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CHILE, GRENADA AND PARAGUAY RATIFY OAS TREATIES

  January 17, 2002

The governments of Chile, Grenada and Paraguay today reaffirmed their commitment to the inter-American system by ratifying a series of Organization of American States (OAS) conventions on the fight against corruption, terrorism and arms trafficking. Other treaties ratified at OAS Headquarters today relate to conflict of laws concerning the adoption of minors and mutual assistance in criminal matters.

Grenada's Ambassador to the OAS Denis Antoine deposited instruments ratifying the Inter-American Convention against Corruption, the Convention against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms and the Convention to Prevent and Punish Acts of Terrorism. The Grenadian diplomat also deposited instruments whereby his government ratified the Inter-American Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters.

Ambassador Diego Abente Brun of Paraguay, meanwhile, signed the Inter-American Convention to Prevent and Punish Acts of Terrorism. This treaty was adopted in Washington in 1971 and so far has 14 countries that have ratified.

And, Chile's Ambassador to the OAS, Esteban Tomic, deposited his government's ratification instruments pertaining to the Inter-American Convention on Conflict of Laws Concerning the Adoption of Minors, which was adopted in Bolivia in 1984. To date, six countries have ratified.

The anti-corruption treaty was adopted in Caracas, Venezuela, in 1996 and has been ratified by 24 states. The hemispheric convention on illegal firearms manufacturing and trafficking was adopted in 1997 and has been ratified by 15 OAS member states.

Adopted in Nassau, The Bahamas, in 1992, the Inter-American Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters has so far been ratified by five countries.

Reference: E-013/02