AG/RES. 1967 (XXXIII-O/03)

TRANSPARENCY AND CONFIDENCE- AND SECURITY-BUILDING IN THE AMERICAS 

(Resolution adopted at the fourth plenary session, held on June 10, 2003) 

            THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY, 

HAVING SEEN the Annual Report of the Permanent Council to the General Assembly (AG/doc.4156/03 add. 4), in particular the section on confidence- and security-building in the Americas; 

            BEARING IN MIND that, under Article 2 of the Charter of the Organization of American States, one of the essential purposes of the Organization is to strengthen peace and security in the Hemisphere; 

            RECALLING its resolutions AG/RES. 1121 (XXI-O/91) and AG/RES. 1123 (XXI-O/91), on strengthening peace and security in the Hemisphere; and AG/RES. 1179 (XXII-O/92), AG/RES. 1237 (XXIII-O/93), AG/RES. 1284 (XXIV-O/94), AG/RES. 1288 (XXIV-O/94), AG/RES. 1353 (XXV-O/95), AG/RES. 1409 (XXVI-O/96), AG/RES. 1494 (XXVII-O/97), AG/RES. 1566 (XXVIII-O/98), AG/RES. 1623 (XXIX-O/99), AG/RES. 1744 (XXX-O/00),  AG/RES. 1801 (XXXI-O/01), and AG/RES. 1879 (XXXII-O/02), on confidence- and security-building measures (CSBMs); 

            RECALLING ALSO its resolutions AG/RES. 1607 (XXIX-O/99), AG/RES. 1749 (XXX-O/00), AG/RES. 1799 (XXXI-O/01), and AG/RES. 1881 (XXXI-O/02), on the Inter-American Convention on Transparency in Conventional Weapons Acquisitions; 

            RECOGNIZING that the Inter-American Convention on Transparency in Conventional Weapons Acquisitions entered into force on November 21, 2002; 

NOTING WITH SATISFACTION that the Governments of Canada, Guatemala, Ecuador, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay have deposited their instruments of ratification for the above-mentioned Inter-American Convention and that 20 OAS member states have signed the Convention; 

EMPHASIZING the importance of the Consensus of Miami: Declaration of Experts in Confidence- and Security-Building Measures:  Recommendations to the Summit-Mandated Special Conference on Security, and the Declaration of Santiago and Declaration of San Salvador on Confidence- and Security-Building Measures, which recommend the application, in the manner that is most suitable, of confidence- and security-building measures; 

            NOTING the significant progress made in identifying and applying confidence- and security-building measures since the adoption of the Declaration of Santiago, which has helped to reduce factors that generate distrust and has contributed to the promotion of transparency and mutual confidence;  

NOTING WITH SATISFACTION the study entitled “A Common Standardized Methodology for the Measurement of Defence Spending,” prepared by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) in November 2001 at the request of the Governments of Argentina and Chile, which constitutes a step toward the transparency contemplated in the Declaration of San Salvador on Confidence- and Security-Building Measures of 1998; and 

CONSIDERING: 

That the Heads of State and Government, at the Second and Third Summits of the Americas (Santiago, 1998, and Quebec City, 2001), pledged to continue promoting transparency in defense and security matters;  

That the Heads of State and Government at the aforementioned Summits called for the holding of an “experts meeting, before the Special Conference on Security, as a follow-up to the regional conferences of Santiago and San Salvador on CSBMs, in order to evaluate implementation and consider next steps to further consolidate mutual confidence”; and 

            That confidence- and security-building measures contribute to enhancing security, safeguarding peace, and consolidating democracy in the Americas, as well as to building transparency, dialogue, and trust in the Hemisphere, 

RESOLVES: 

1.         To urge member states to implement, in the manner they deem most appropriate, the recommendations contained in the Declaration of Santiago and the Declaration of San Salvador on Confidence- and Security-Building Measures, in the Consensus of Miami:  Declaration by the Experts on Confidence- and Security-Building Measures:  Recommendations to the Summit-Mandated Special Conference on Security, and in resolution AG/RES. 1179 (XXII-O/92). 

2.         To urge all states which have not already done so to consider signing, ratifying, or acceding to the Inter-American Convention on Transparency in Conventional Weapons Acquisitions. 

3.         To call on all member states to provide to the General Secretariat, by July 15 of each year, information on the application of the confidence- and security-building measures (CSBMs) contained in the above-mentioned Consensus and Declarations. 

4.         To commend member states that have regularly submitted their reports on the application of CSBMs. 

5.         To request the Permanent Council to periodically constitute the Committee on Hemispheric Security as the Forum for Confidence- and Security-Building Measures, in order to review and evaluate existing CSBMs and to discuss, consider, and propose new CSBMs. 

6.         To request the competent bodies of the Organization of American States and other appropriate national, subregional, and regional institutions to elaborate specific confidence-enhancing measures identified in the Illustrative List of Confidence- and Security-Building Measures of the Miami Meeting of Experts on Confidence- and Security-Building Measures. 

7.         To urge member states to continue promoting transparency in defense policy with regard to, among other things, modernization of the armed forces, including changes in their structure and composition, the acquisition of equipment and materiel, and military expenditures, and by considering the Guidelines on Developing National Defense Policy and Doctrine Papers, adopted by the Permanent Council. 

8.         To request the Inter-American Defense College to provide, when asked to do so, technical advice to the Committee on Hemispheric Security and member states on preparing defense policy and doctrine papers. 

9.         To maintain as a goal the universal participation in the United Nations (UN) Register of Conventional Arms and the UN Standardized International Reporting of Military Expenditures, in accordance with the pertinent resolutions of the UN General Assembly; and to renew its request that member states provide said information to the OAS Secretary General by July 15 of each year. 

10.        To request the General Secretariat and the Inter-American Defense Board to update the inventory of CSBMs based on reports presented by member states; and to request that the Board also update its inventory of CSBMS in other regions. 

11.        To instruct the General Secretariat to make operational the Organization of American States Information System (OASIS) communication network for the instantaneous exchange of information on security matters, including confidence- and security-building measures. 

12.        To instruct the Permanent Council to continue to encourage the exchange of experiences in the area of confidence- and security-building measures with other regions, which may include the exchange of information between the Committee on Hemispheric Security and other international organizations working on the subject, such as the UN, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), and the Association of South-East Asian Nations Regional Forum (ARF).

13.        To request the Permanent Council to hold the next round of OAS-OSCE consultations and OAS-ARF consultations.

14.        To instruct the Permanent Council and the General Secretariat, as appropriate, to carry out the activities mentioned in this resolution within the resources allocated in the program-budget of the Organization and other resources. 

15.        To request the Secretary General to update each year, on the basis of information submitted by member states, the Roster of Experts on Confidence- and Security-Building Measures, and to circulate it to the member states each year by July 15. 

16.        To request the Secretary General to present a report to the Permanent Council, prior to the thirty-fourth regular session of the General Assembly, on the status of signatures and ratifications of, and accessions to, the Inter-American Convention on Transparency in Conventional Weapons Acquisitions. 

17.        To request the Permanent Council to report on the implementation of this resolution to the General Assembly at its thirty-fourth regular session. 

18.               To request the Secretary General to transmit this resolution to the Secretary-General of the UN, the Secretary General of the OSCE, the Chairman of the ARF, and other pertinent regional organizations.