THIRTY-SECOND REGULAR SESSION OEA/Ser.P
June 2, 2002 AG/doc.4100/02
Bridgetown, Barbados 15 May 2002
Original: Spanish
Item
V of the Agenda
DRAFT
RESOLUTION
INTER-AMERICAN
CONVENTION AGAINST TERRORISM
(Approved
by the Permanent Council at it meeting held on May 15, 2002)
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY,
REAFFIRMING the principles and
provisions contained in the Charter of the Organization of American States and
the Charter of the United Nations;
RECOGNIZING the threat that
terrorism poses to democratic values and international peace and security, and
that it is a source of profound concern to all member states;
CONVINCED that the Charter of the
Organization of American States and international law constitute the
appropriate framework for strengthening hemispheric cooperation for the
prevention, combating, and elimination of terrorism in all its forms and
manifestations;
BEARING IN MIND resolution RC.23/RES. 1/01 rev. 1 corr. 1, “Strengthening
Hemispheric Cooperation to Prevent, Combat, and Eliminate Terrorism,”
of the Twenty-Third Meeting of Consultation of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs
of September 21, 2001, which entrusted the Permanent Council with preparing a
Draft Inter-American Convention against Terrorism;[JS7][EB2]
RECALLING the
Declaration of Lima to Prevent, Combat, and Eliminate Terrorism and the Plan of
Action on Hemispheric Cooperation to Prevent, Combat, and Eliminate Terrorism,
adopted within the framework of the First Inter-American Specialized Conference
on Terrorism, in Lima, Peru, in April 1996, as well as the Commitment of Mar
del Plata, adopted at the Second Inter-American
Specialized Conference on Terrorism, and the work of the Inter-American
Committee against Terrorism (CICTE);[JS7][EB4]
CONSIDERING that terrorism is a
serious criminal phenomenon, which is of deep concern to all member states;
attacks democracy; impedes the enjoyment of human rights and fundamental
freedoms; threatens the security of states, destabilizing and undermining the
foundations of all society; and seriously impacts the economic and social
development of the states in the region;
BEARING
IN MIND that the Inter-American Democratic Charter recognizes the commitment by
member states to promote and defend representative democracy and that no
democratic state can be indifferent to the clear threat that terrorism poses to
democratic institutions and freedoms;
REAFFIRMING that the fight against
terrorism must be undertaken with full respect for national and international
law, human rights, and democratic institutions, in order to preserve the rule
of law, liberties and democratic values in the Hemisphere, which are essential
components of a successful fight against terrorism;
CONVINCED that the adoption,
ratification, and effective implementation of the Inter-American Convention
against Terrorism contribute to the progressive development and the
codification of international law;
UNDERSCORING
the importance of effective action in cutting off the supply of funds for
terrorism, and of coordinated action with international entities competent in
the area of money laundering, especially the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control
Commission (CICAD);
RECOGNIZING
the urgency of strengthening and establishing new forms of regional cooperation
against terrorism with a view to its eradication; and
RECOGNIZING the importance and
timeliness of the existing international legal instruments on combating
terrorism, including the 10 international instruments considered for the text
of the Inter-American Convention against Terrorism itself, as well as the
Convention to Prevent and Punish the Acts of Terrorism Taking the Forms of
Crimes against Persons and Related Extortion That Are of International
Significance, adopted by the General Assembly itself on February 2, 1971; the
Convention on Offences and Certain Other Acts Committed on Board Aircraft,
adopted in Tokyo on September 14, 1963; and the Convention on the Marking of
Plastic Explosives for the Purpose of Detection, adopted in Montreal on March
1, 1991,
RESOLVES:
1. To
adopt the Inter-American Convention against Terrorism attached to this
resolution and to open it for signature by the member states on this date.
2. To
urge member states to ratify the Convention as soon as possible, in accordance
with their constitutional procedures.
3. To
request the Secretary General to present a report to the General Assembly at
its thirty-third regular session on progress made toward the Convention’s entry
into force.
