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THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY,
HAVING SEEN the report of the Permanent Council on the Observations and
Recommendations on the Annual Report of the Inter-American Committee against
Terrorism (CICTE) (CP/doc. /03);
RECALLING that the CICTE Statute was adopted by the General Assembly, at its
twenty-ninth regular session, through resolution AG/RES. 1650 (XXIX-O/99); and
That Article 23 of said Statute states that “This Statute, when approved by
the General Assembly, may be amended only by that body”; and
CONSIDERING:
That, through resolution CICTE/RES.1/03 rev. 2, CICTE agreed at its third
regular session (in San Salvador, El Salvador, January 2003) on the advisability
of revising the Statute and Rules of Procedure of CICTE; and
That, at its fourth regular session (in Montevideo, Uruguay, in January
2004), CICTE decided to submit the Proposed Amendments to the Statute, contained
in document CICTE/doc.7/04 rev. 1, for consideration by the General Assembly at
its thirty-fourth regular session,
RESOLVES:
To adopt the Statute of the Inter-American Committee against Terrorism
(CICTE) attached to this resolution.
STATUTE OF
THE INTER-AMERICAN COMMITTEE AGAINST TERRORISM (CICTE)
Chapter I
NATURE, PRINCIPLES, AND PURPOSES
Article 1. The Inter-American Committee against Terrorism, hereinafter
“CICTE”, is an entity of the Organization of American States (OAS) established
by the General Assembly in conformity with Article 53 of the OAS Charter.
The main purpose of CICTE is to promote hemispheric cooperation to prevent,
combat, and eliminate terrorism, in accordance with the principles of the OAS
Charter, the Inter-American Convention against Terrorism, and with full respect
for the sovereignty of states, the rule of law, and international law, including
international humanitarian law, international human rights law, and
international refugee law.
CICTE enjoys technical autonomy in the exercise of its functions, within the
limits set by the OAS Charter, its own Statute and Rules of Procedure, and the
mandates adopted by the General Assembly.
CICTE exercises its functions in the framework of the Declaration of Lima to
Prevent, Combat, and Eliminate Terrorism (hereinafter “Declaration of Lima”);
the Plan of Action on Hemispheric Cooperation to Prevent, Combat, and Eliminate
Terrorism (hereinafter “Plan of Action of Lima”); the Commitment of Mar del
Plata; and the other declarations adopted in the framework of CICTE.
Article 2. The functions of CICTE are civilian in nature and shall be
governed by the OAS harter, this Statute and its Rules of Procedure, by
decisions of the General Assembly, and by its own decisions.
Nothing in this Statute entitles a Member State to undertake in the territory
of another Member State the exercise of jurisdiction or performance of functions
that are exclusively reserved to the authorities of that other Member States by
its domestic law.
Chapter II
COMPOSITION
Article 3. CICTE shall be composed of all member states of the OAS.
Article 4. Each of the member states of the Organization shall designate the
competent national authorities, principal representative, alternate
representatives, and advisors that it deems appropriate to represent it before
CICTE.
Article 5. The member states of the Organization shall inform the Secretary
General of the OAS of the appointments referred to in Article 4 of this Statute
and of any change in the composition of their representation.
Chapter III
NATIONAL POINTS OF CONTACT
Article 6. The member states shall appoint one or more National Point(s) of
Contact with competence in the field of prevention and elimination of terrorism.
The National Point of Contact is the principal liaison among governments of the
member states for developing cooperation between them and CICTE.
CICTE shall channel all its communications to member states through the
national point of contact established for that purpose.
Chapter IV
CHAIR AND VICE CHAIR
Article 7. CICTE shall have a chair and a vice chair, elected from among the
member states. Their mandates shall last one year from the time they assume
their functions until the date their elected replacements take up their duties.
