Cooperation for Hemispheric
Security
Introduction
In Article 2 of the
Charter of the Organization of American States the member
states proclaim that one of the essential purposes of the Organization is "to
strengthen the peace and security of the continent."
Since 1991, the General Assembly has adopted a series of resolutions on
cooperation for hemispheric security, covering its various aspects. In resolution AG/RES.
1123 of that year, the General Assembly established the framework for cooperation in the
Hemisphere, in stating that "the
international situation would seem to dictate
the adoption of measures to ensure hemispheric security, strengthen democratic processes
in all of the member states and devote maximum resources in those countries to economic
and social development" and that "such measures call for mechanisms for mutual
consultation and an exchange of regional information to promote a climate of institutional
international stability, progress, and confidence
"
The
Organization has recognized that "peace is not merely the absence of war but also
includes interdependence and cooperation in promoting economic and social development.
Moreover, disarmament, arms control and limitation, human rights, the strengthening of
democratic institutions, environmental protection, and improvement of the quality of life
for all are indispensable elements for the establishment of democratic, peaceful, and more
secure societies."
In
this framework, the Organization has emphasized regional contributions to global security
and the need for enhanced dialogue on cooperation in peace, confidence, and security
issues among the nations of the Hemisphere, and has recommended that a consultation
process be initiated at the earliest possible date as a step towards the limitation and
control of conventional weapons.
The
General Assembly has considered the Treaty
of Tlatelolco to be a cooperation security measure, as it represents one of the most
momentous contributions to international law and to the ceaseless efforts to prevent the
proliferation of nuclear weapons and guarantee international peace and security. This
Treaty has become the model for the establishment of other nuclear-weapon-free zones in
various regions of the world, such as the South Pacific (Treaty of Rarotonga), Southeast
Asia (Treaty of Bangkok), and Africa (Treaty of Pelindaba), which, when they enter into
force, will cover more than half the countries of the world and all of the Southern
Hemisphere.
Thus,
through resolution AG/RES. 1500 (XXVII-O/97), "Mutual Confidence in the
Americas," the General Assembly instructed the Permanent Council to consider the
desirability of approving a legal framework on the issue of advance notification of major
arms acquisitions covered by the United Nations Register of Conventional Arms. As a
consequence, in 1999, the General Assembly adopted the
Inter-American
Convention on Transparency in Conventional Weapons Acquisitions.
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