DRAFT
INTER-AMERICAN CONVENTION AGAINST TERRORISM
The States Parties to this Convention,
BEARING IN MIND the purposes and
principles of the Charter of the Organization of American States and the
Charter of the United Nations;
CONSIDERING that terrorism
represents a serious threat to democratic values and to international peace and
security and is a cause of profound concern to all member states;
REAFFIRMING the need to
adopt effective steps in the inter-American system to prevent, punish, and
eliminate terrorism through the broadest cooperation;
RECOGNIZING
that the serious economic harm to states which may result from terrorist acts
is one of the factors that underscore the need for cooperation and the urgency
of efforts to eradicate terrorism;
REAFFIRMING the
commitment of the states to prevent, combat, punish, and eliminate terrorism;
and
BEARING IN MIND
resolution RC.23/RES. 1/01 rev. 1 corr. 1, “Strengthening Hemispheric
Cooperation to Prevent, Combat, and Eliminate Terrorism,” adopted at the
Twenty-third Meeting of Consultation of Ministers of Foreign Affairs,
Have agreed to the following:
Objec[JS5]t and
purposes
The purposes of this Convention are
to prevent, punish, and eliminate terrorism.
To that end, the states parties agree to adopt the necessary measures
and to strengthen cooperation among them, in accordance with the terms of this
Convention.
A[JS6]rticle
2
Applicable
international instruments
1. For the purposes of this Convention,
"offenses" means the offenses established in the international
instruments listed below:
a.
Convention for the Suppression
of Unlawful Seizure of Aircraft, signed at The Hague on December 16, 1970.
b.
Convention for the
Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Civil Aviation, signed at
Montreal on September 23, 1971.
c.
Convention on the
Prevention and Punishment of Crimes against Internationally Protected Persons,
including Diplomatic Agents, adopted by the General Assembly of the United
Nations on December 14, 1973.
d.
International Convention
against the Taking of Hostages, adopted by the General Assembly of the United
Nations on December 17, 1979.
e.
Convention on the
Physical Protection of Nuclear Material, signed at Vienna on March 3, 1980.
f.
Protocol on the
Suppression of Unlawful Acts of Violence at Airports Serving International
Civil Aviation, supplementary to the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful
Acts against the Safety of Civil Aviation, signed at Montreal on February 24,
1988.
g.
Convention for the
Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Maritime Navigation, done at
Rome on March 10, 1988.
h.
Protocol for the
Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Fixed Platforms Located on
the Continental Shelf, done at Rome on March 10, 1988.
i.
International Convention
for the Suppression of Terrorist Bombings, adopted by the General Assembly of
the United Nations on December 15, 1997.
j.
International Convention
for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism, adopted by the General
Assembly of the United Nations on December 9, 1999.
2. Upon
depositing its instrument of ratification to this Convention, a state party
that is not a party to one or more of the international instruments listed in
paragraph 1 of this article may declare that, in application of this Convention
to such state party, that particular instrument shall be deemed not to be
included in that paragraph. The
declaration shall cease to have effect as soon as that instrument enters into
force for that state party, which shall notify the depositary of this fact.
3. When
a state party ceases to be a party to one of the international instruments
listed in paragraph 1 of this article, it may make a declaration, as provided
in paragraph 2 of this article, with respect to that instrument.
Article 3
Domestic measures
Each
state party, in accordance with the provisions of its constitution, shall
endeavor to become a party to the international instruments listed in Article 2
to which it is not yet a party and to adopt the necessary measures to
effectively implement such instruments, including establishing, in its domestic
legislation, penalties for the offenses described therein.
Article 4
Measures to prevent, combat,
and eradicate the financing of terrorism
1. Each state party, to the extent it has not already done so,
shall institute a legal and regulatory regime to prevent, combat, and eradicate
the financing of terrorism and for effective international cooperation with
respect thereto, which shall include:
a.
A comprehensive
domestic regulatory and supervisory regime for banks, other financial
institutions, and other entities deemed particularly susceptible to being used
for the financing of terrorist activities. This regime shall emphasize
requirements for customer identification, record-keeping, and the reporting of
suspicious or unusual transactions.
b.
Measures to
detect and monitor movements across borders of cash, bearer negotiable
instruments, and other appropriate movements of value. These measures shall be subject to
safeguards to ensure proper use of information and should not impede legitimate
capital movements.
c.
