AG/DEC. 14 (XXVII-O/97)

DECLARATION AFFIRMING RESPECT FOR THE PERSONALITY, SOVEREIGNTY, AND INDEPENDENCE OF STATES

(Adopted at the second plenary session, held on June 2, 1997)

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY,

RECALLING the principles set forth in the Charter of the Organization of American States;

REAFFIRMING, in the terms of the Charter, that international law is the standard of conduct of states in their reciprocal relations and that international order consists essentially of respect for the personality, sovereignty, and independence of states, and the faithful fulfillment of obligations derived from treaties and other sources of international law;

RECOGNIZING that controversies of an international character arising among American states should be settled by peaceful procedures without resort to coercion or sanctions and that hemispheric problems of a multilateral character should be resolved by multilateral efforts rather than by unilateral action on the part of individual states;

RECOGNIZING FURTHER that the American states face a common enemy in the form of illicit drug trafficking, which transcends national borders and requires for its eradication the willing cooperation and collaboration of all states;

CONVINCED that enhanced cooperation among the American states in drug interdiction measures will rid the region of the menace of drug trafficking and money laundering and thus contribute to the common welfare and prosperity of the peoples of the Hemisphere;

RECALLING the Declaration on Principles of International Law Concerning Friendly Relations and Co-operation among States in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on October 24, 1970;

RECALLING ALSO the Declaration on the Prohibition of Military, Political or Economic Coercion in the Conclusion of Treaties, adopted by the Vienna Conference of 1968-69 on the Law of Treaties;

RECALLING FURTHER the Consensus of Panama [AG/DEC. 10 (XXVI-O/96)], adopted at its twenty-sixth regular session;

RECALLING that the Anti-Drug Strategy in the Hemisphere was signed by member countries at the meeting held in Montevideo in December 1996; and

CONVINCED that a reaffirmation of the purposes and principles of the Charter will further forge the bonds of friendship and solidarity among the American states and strengthen the peace and security of the Hemisphere,

REAFFIRMS the commitment of the member states to the purposes and principles of the Charter and affirms that, in the spirit of the Summit of the Americas, multilateral efforts should be pursued to resolve common problems.

CALLS UPON member states to respect the personality, sovereignty, and independence of states and to refrain from taking any unilateral action which is inconsistent with the purposes and principles of the Charter and may impair their friendly relations.

URGES member states to cooperate and collaborate with each other to wage a concerted effort against illicit drugs in accordance with the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (1988) and to support efforts toward adequate preparation of the special session of the United Nations General Assembly in 1998, devoted to combating the illicit production, sale, demand, traffic, and distribution of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances; and calls upon member states that have not yet done so to become parties to the Convention.

DECLARES that all international disputes or controversies of an international character arising among the American states should be settled by peaceful, non-coercive procedures and means consistent with the spirit and the letter of the Charter.