublin Group, Washington, D.C., May 30-31, 1995, intended to mobilize possible donors and obtain their backing for the alternative development projects in OAS member states.

In October 1995, the Executive Secretariat was invited by the World Bank, for the first time, to participate in the meeting of a consultative group (on Peru, this time), to explore the possibility of converting debt for development purposes. The CICAD Executive Secretariat, within the framework of the institutional cooperation agreement signed with the IDB at the beginning of the year, contacted the Bank to determine action to be taken jointly to control drug abuse.

Strengthening of the National Drug Control Commissions

CICAD was instructed by the member states to take steps to support the National Drug Control Commissions (or similar agencies) in formulating, organizing, and coordinating national drug abuse control programs. During 1995, activities in this area were concentrated on the design of the "Inter-American Telecommunications System for Drug Control," which is intended to link up the national commissions and to connect them with national and international drug control agencies. Project implementation began on November 1, 1995, and should be completed within 24 months.

Inter-American Drug Information System (IADIS)

The purpose of this system is to strengthen the member states' capability to combat illegal drugs by means of cooperation and mutual assistance in the field of information, in both documentary and statistical form. The Inter-American Program of Action of Rio de Janeiro established the two components of IADIS: i) the Inter-American Drug Documentation and Information Center (IADIC); and ii) the Inter-American Data Bank (IADB). IADIS has a network of 34 centers located in 19 member states for processing and disseminating information at the regional level. IADIS activities in 1995 were as follows:

A first telecommunications and multimedia course to facilitate hook-ups and the use of international telecommunications structures by IADIS member centers. It was held in Mexico, July 17-25, 1995, with the cooperation of the University of Colima, and was directed at computer experts from each IADIS member country. It covered technical areas, such as local area networks, the UNIX operating system, telecommunications program protocols, and installation of Internet services and multimedia equipment. Each participant in the course would then carry this knowledge back to IADIS centers that had not participated in the course in Mexico. The continuing development of two legislative databases for the IADIS bibliographic/electronic model. In August 1995, the CICAD Executive Secretariat and an expert from ILANUD made a formal presentation on the structure and capabilities of IADIS legislative databases to the Latin American Parliament committee to prevent and combat drug trafficking. The committee adopted a resolution that commits the Parliament to cooperate with CICAD and IADIS in the development and use of IADIS database formats for codifying legislation in the national congresses of its member states, and compiling and processing the drug laws of those countries. It also committed the Parliament to using those formats in computerizing its own legislation. A CD-ROM was produced and distributed containing references to 29 centers in the Hemisphere with information on more than 48,200 bibliographical and audiovisual documents from 147 institutions. The CD-ROM also contained the complete texts, in four languages, of the main international and regional treaties signed in relation to drugs since 1900. The production of this CD-ROM gives users direct computer access to drug-related data from a number of countries in the Hemisphere. A joint database was developed on institutions working in drug-related areas in the member states. All the participating centers were requested to conduct surveys in their own countries, process the information, and send it to IADIS to be included in this data base, which will become the key information tool for governments and NGOs in their drug control activities. The prototype of a computerized database on current projects and ongoing research in member states on the problem of illegal drugs was developed.

Inter-American Drug Documentation and Information Center (IADIC)

The database containing the documents from the regular sessions of CICAD (I-XVII, inclusive) was updated and other types of materials in CICAD files continued to be processed. An initial, selective bibliography containing reference material on press clippings related to drug trafficking, money laundering, and corruption was compiled and distributed. During the period covered by this report, IADIC saw an increase in its user services, with a 40-percent rise in the number of queries (up to 285 from 200) in comparison with the same period of last year.

Inter-American Data Bank

The activities carried out through its four projects were as follows: Statistics on supply (drug control): Second seminar to evaluate computer programs to compile statistical data on drug control; direct technical assistance to member states in applying the uniform statistics system; and initial preparation of a database on chemical precursors and substances. Statistics on demand (drug use): First technical meeting to study standards for statistics on drug demand which examined the questionnaires and methodologies to be used in obtaining uniform statistical data on drug use. Publications: CICAD's third statistical summary was published. It includes statistical time series for the past five years (1990-94) by country and an overall summary by region. It also includes additional statistics, a quantitative analysis, and some conclusions. Human resource training: The first statistical seminar on evaluation of the impact of policies on demand reduction was held in the Dominican Republic. The second of these seminars was held in Chile in May 1995.

5. INTER-AMERICAN TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (CITEL)

Established by the General Assembly in 1993, CITEL enjoys technical autonomy in the performance of its functions, within the limits prescribed by the OAS Charter, its Statute, and the mandates of the General Assembly. Its objectives include facilitating and promoting the continuous development of telecommunications in the Hemisphere. It serves as the Organization's principal advisory body on matters related to telecommunications.

