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Meeting of the Inter-American Committee against Terrorism Seeks "Renewed and Strengthened" International Cooperation

The Inter-American Committee against Terrorism (CICTE) of the Organization of American States (OAS) today launched its Eleventh Regular Session with the objective of renewing the hemispheric commitment to enhance cooperation to prevent, combat and eliminate this threat.

At the inaugural session that took place in the Hall of the Americas at OAS headquarters in Washington, DC, Secretary General José Miguel Insulza welcomed the authorities and recognized the initiatives undertaken by the countries of the hemisphere to combat terrorism in all its forms. "The actions of CICTE are guided by the principles of the Charter of the Organization of American States and the Inter-American Convention against Terrorism, as well as by the full respect for the sovereignty of countries, the rule of law, and international law, including international humanitarian law, international human rights law, and international refugee law," he said.

In his speech, Secretary General Insulza referred to some of the most deadly terrorist attacks that countries of the region have suffered in recent decades, including: the Cubana Airlines plane that was shot down in October 1976; the attack on the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires in March 1976; the attack on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon in September 2001; and the bombing of the Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina in July 1994.

“In a spirit of solemnity, and despite the grief that accompanies the memory of these incidents, I invite you to look with hope towards the future. Our Organization has responded to these events with strength and decision,” the head of the Organization said, while expressing satisfaction for the fact that there have not been any new attempts of similar magnitude in our hemisphere. “This has been possible, in part, thanks to the tireless work of all our countries in preventing them, not only internally, but fundamentally thanks to the indispensable international cooperation that anti-terrorist policies demand given their nature.”

Insulza emphasized that “our countries have stated that terrorist acts no matter what their background, besides being immoral are the essence of injustice, since they curtail the lives of innocent people, destroying families and communities. Because of this, our Member States have responded by reaffirming the importance of the Rule of Law, of democratic freedoms and the tolerant plurality, and strengthening multilateral cooperation to confront the different manifestations of this threat to peace and security of our peoples.”

Referring to the concept of multidimensional security, which frames the work of the CICTE, he indicated that this was “established in the Declaration on Security in the Americas in Mexico in 2003 in which the necessary strategic alliances between the public and private sectors were joined” to fight terrorism. “That is in fact the main subject of the work that, headed by the Chairmanship of Bahamas, the CICTE has conducted during this past year, and in it is evidenced in the synchronicity between the priorities marked by the Member States and the theoretical and practical architecture placed at their service by this Secretariat.”

Offering his best wishes to the work of the CICTE, the Secretary General concluded by expressing his wish that the session “will give a new and deeper sense to the concept of international cooperation, renewing and strengthening the commitment of the Member States against any form of terrorism.”

For his part, the Chair of CICTE and Minister of National Security of the Bahamas, Orville A.T. Turnquest, thanked the support and encouragement received from the OAS Member States in “assisting to carry out the mandate during our tenure as Chair.” He further added that “the theme of the Eleventh Session is indeed timely and relevant. The threat posed to this hemisphere by terrorists and their nefarious activities remain. Therefore, we reiterate our commitment to the fight against terrorism and recommit ourselves to the principles adopted by this Committee’s since its inception.”

Minister Turnquest offered a detailed explanation of the activities carried out by CICTE under his leadership and explained that through this Commission, “countries have demonstrated political will to continue to ensure the collective security of the hemisphere.” However, he also warned about the new challenges in this area. “While we recognize the tremendous strides that have been made in enhancing security measures to adjust to what has sometimes been seen as a non-traditional threat, terrorism remains a critical issue for our hemisphere and the international community as a whole. From this perspective, the work of CICTE remains of paramount importance,” he said.

The panel at the inaugural ceremony also featured the Executive Director of the CARICOM Implementation Agency for Crime and Security (IMPACS), Lynne Anne Williams, who spoke about the activities that the institution has carried out on issues such as border control, aviation and maritime security, legislative assistance, infrastructure protection, cyber security and inter-regional cooperation, among others.

“Like our neighbors in the Americas, the foremost security challenges being faced by CARICOM Member States were and continue to be escalating levels of criminal activity, and its debilitating effects,” explained Williams, who also referred to a range of factors that account for the crime and insecurity in the landscape, “the primary of which is the illegal drug trade, as well as the illegal trafficking of firearms and humans, gang warfare, the deportation of criminals from Third States to our small island developing states (SIDS), unemployment, inequity and inequality, corruption and the inability of the criminal justice systems to effectively bring perpetrators to justice.”

CARICOM’s representative closed by saying that “the threats posed by terrorism are very real and indeed far-reaching, and every effort must be made to sustain our pro-activity in the fight against that which threatens our existence and peaceful way of life.”

The day-long CICTE meeting will review the Committee's activities over the past year and will create an opportunity for authorities in the fight against terrorism to exchange their views on activities and commitments to prevent, eliminate and combat this scourge.

For more information, please visit the OAS Website at www.oas.org.

Reference: E-575/11