THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY,

HAVING SEEN the report of the Permanent Council on hemispheric cooperation to prevent, combat, and eliminate terrorism (AG/doc.3490/97 corr. 2);

RECALLING resolution AG/RES. 1399 (XXVI-O/96), which requested the Permanent Council to consider convening a meeting of government experts to examine ways to improve the exchange of information and other measures for cooperation among the member states to prevent, combat, and eliminate terrorism;

TAKING ACCOUNT of the Declaration and the Plan of Action on Hemispheric Cooperation to Prevent, Combat, and Eliminate Terrorism, adopted at the Inter-American Specialized Conference on Terrorism, held in Lima in 1996;

BEARING IN MIND:

That, through resolution CP/RES. 700 (1108/97), the Permanent Council convened that meeting of government experts and adopted its agenda; and

That the meeting of government experts was held in Washington, D.C., on May 5 and 6, 1997; and

CONSIDERING that among the measures recommended in the Plan of Action on Hemispheric Cooperation to Prevent, Combat, and Eliminate Terrorism is the follow-up, within the framework of the OAS, of progress made in implementing that Plan of Action, promotion of "the prompt signing and ratification of and/or accession to international conventions related to terrorism, in accordance with their domestic laws," and initiation of a study "within the framework of the OAS and on the basis of an evaluation of existing international instruments, [on] the need for and advisability of a new inter- American convention on terrorism,"

RESOLVES:

1. To reiterate the importance of the Declaration and the Plan of Action on Hemispheric Cooperation to Prevent, Combat, and Eliminate Terrorism, adopted at the Inter-American Specialized Conference on Terrorism, held in Lima in 1996.

2. To reiterate, further, that the observance of international law, full respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, respect for the sovereignty of states, the principle of nonintervention, and strict observance of the rights and duties of states embodied in the Charter of the Organization of American States constitute the global framework for preventing, combating, and eliminating terrorism.

3. To reiterate as well its strongest condemnation of all forms of terrorism, by whomever and however they are perpetuated, and to repudiate these acts, which have serious consequences and which, as pointed out in the Plan of Action of the Summit of the Americas, "constitute a systematic and deliberate violation of the rights of individuals."

4. To take note of the Report of the Permanent Council on Hemispheric Cooperation to Prevent, Combat, and Eliminate Terrorism and, in particular, to express its satisfaction with the results of the Meeting of Government Experts to Examine Ways to Improve the Exchange of Information and Other Measures for Cooperation among the Member States in order to Prevent, Combat, and Eliminate Terrorism.

5. To instruct the Permanent Council to study the recommendations and proposals made at the Meeting of Government Experts and, particularly, the proposal on the establishment of a "directory of competencies," aimed at improving cooperation among member states in order to prevent, combat, and eliminate terrorism.

6. To instruct the Permanent Council to continue considering appropriate means and mechanisms for follow-up of the measures recommended in the Plan of Action on Hemispheric Cooperation to Prevent, Combat, and Eliminate Terrorism and to submit a report on progress and results achieved to the General Assembly at its next regular session.

7. To urge member states that have not yet done so to sign, ratify, and/or accede to, in accordance with their domestic laws, the international conventions related to terrorism referred to in United Nations General Assembly resolution A/RES/51/210.

8. To instruct the Inter-American Juridical Committee to continue its study of the topic "Inter-American Cooperation to Confront Terrorism" in light of the documents adopted at the Inter- American Specialized Conference on Terrorism.

Documents of the OAS