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OAS Joins World Economic Forum Cyber Security Initiative
As part of its ongoing efforts to enhance cyber security in the Western Hemisphere, the Organization of American States (OAS) General Secretariat formally joined the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Partnering for Cyber Resilience Initiative on September 10, 2012.
The OAS Secretary General, Jose Miguel Insulza, said “joining the WEF’s Partnering for Cyber Resilience is another demonstration of our organization’s commitment to promoting cyber security, not just in the region, but worldwide,” and called on other governments and organizations to join this important initiative. Secretary Insulza added that, “recognizing the value that new technologies have for development and security, the OAS is making great efforts to contribute to their promotion and to stimulate public-private interaction in issues as delicate and relevant as cyber security.”
In formally signaling its commitment to the principles and guidelines underlying the Partnering for Cyber Resilience Initiative, the OAS joins numerous other regional and international leaders in cyber security, including ICANN, Lockheed Martin, Visa, HSBC, Grupo Prisa, numerous other banks and financial institutions, and public entities including the governments of Colombia and Japan. Read more...
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Aviation Security
CICTE Builds Capacity of Aviation Security Experts in Member States
CICTE in conjunction with the Maritime Administration which has civil aviation security oversight responsibilities in St. Vincent and the Grenadines hosted a training course in Air Cargo Interdiction from September 10-14, 2012 for 22 officials from Customs and Excise Department, Royal SVG Police Force, ET Joshua Airport, Civil Aviation, Passport and Immigration, DHL, and LIAT Cargo. The course was led by two experts from the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) who assisted officials from the various participating agencies in improving the necessary skills to find and intercept contraband being smuggled into the country through aircraft and cargo. This course was timely as St. Vincent and the Grenadines is preparing for their new airport which is expected to bring a larger number of international flights and types of aircrafts and as such, the necessary skills in interdiction and search techniques of the aircraft must already be in place. The course heightened participants’ awareness of commonalities such as internal conspiracies that could lead to contraband being brought into or out of the country as well as methods of concealment within aircraft and air cargo. Participants had the opportunity to conduct live searches on flights operating in and out of St. Vincent provided by LIAT Airlines and FedEx in order to practice their skills.
CICTE also awarded 11 scholarships to Member States in Central and South America to facilitate the participation of aviation security experts/instructors in the Basic Instructors Course held by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) in Quito, Ecuador from September 18-26, 2012. Participants were trained in the knowledge necessary to develop and deliver aviation security courses with the expectation that they would continue to deliver courses nationally and if given the opportunity, on behalf of ICAO in the region. Scholarship recipients hailed from Bolivia, Colombia, Peru, Dominican Republic, Nicaragua (2), Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, Panama and Costa Rica.
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Document Security and Fraud Prevention
CICTE Provides Training in The Bahamas on Border Controls
In its ongoing efforts to strengthen border security in Member States, the Organization of American States (OAS) through its CICTE Secretariat, held a training course on the detection of fraudulent travel documents and imposters on September 17-21, 2012 in Nassau, Bahamas. The five-day workshop, carried out in collaboration with the Government of Bahamas, was attended by 26 participants from that Caribbean nation. These officials were drawn from migration, law enforcement, customs, and other related authorities responsible for border control and the examination of travel and other identity documents. Experts from the Homeland Security Investigations Forensic Laboratory (HSI-FL) of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) provided the technical instruction. The primary objective of the course was to enhance the capacity of the participating officials to prevent and detect the use of altered or fraudulent travel and other identity documents. This activity, which is part of the Secretariat’s Program on Document Security and Fraud Prevention, was funded by the United States government.
 Border Control Officials from Caribbean Nations Strengthen Document Security Skills
Antigua and Barbuda hosted officials from six Caribbean nations in a counterterrorism workshop aimed at bolstering security efforts in the region. The Sub-Regional Workshop on Capacity Building on Travel Document Security and Identification Management was held September 5-7,2012, under a joint Organization of American States (OAS) and International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) initiative. This was the third Workshop in a series of six to be held over a three-year period (2012 to 2014) as part of the OAS/CICTE and ICAO Capacity Building on Travel Document Security and Identity Management Project. Preparations are underway for the next scheduled Workshop to take place in Trinidad and Tobago from December 5-7, 2012.
The three-day Workshop was officially opened by the Minister of National Security of Antigua and Barbuda, Senator L. Errol Cort, and welcoming remarks were delivered by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of National Security and Labour, Zane Sharon Peters. Chief Immigration Officer, Ivor Walker, performed master of ceremony duties. The two international organizations conducting the Workshop, OAS/SMS/CICTE and ICAO, were represented by Jean Ricot Dormeus, OAS Representative in Antigua and Barbuda and Erik Slavenas, MRTD Program Officer, ICAO
The Workshop was attended by 43 Government officials from Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Jamaica and St. Lucia representing a wide range of sectors including passport issuance, civil registry and immigration services. The representatives from each Member State delivered a presentation providing country updates, achievements, capacity gaps and challenges and on-going initiatives.
This activity was funded by the Government of Canada.