Article 8. The chair and the vice chair shall be elected by the vote of a
majority of member states present at the CICTE meeting convened for that
purpose. If the voting does not produce a majority and it is necessary to take
more than one ballot, those candidates receiving the least number of votes in
each successive ballot shall be eliminated until one of the remaining candidates
obtains a majority. The ballot shall be secret. These elections may also be
carried out by consensus.
Article 9. The chair shall exercise its functions in accordance with the
CICTE Statute and its Rules of Procedure.
Article 10. The member state elected chair or vice chair shall appoint an
official to serve in this capacity. If the state chairing or vice chairing CICTE
for any reason decides to replace its official while that person is serving as
chair or vice chair of CICTE, the newly appointed official shall serve in this
capacity until the end of the respective mandate.
If the member state serving as chair or vice chair of CICTE resigns, the
Committee shall hold special elections to fill the position so vacated.
Article 11. The chair may delegate to the vice chair such functions as it
deems appropriate, as stipulated in the Rules of Procedure.
Chapter V
FUNCTIONS
Article 12. CICTE shall be governed in its responsibilities and its functions
by the provisions of the OAS Charter, by this Statute and its Rules of
Procedure, by decisions of the General Assembly, and by its own decisions.
Accordingly, CICTE shall conduct its work on the basis of inter-American and
international conventions on this matter, in particular the Inter-American
Convention against Terrorism, the principles and objectives of the declarations,
resolutions, and work plans adopted by CICTE, and resolution 1373 (2001) of the
United Nations Security Council.
Article 13. CICTE shall also have the following functions:
a. To promote the development of cooperation among Member States to prevent,
combat, and eliminate terrorism;
b. To establish a framework for technical cooperation that takes into account
the suggested guidelines set forth in Appendices I, II, and III to the
Commitment of Mar del Plata;
c. To encourage and develop the actions contemplated in the Inter-American
Convention against Terrorism and other international counterterrorism treaties,
and declarations, resolutions, and recommendations approved by CICTE;
d. To provide assistance to member states requesting it, in order to prevent,
combat, and eliminate terrorism;
e. To promote, in accordance with the domestic laws of the member states, the
exchange of information and experiences on effective ways and means to prevent,
detect, investigate, and punish terrorism, and on the activities of persons,
groups, organizations, and movements linked to terrorist acts, as well as the
methods, sources of finance and entities directly or indirectly protecting or
supporting them, and their possible links to other crimes;
f. To coordinate its work with other pertinent Inter-American organs and
forums with a view to ensuring the development of integrated responses to
terrorism and to carrying out complementary efforts to prevent and fight
terrorism and prosecute those responsible, ensuring the guarantees of due
process in accordance with national law.
g. CICTE will work with Member States, in consultation with the
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) in order to promote respect
for international law, including international human rights law, international
humanitarian law, and refugee law, in actions undertaken by member states to
prevent, combat, and eliminate terrorism.
h. To establish, with the concurrence of the Member States, mechanisms for
coordination with other competent international entities in the matter, such as
the Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) of the United Nations Security Council,
the UN Security Council Committee established by resolution 1267 of 1999, and
the International Financial Action Task Force (FATF);
i. To present to the General Assembly an annual report through the Permanent
Council and such special reports as it may deem appropriate; and
j. To carry out the mandates assigned to it by the General Assembly.
Chapter VI
QUORUM AND VOTING
Article 14. The quorum for meetings of the Committee, committees,
subcommittees, and working groups shall be one third of the representatives of
the member states making up those bodies. The quorum for adopting decisions
shall be a majority of the representatives of the member states making up those
bodies.
Article 15. Each member state of CICTE shall have the right to one vote. In
the absence of a consensus, it shall take decisions by the vote of a simple
majority of the member states present, except when the General Assembly disposes
otherwise.
Chapter VII
THE SECRETARIAT
Article 16. The OAS Secretary General shall establish a Secretariat to
furnish CICTE with technical and administrative support and shall appoint to
that Secretariat the technical and administrative staff to provide those
services.
