CP/DEC. 36 (1599/07)

DECLARATION ON STRENGTHENING COOPERATION IN THE FIGHT AGAINST TERRORISM
AND THE IMPUNITY OF ITS PERPETRATORS

(Adopted at its session held on May 28, 2007)
 

THE PERMANENT COUNCIL OF THE ORGANIZATION OF AMERICAN STATES,

TAKING INTO CONSIDERATION the presentations given at the regular meetings of the Permanent Council held on April 25, 2007, and May 23, 2007, by the representatives of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and the United States of America, as well as documents CP/doc.4218/07 rev. 2, CP/INF.5504/07, CP/INF.5483/07, CP/INF.5489/07, CP/INF.5490/07, and CP/INF.5510/07;

BEARING IN MIND ALSO the presentations given at those meetings by the representatives of Barbados (on behalf of CARICOM), Paraguay (on behalf of MERCOSUR), Nicaragua, Guatemala, Guyana, Bolivia, Canada, Ecuador, Panama, and Honduras;

CONSIDERING the principles and standards set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; the OAS Charter; the Charter of the United Nations; the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man; the Inter-American Convention against Terrorism; the Declaration on Security in the Americas; and other pertinent regional and international instruments;

REAFFIRMING that terrorism, whatever its form or manifestation and whatever its origin or motivation, has no justification whatsoever, is inimical to the full enjoyment and exercise of human rights, and poses a grave threat to international peace and security, to institutions, and to the democratic values enshrined in the OAS Charter, the Inter-American Democratic Charter, and other regional and international instruments;

REAFFIRMING the United Nations resolutions against terrorism and, in particular, resolutions S/RES/1373 (2001), S/RES/1540 (2004), S/RES/1566 (2004), S/RES/1624 (2005), and S/RES/1737 (2006) of the United Nations Security Council; as well as resolutions A/RES/61/40 and A/RES/60/288 of the United Nations General Assembly and other relevant resolutions;

TAKING INTO ACCOUNT that in resolution 1373 the United Nations Security Council requests all states to “deny safe haven to those who finance, plan, support, or commit terrorist acts, or provide safe havens”; to “ensure that any person who participates in the financing, planning, preparation or perpetration of terrorist acts or in supporting terrorist acts is brought to justice”; and to ensure “that claims of political motivation are not recognized as grounds for refusing requests for the extradition of alleged terrorists”; and calls upon “all states to find ways of intensifying and accelerating the exchange of operational information, especially regarding actions or movements of terrorist persons or networks; forged or falsified travel documents; traffic in arms, explosives or sensitive materials; use of communications technologies by terrorist groups; and the threat posed by the possession of weapons of mass destruction by terrorist groups”;

RECALLING that in United Nations Security Council resolution 1624 the states also undertake to “cooperate fully in the fight against terrorism in accordance with their obligations under international law, in order to find, deny safe haven and bring to justice, on the basis of the principle of extradite or prosecute, any person who supports, facilitates, participates or attempts to participate in the financing, planning, preparation or commission of terrorist acts or provides safe havens”;

RECALLING ALSO the following resolutions of the Organization of American States: AG/RES. 1840 (XXXII-0/02), “Inter-American Convention against Terrorism”; AG/RES. 1906 (XXXII-O/02), “Human Rights and Terrorism”; AG/RES. 1931 (XXXIII-O/03), AG/RES. 2035 (XXXIV-O/04), AG/RES. 2143 (XXXV-O/05), and AG/RES. 2238 (XXXVI-O/06), “Protecting Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms While Countering Terrorism”; and AG/RES. 2249 (XXXVI-O/06), “Extradition of and Denial of Safe Haven to Terrorists: Mechanisms for Cooperation in the Fight against Terrorism”; and

RECALLING ALSO the resolutions, treaties, and international agreements on extradition, considered an essential instrument in the fight against terrorism and an effective form of cooperation among states pursuing that common purpose,

DECLARES:

1. Its vehement condemnation of terrorism, in all its forms and manifestations, regardless of its origin or motivation, as criminal and unjustifiable, as a grave threat to international peace and security, and because it undermines efforts under way to promote stability, prosperity, and equity in the countries of the Hemisphere.

2. That terrorism violates the democratic values and principles enshrined in the OAS Charter, the Inter-American Democratic Charter, and other regional and international instruments.

3. To urge all member states to prosecute and, as appropriate, extradite, in accordance with their domestic laws and relevant treaties and conventions, anyone participating in the planning, preparation, commission, or financing of terrorist acts or, where appropriate, the attempted commission of said offenses.

4. That it is an inescapable duty of all countries of the Hemisphere to prevent, fight, and eliminate acts of terrorism and to prosecute, in accordance with their domestic law and international law, any person who has participated in the planning, preparation, financing, or commission of terrorist acts, and to cooperate, in accordance with their domestic law, so that member states may also bring to justice those responsible for acts of terrorism committed in their territories or against their citizens.

5. It staunch determination to impede the movement of terrorists or terrorist groups by way of effective border controls and controls on the issuance of identification and travel documents, and through the adoption of measures to prevent the forgery, unlawful alteration, or fraudulent use of identification and travel documents.

6. Its reaffirmation of the value of extradition as an essential instrument in the fight against terrorism; and that it urges all those states that have received requests lodged by member states for the extradition of terrorists to process them duly.