THE INTER-AMERICAN COMMITTEE ON TERRORISM (CICTE)

Nature, powers, and functions of CICTE

1. The Inter-American Committee on Terrorism (CICTE) shall be an entity established by the General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS) in conformity with Article 53 of the Charter of the Organization, which shall enjoy technical autonomy. It will be composed of the competent national authorities of all the member states and be governed in the exercise of its functions by the provisions of Article 91.f of the Charter.

2. In the exercise of its functions, CICTE shall promote the development of inter-American cooperation on the basis of international conventions on this matter and the Declaration of Lima to Prevent, Combat, and Eliminate Terrorism. It shall be empowered to encourage, develop, coordinate, and evaluate implementation of the Plan of Action of Lima, the recommendations of the Meeting of Government Experts to Examine Ways to Improve the Exchange of Information and Other Measures for Cooperation among Member States to Prevent, Combat, and Eliminate Terrorism, as well as the recommendations contained in this Commitment.

3. CICTE will provide assistance to member states requesting it , in order to prevent, combat, and eliminate terrorism, while promoting, in accordance with the domestic laws of the member states, the exchange of information and experiences with the activities of persons, groups, organizations, and movements linked to terrorist acts as well as with the methods, sources of finance and entities directly or indirectly protecting or supporting them, and their possible links to other crimes.

4. In order to ensure an adequate exchange of information on the issue of illicit trafficking in arms, munitions, explosives, materials, or technology capable of being used to perpetrate terrorist acts or activities, CICTE will coordinate with the Consultative Committee established by the 1997 Inter-American Convention against the Illicit Production of and Trafficking in Firearms, Ammunition, Explosives, and Other Related Materials.

5. CICTE will hold at least one annual session. During its first session, CICTE will draw up its work schedule designed to implement the following guidelines:

a. To create an inter-American network for gathering and transmitting data via the competent national authorities, designed to exchange the information and experiences referred to in paragraph 3, including the creation of an inter-American database on terrorism issues that will be at the disposal of member states.

b. To compile the legal and regulatory norms on preventing, combating, and eliminating terrorism in force in member states.

c. To compile the bilateral, subregional, regional, or multilateral treaties and agreements signed by member states to prevent, combat, and eliminate terrorism.

d. To study the appropriate mechanisms to ensure more effective application of international legal norms on the subject, especially the norms and provisions contemplated in the conventions against terrorism in force in states parties to those conventions mentioned in paragraph xiv of this Commitment.

e. To formulate proposals designed to provide assistance to states requesting it in drafting national antiterrorist laws.

f. To devise mechanisms for cooperation in detecting forged identity documents.

g. To devise mechanisms for cooperation among competent migration authorities.
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h. To design technical cooperation programs and activities for training staff assigned to tasks related to preventing, combating, and eliminating terrorism in each of the member states that request such assistance.

6. The above-mentioned guidelines do not preclude the possibility of CICTE carrying out other activities should the General Assembly so determine.

7. With the acquiescence of the competent authorities, CICTE may establish mechanisms for coordinating with other competent international entities, such as INTERPOL.