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OAS MEETING HAILS ANTI-TERRORISM TREATY’S ENTRY INTO FORCE

Top counter-terrorism experts from around the Americas opened a meeting at the Organization of American States in Washington this morning, hailing the Inter-American Convention against Terrorism that entered into force on July 10, thirty days after Nicaragua deposited the required sixth ratification. The Convention was adopted in June 2002 at the OAS General Assembly in Barbados.

Inaugurating the two-day meeting of the Inter-American Committee against Terrorism (CICTE) national points of contact, OAS Assistant Secretary General Luigi Einaudi urged the remaining member states to ratify as soon as possible the treaty he called “the product of our collective determination not to allow terrorists and their supporters to threaten our construction of democratic societies.

“We can and must do more to cooperate regionally, drawing on our special experiences to forge common practices and to play our part in world-wide efforts against threats to the peace ” said Einaudi as he praised the lead taken by the six states that have already ratified the treaty: Antigua and Barbuda, Canada, El Salvador, Mexico, Nicaragua and Peru. “Surely, the spectrum of legal systems, geographic location and national interests represented by these six leaders conveys a message of extraordinary unity and common purpose.”

In her opening remarks as CICTE Chair, El Salvador’s Minister of Foreign Affairs María Eugenia Brizuela de Ávila noted how significant it is that this first meeting of the CICTE national contact persons should coincide with the Convention’s entry into force. “This is an important symbol of what the states parties have been trying to do individually and collectively to prevent and combat all forms of terrorism.”

The Salvadorian Foreign Minister recalled the dynamic of negotiating the Convention in a record nine months, and noted comprehensive strategy and operational mechanisms the member states had developed, based on the Convention and CICTE as their two pillars. She described the development of this hemispheric network of national points of contact as a key component of CICTE’s work plan.

She also stressed the shared conviction about the need to pursue the war on terrorism without in any way compromising domestic laws, international law, human rights or democratic institutions.

For his part, Permanent Council Chairman Ambassador Raymond Valcin, Haiti’s Permanent Representative to the OAS, drew attention to how the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States expedited the drafting and final adoption of the hemispheric anti-terrorism Convention. He said September 11 events “literally forced the Hemisphere to radically change how it perceived the need for cooperation to fight terrorism.”

He identified three salient features setting this Convention apart from previous instruments: its global scope beyond the inter-American system; its renewed emphasis on financial and related issues; and its emphasis on the need for strict observance of human rights in pursuing terrorism.

Representatives of the six ratifying member states as well as several others also addressed the opening session.

The delegates are considering among other agenda items, the role of national points of contact in the OAS counter-terrorism strategy, the CICTE work plan, development and implementation of self-evaluation checklists, training programs, and the possible role of national legislators in combating terrorism.

Reference: E-130/03