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Port Security Project Launched In Haiti
The first phase of a wide-ranging initiative aimed at improving maritime security in Haiti was launched in September in Port au Prince with an initial coordination meeting between National Port Authority officials, CICTE technical staff and experts from other security agencies. This initial event of the Project of Port Security Assessment and Follow-on Training in Haiti was held to lay the groundwork for determining the training needs in port security that will take place in early October and subsequently the execution of those trainings in February 2013. The capacity-building exercises will be conducted by a maritime security company recognized worldwide.
The technical assistance to be provided in support of the Caribbean state will help implement better protection and updated procedures at the port facility in Port au Prince and meet compliance with the guidelines of the International Ship and Port Facility Security Code of the International Maritime Organization.
CICTE Helps Bolster Maritime Security Programs of Member States
With the certification of over 1500 participants hailing from different agencies related to maritime security, CICTE concluded its Project of Port Security Assessment and Follow-on Training carried out in Mexico and Colombia. The project entailed a 10-month work period in the Mexican ports of Ensenada, Mazatlan, Salina Cruz and Port Vallarta, as well as in the Port of Turbo in Colombia. Following a thorough evaluation performed by experts in the field where maritime security vulnerabilities were identified, a specializing training was delivered focused on comprehensively improving security and meeting compliance with the International Ship and Port Facility Security Code (ISPS).
In addition, to continue improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the ongoing Maritime Security Program designed to help strengthen port security in Member States, a key project carried out in Antigua was evaluated by a private company. The final report of the evaluation of the Port Security Assessment and Follow-on Training project was received on September 18, 2012. The evaluation funded by the Government of Canada, assed the overall impact of the workshops carried out in several ports in Antigua from 2011-2012 as part of the Port Security Assistance Program (PSAP).
In presenting some recommendations and observations of the training, the evaluator concluded that the programs carried out in the Port of Saint John’s (cruise ship facilities at Heritage Quay, and Nevis Pier); the Deep Water Bay Cargo Facility, the smaller cruise and leisure vessel ports of Falmouth, English Harbor and Jolly Harbor Marine, the Caricement Port Facility and the West Indies Oil Company Limited shore facility were “outstanding”. Those who participate in the courses “unanimously described the joint training with other agencies as very positive” and asserted that they also “learned about the roles and responsibilities of the SEC/LE agency vis-à-vis Port Security and how different agencies can better interact to address the multiple issues related to Port Security.” Those attending the course said that the training they received directly contributed to better results and more effective security operations at port facilities, This was reflected in several operations, including one in which techniques learned during training in behavioral observation of people allowed an Antigua Customs agency official to identify and deport two foreign citizens who had entered the country illegally, and another in which an official in the Nelson Dock Yard National Park used inspection techniques learned in the courses for contraband detection in a vessel to arrest of a number of people
This evaluation attests to the successes achieved by CICTE in the port security training projects in the hemisphere, which have decisively contributed to improving operational results in border protection and control.
CICTE Launches Revised Version of APEC Manual on Maritime Security Drills and Exercises in Three Member States
Following a series of workshops conducted with Transport Canada, the United States Coast Guard and a private contractor in 2010 and 2011, in which the content of the APEC Manual on Maritime Security Drills and Exercises was revised, improved and updated, CICTE launched the redrafted version of the text in Jamaica, Bahamas and Honduras in August and September. The new manual has been well received by officials of these countries as a valuable tool for planning and execution of drills and exercises in port security. According to the obligations contained in the International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) code issued by the International Maritime Organization in 2004, states must conduct drills and exercises periodically. Identifying the need to strengthen these activities in OAS Member States, CICTE has been working successfully with support of Canada and other partners to ensure that this manual can be used as an effective tool and can be adapted to the realities and context of the region.
APEC Manual
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Legislative Assistance and Combating Terrorism FinancingSub-regional Workshop on Countering Terrorism Financing
San Jose, Costa Rica, was the venue chosen to host a “Sub-regional Workshop on Countering Terrorism Financing: Main Current Risks,” which took place from September 18-21, 2012. The workshop was organized through the MECOOR initiative—the acronym in Spanish for a strategic working group integrated by the Secretariats of the Inter-American Committee against Terrorism and the Inter-American Commission on Drug Abuse Control (OAS/SMS/CICTE and CICAD), the Executive Secretariat of the Financial Action Task Force of South America (GAFISUD, by its initials in Spanish), the Executive Directorate of the UN Counter-Terrorism Committee (UN/CTED), and the Terrorism Prevention Branch of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC/TPB). Additionally, the workshop was held under the auspices of the Institute on Drugs of Costa Rica (ICD, by its initials in Spanish.)
Prosecutors, police officers, customs and financial intelligence units’ officials from Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Panama, as well as relevant experts from the organizations included under the MECOOR initiative, the Caribbean Financial Task Force (CFATF), the Superintendency of Banks of Peru, the ICD, the U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (DHS/ICE), and the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigations (DoJ/FBI), participated in the workshop.
Theoretical sessions and a mock terrorism and terrorism financing investigation were held during the event. The participants were thus able to strengthen their inter-agency coordination as well as to lay the groundwork for enhanced international cooperation, while being exposed to new international best practices and risks related to terrorism financing and money laundering.
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