STATEMENT BY AMBASSADOR LISA SHOMAN,
HEAD OF THE DELEGATION OF BELIZE
TO THE SECOND REGULAR SESSION OF THE
INTER-AMERICAN COMMITTEE AGAINST TERRORISM (CICTE)
 

     
    Thank you Mr. Chairman:

          I wish to associate myself with the sentiments expressed towards you by the speakers that have preceded me, and I assure you of the full support and cooperation of my delegation for the excellent work you have been doing as Chair of this meeting.

          Mr. Chairman, I need not elaborate on the importance of this meeting, or on the reasons why the scourge of terrorism and the efforts to combat it have become such an important part of all our lives.  I will make some specific remarks on what my country has been doing, seeking to ensure that the events of September 11 are not replicated either in my country or anywhere else.

          First:  Belize can support the financial and border control measures without material change promulgated as recommendations by the Special Session of CICTE held on November 29, 2001.  We support them not only because we believe they are important, but in fact, most of the provisions established in these recommendations are already embodied in the domestic legislation of my country, in particular, the Money-laundering Act Revised Edition 2000, Immigration and laws and policy and Customs Control measures.

          Belize also, as a member of both CARICOM and the Central American Integration System (SICA), is working vigorously at the sub-regional level mindful of its self-assumed role of serving as a bridge between the sub-regions it belongs to.  And so we are committed to fighting terrorism in a coordinated pincer action utilizing both arms.  Belize is also committed to bilateral action and has always been committed to the exchange of information with its neighbors, Mexico and Guatemala, with whom it shares a long and honorable history of cooperation on border issues.

          We signed and ratified early last year - 2001, a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty with the United States and look forward to the prompt ratification of the same by the United States. 

          Belize has also terminated its citizenship program, mindful too of the valuable role that this initiative can play in our contribution to the fight against terrorism.

          Second, I wish to announce that today Belize delivered to the General Secretariat of the OAS, a copy of Belize’s Preliminary Report    to the Counter-Terrorism Committee pursuant to United Nations Security Council resolution 1373 (2001).[1][1]^/  This report was delivered to the Chairman of the United Nations Security Council on December 21, 2001.

          In this report, Belize informs, inter alia that it has taken the following three-pronged approach to implement UN Security Council Resolutions, including Resolution 1373.
 

(1)      to enact a United Nations Resolutions and Conventions (Enforcement) Act to give effect to UN Resolutions and Conventions;

(2)      to strengthen and amplify the scope of the Money Laundering (Prevention) Act to freeze the assets of terrorists and money launderers without delay; and
 

          (3)      to accede to and ratify all relevant UN Conventions.
 

          I need not go into detail about this report, Mr. Chairman, since the documentation is ample and will be made available to the delegations.

            Third, Mr. Chairman, on the matter of financing for the work of the CICTE, and the proposal that this Committee evolve into a full Secretariat modeled on the structure of CICAD, my delegation must admit concerns about the financial cost of the implementation of this proposal.  My delegation can support this initiative if we are assured of a reliable and continuous source of funds outside of the regular OAS budget.  Belize cannot afford to accede to any agreement which diverts funds from other necessary and already under financed programs in order to fund CICTE.  Specific funds must be identified in a timely fashion to ensure that the work of CICTE continues.

          Finally, I wish to reiterate to this meeting Belize’s unwavering commitment to participate in and support all efforts in the fight against terrorism.  We gladly pledge our equivalent of the significant biblical widow's mite.  Nonetheless, Mr. Chairman, I wish to join those other delegations who caution that in our rightful zeal to combat this evil, we ought not forget the enormous difficulties, financial, economic and social, faced by smaller countries, such as mine, with more vulnerable economies, in dealing with the after effects of September 11.

          We may be but crewmembers on the Pequod joining in the hunt for the White Whale of Terrorism, but we too, like its captain, can never forget the welfare and wellbeing of our family at home.
         
           The call and challenge has been issued for us all to get on with our lives as the best and clearest response to terrorists everywhere - an answer that says you cannot destroy our peaceful, constructive, democratic spirit.  The OAS, as an Organization, must make all possible efforts to ensure that smaller countries do not become ancillary economic victims, collateral damage, because then, indeed, the awful architects of September 11 would have achieved ends beyond the anticipation of any human mind.

Thank you Mr. Chairman.