The Commission represents all the member states. It has a Permanent Executive Committee consisting of 11 members and three permanent consultative committees, whose members are all OAS states. The committees have 78 associate members that represent various private telecommunications agencies or companies located in 10 countries of the Hemisphere. The Chair of the Permanent Executive Committee is Dr. Juan de la Cruz Silveira Zavala (Uruguay) and its Vice Chair is engineer Adolfo Loza Argüello (Ecuador).

The Permanent Executive Committee of CITEL, COM/CITEL, took into account the Declaration of Montrouis: A New Vision of the OAS and the Plan of Action of the Summit of the Americas in reorienting its work programs based on the mandates received from the General Assembly and the directives of the Summit of the Americas.

Permanent Executive Committee

COM/CITEL held its second meeting in December 1994 in Montevideo, Uruguay, with the main objective of realigning CITEL's Strategic Plan with the mandates of the OAS and the outcome of the recent Summit. As a result, it established the Working Group on Telecommunications Development as the coordinating body within CITEL and with other international and regional telecommunications organizations. It prepared a number of measures and established new priorities for the work programs of the permanent consultative committees. It approved an Inter-American Convention on an International Amateur Radio Permit, which was then approved by the OAS General Assembly. It authorized the Executive Secretariat to invite 13 international and regional telecommunications organizations to participate in CITEL's work.

Permanent Consultative Committee I: Public Telecommunications Services

The Committee met in late February 1995 in Honduras and in September in Washington. It set up four new working groups (i) alternative calling procedure; (ii) beginning of discussions on certification processes and drafting of the Yellow Book on certification; (iii) value-added services; and (iv) modernization of networks and new services.

The Working Group on Legal Affairs worked on: (i) coordination with the International Division of the American Bar Association and the Inter-American Bar Association; (ii) terms of reference for future work based on the Plan of Action; and (iii) a work plan with the International Telecommunication Union to complete the revision of the Blue Book on inter-American telecommunications policies.

The Committee completed preparation of three documents on coordination of standards: (i) wireless services and personal communications; (ii) signaling system No. 7; and (iii) digital network of integrated narrow-band services. These standards will help all member states in the future to join the World Information Infrastructure more easily and at a lower cost.

Permanent Consultative Committee III: Radiocommunications

The Committee held two meetings in 1995, the first in March in Venezuela and the second in Mexico in September. It worked towards establishing common positions among member states with a view to the World Radiocommunications Conference (Geneva, Switzerland, October). To that end it set up working groups to study the following areas: (i) study of mobile satellites above 1 GHz; (ii) continuation of the work on very small aperture terminals (VSAT); (iii) amateur radio issues; (iv) global maritime distress and safety system; and (v) legal issues involved in the various aspects of telecommunications provisions and standards. Coordination mechanisms were established with Permanent Consultative Committee I on standards, procedures for certification of equipment, and interoperability of networks to prevent overlapping and for holding the conference of high-level telecommunications officials in 1996.

At the Mexico meeting, the Committee: (i) established recommendations on the principles and guidelines for a process of reassignment of service stations set in the 1850-1990 MHz band and to accommodate personal communications services; (ii) it recommended that, in the Americas, the 1850-1990 MHz band be assigned to the operation of personal communications systems; (iii) it submitted its observations on the introduction of mobile services via satellite in the 2 GHz bands.

Regarding the preparation of the World Radiocommunications Conference held in October 1995 in Geneva, Switzerland, conclusions were reached on whether the values of the Radiocommunications Regulations were adequate, on the capabilities of hook-ups to mobile services operated by non-geostationary satellites below 1GHz, and on interim procedures for the presentation of joint documents to world radiocommunications conferences. A seminar was also held on mobile satellite services with presentations on the most advanced systems using this technology and the regulatory aspects associated with the introduction of these services.

CITEL Executive Secretariat

In order to promote coordination between CITEL and other telecommunications agencies, the Executive Secretariat participated, with the COM/CITEL Coordination Group, in a meeting to harmonize telecommunications activities held in Geneva, with the Secretary- General of the International Telecommunication Union and his immediate staff. It also participated in coordination meetings with the Pacific Telecommunications Council (PTC), the Caribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU), the International Amateur Radio Union Region 2 (IARU 2), and the American Radio League (ARRL).Cooperation agreements are being promoted between CITEL and the Hispano-American Association of Centers of Telecommunications Research and Enterprises (AHCIET) and with the International Maritime Satellite Organization (Inmarsat).

Table of Content