Measures to
ensure that the competent authorities dedicated to combating the offenses
established in the international instruments listed in Article 2 have the
ability to cooperate and exchange information at the national and international
levels within the conditions prescribed under its domestic law. To that end, each state party shall
establish and maintain a financial intelligence unit to serve as a national
center for the collection, analysis, and dissemination of pertinent money
laundering and terrorist financing information. Each state party shall inform the Secretary General of the
Organization of American States of the authority designated to be its financial
intelligence unit.
2. When implementing paragraph 1 of this
article, states parties shall use as guidelines the recommendations developed
by specialized international and regional entities, in particular the Financial
Action Task Force and, as appropriate, the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control
Commission, the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force, and the South American
Financial Action Task Force.
Article 5
Seizure
and confiscation of funds or other assets
1. Each state party shall,
in accordance with the procedures established in its domestic law, take such
measures as may be necessary to provide for the identification, freezing or
seizure for the purposes of possible forfeiture, and confiscation or
forfeiture, of any funds or other assets constituting the proceeds of, used to
facilitate, or used or intended to finance, the commission of any of the
offenses established in the international instruments listed in Article 2 of
this Convention.
2. The
measures referred to in paragraph 1 shall apply to offenses committed both
within and outside the jurisdiction of the state party.
Predicate offenses
to money laundering
1. Each state party shall take the necessary measures to ensure
that its domestic penal money laundering legislation also includes as predicate
offenses those offenses established in the international instruments listed in
Article 2 of this Convention.
2. The money laundering predicate offenses
referred to in paragraph 1 shall include those committed both within and
outside the jurisdiction of the state party.
1. The
states parties, consistent with their respective domestic legal and
administrative regimes, shall promote cooperation and the exchange of
information in order to improve border and customs control measures to detect
and prevent the international movement of terrorists and trafficking in arms or
other materials intended to support terrorist activities.
2. In
this context, they shall promote cooperation and the exchange of information to
improve their controls on the issuance of travel and identity documents and to
prevent their counterfeiting, forgery, or fraudulent use.
3. Such
measures shall be carried out without prejudice to applicable international
commitments in relation to the free movement of people and the facilitation of
commerce.
Cooperation among law enforcement
authorities
The states
parties shall work closely with one another, consistent with their respective
domestic legal and administrative systems, to enhance the effectiveness of law
enforcement action to combat the offenses established in the international
instruments listed in Article 2. In
this context, they shall establish and enhance, where necessary, channels of
communication between their competent authorities in order to facilitate the
secure and rapid exchange of information concerning all aspects of the offenses
established in the international instruments listed in Article 2 of this
Convention.
Article 9
The
states parties shall afford one another the greatest measure of expeditious
mutual legal assistance with respect to the prevention, investigation, and
prosecution of the offenses established in the international instruments listed
in Article 2 and proceedings related thereto, in accordance with applicable
international agreements in force. In
the absence of such agreements, states parties shall afford one another
expeditious assistance in accordance with their domestic law.
Article 10
Transfer of
persons in custody
1. A person who is being detained or is
serving a sentence in the territory of one state party and whose presence in
another state party is requested for purposes of identification, testimony, or
otherwise providing assistance in obtaining evidence for the investigation or
prosecution of offenses established in the international instruments listed in
Article 2 may be transferred if the following conditions are met:
a.
The person
freely gives his or her informed consent; and
b.
Both states
agree, subject to such conditions as those states may deem appropriate.
2. For the purposes of this article:
a.
The state to
which the person is transferred shall have the authority and obligation to keep
the person transferred in custody, unless otherwise requested or authorized by
the state from which the person was transferred.
b.
The state to
which the person is transferred shall without delay implement its obligation to
return the person to the custody of the state from which the person was
transferred as agreed beforehand, or as otherwise agreed, by the competent
authorities of both states.
c.
The state to
which the person is transferred shall not require the state from which the
person was transferred to initiate extradition proceedings for the return of
the person.
d.
The person
transferred shall receive, for time spent in the custody of the state to which
he or she was transferred, credit toward service of the sentence being served
in the state from which he or she was transferred.
3. Unless the state party from which a
person is to be transferred in accordance with the present article so agrees,
that person, whatever his or her nationality, shall not be prosecuted or
detained or subjected to any other restriction of his or her personal liberty
in the territory of the state to which that person is transferred in respect of
acts or convictions prior to his or her departure from the territory of the
state from which said person was transferred.