The OAS Secretary General shall appoint the Secretary of CICTE in a position
of trust. He or she shall fulfill the functions of that position in accordance
with the CICTE Statute and Rules of Procedure and with such mandates as the
General Assembly and CICTE itself may adopt.
Article 17. Among its other duties, the CICTE Secretariat shall:
a. Serve as secretariat during sessions of CICTE;
b. Cooperate in preparing the reports that CICTE is to present to the General
Assembly through the Permanent Council, and in any tasks that CICTE entrusts to
it;
c. Transmit the decisions of CICTE to the Secretary General, so that they may
be forwarded to the governments of the member states through their permanent
missions;
d. Provide technical and administrative support for the activities of CICTE;
e. Prepare cooperation programs and projects in accordance with the Work Plan
approved by CICTE, including cost estimates;
f. Propose cooperation programs to CICTE within the framework of the CICTE
Work Plan for their approval and, when appropriate, discuss them with the
National Points of Contact;
g. Prepare a draft CICTE Work Plan taking into account member states’
counter-terrorism needs into account, seeking to match them with available
resources;
h. Present an annual report to CICTE on the Secretariat’s activities under
the CICTE Work Plan and on its budget year;
i. Maintain direct and constant coordination with the permanent
representatives of member states to the Organization, the accredited principal
representatives to CICTE, and the National Points of Contact in CICTE; and
j. Carry out the decisions of the General Assembly.
Chapter VIII
HEADQUARTERS AND MEETINGS
Article 18. The headquarters of CICTE shall be that of the General
Secretariat of the Organization of American States.
Article 19. CICTE shall hold one regular session each year. In special
circumstances, at the initiative of the General Assembly or the Meeting of
Consultation of Ministers of Foreign Affairs, or upon the recommendation of the
Permanent Council of the Organization, CICTE may hold a special session to
consider urgent matters.
The OAS Secretary General shall immediately convene member states to any
special session of CICTE. The chair of CICTE shall establish the date and the
place of the special session, subject to the availability of resources.
Article 20. CICTE may establish such committees, subcommittees, and working
groups as it deems necessary to facilitate its work, in accordance with the
provisions of this Statute and the Rules of Procedure.
Any member state of the Organization may invite CICTE to meet in its
territory. CICTE shall decide whether to accept invitations to meet away from
headquarters, and the host country shall bear any additional costs arising from
meeting away from headquarters.
Article 21. Each member state shall be responsible for the costs of its
delegation’s participation in CICTE sessions.
Article 22. The OAS General Secretariat shall provide support to any CICTE
meeting, based on the cost of holding that meeting in the facilities of the
General Secretariat in Washington, D. C.
Article 23. CICTE shall establish rules for the participation of permanent
observers to the Organization, pursuant to Permanent Council resolution CP/RES.
407 (573/84).
Article 24. CICTE shall establish rules for the participation of civil
society organizations in its sessions and meetings, pursuant to Permanent
Council resolution CP/RES. 759 (1217/99).
Chapter IX
BUDGET AND FINANCES
Article 25. The CICTE budget shall be financed from the resources approved in
the program-budget of the Organization and from voluntary contributions
deposited in the specific funds and trust funds allocated to CICTE.
Article 26. CICTE shall make every effort to obtain funding through the
establishment of specific and trust funds that may be required, pursuant to
Articles 73 and 74 of the General Standards to Govern the Operations of the
General Secretariat.
Chapter X
STATUTE AND RULES OF PROCEDURE
Article 27. Any amendment to this Statute must be approved by the General
Assembly. CICTE may propose to the General Assembly such amendments as it deems
appropriate.
Article 28. CICTE shall approve and amend its Rules of Procedure in
conformity with this Statute, and shall so notify the General Assembly in its
annual report.
Article 29. This Statute shall enter into force on the date of its adoption
by the General Assembly. |
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