Article 11
Each state
party shall take appropriate measures, consistent with the relevant provisions
of national and international law, for the purpose of ensuring that refugee
status is not granted to any person in respect of whom there are serious
reasons for considering that he or she has committed an offense established in
the international instruments listed in Article 2 of this Convention.
Article 13
Denial of asylum
Each state party shall take
appropriate measures, consistent with the relevant provisions of national and
international law, for the purpose of ensuring that asylum is not granted to
any person in respect of whom there are reasonable grounds to believe that he
or she has committed an offense established in the international instruments
listed in Article 2 of this Convention.
Article 14
Nondiscrimination
None of the provisions of this
Convention shall be interpreted as imposing an obligation to provide mutual
legal assistance if the requested state party has substantial grounds for
believing that the request has been made for the purpose of prosecuting or punishing
a person on account of that person’s race, religion, nationality, ethnic
origin, or political opinion, or that compliance with the request would cause
prejudice to that person’s position for any of these reasons.
Article 15
Human
rights
1. The measures carried out by the states
parties under this Convention shall take place with full respect for the rule
of law, human rights, and fundamental freedoms.
2. Nothing
in this Convention shall be interpreted as affecting other rights and
obligations of states and individuals under international law, in particular
the Charter of the United Nations, the Charter of the Organization of American
States, international humanitarian law, international human rights law, and
international refugee law.
3. Any person who is taken into custody or
regarding whom any other measures are taken or proceedings are carried out
pursuant to this Convention shall be guaranteed fair treatment, including the
enjoyment of all rights and guarantees in conformity with the law of the state
in the territory of which that person is present and applicable provisions of
international law.
Article
16
Training
1. The states parties shall promote
technical cooperation and training programs at the national, bilateral,
subregional, and regional levels and in the framework of the Organization of
American States to strengthen the national institutions responsible for
compliance with the obligations assumed under this Convention.
2. The states parties shall also promote,
where appropriate, technical cooperation and training programs with other
regional and international organizations conducting activities related to the
purposes of this Convention.
Article
17
Cooperation through the
Organization of American States
Consultations
among the parties
1.
The states parties shall hold periodic meetings of consultation, as
appropriate, with a view to facilitating:
a.
The full
implementation of this Convention, including the consideration of issues of
interest relating thereto identified by the states parties; and
b.
The exchange of
information and experiences on effective means and methods to prevent, detect,
investigate, and punish terrorism.
2.
The Secretary General shall convene a meeting of consultation of the
states parties after receiving the 10th instrument of ratification. Without prejudice to this, the states
parties may hold consultations as they consider appropriate.
3.
The states parties may request the pertinent organs of the Organization
of American States, including CICTE, to facilitate the consultations referred
to in the previous paragraphs and to provide other forms of assistance with
respect to the implementation of this Convention.
Article 19
Exercise of
jurisdiction
Nothing
in this Convention entitles a state party to undertake in the territory of
another state party the exercise of jurisdiction or performance of functions
that are exclusively reserved to the authorities of that other state party by
its domestic law.
Article 20
Depositary
The original instrument of this Convention, the
English, French, Portuguese, and Spanish texts of which are equally authentic,
shall be deposited with the General Secretariat of the Organization of American
States.
Signature and ratification
1. This Convention is open for signature
by all member states of the Organization of American States.
2. This
Convention is subject to ratification by the signatory states in accordance
with their respective constitutional procedures. The instruments of
ratification shall be deposited with the General Secretariat of the
Organization of American States.
Article 22
1. This Convention shall enter into force
on the 30th day following the date of deposit of the sixth instrument of
ratification of the Convention with the General Secretariat of the Organization
of American States.
2. For each state ratifying the Convention
after deposit of the sixth instrument of ratification, the Convention shall
enter into force on the 30th day following the deposit by such state of its
instrument of ratification.
Denunciation
1. Any state party may denounce this
Convention by written notification to the Secretary General of the Organization
of American States. Denunciation shall
take effect one year following the date on which notification is received by
the Secretary General of the Organization.
[JS7]2. Such denunciation shall not affect any
requests for information or assistance made during the time the Convention is
in force for the denouncing state.
AG01959E01.DOC