AG/RES. 1908 (XXXII-O/02)
SPECIAL
CONFERENCE ON SECURITY
(Adopted at the fourth plenary session held on June
4, 2002)
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY,
HAVING
SEEN the annual report of the Permanent Council (AG/doc.4059/02) and in
particular the section on matters referred to the Committee on Hemispheric
Security;
RECALLING:
That
the Heads of State and Government, meeting at the Second Summit of the
Americas held in Santiago, Chile in 1998, instructed the Committee on
Hemispheric Security, to, inter alia, to “analyze
the meaning, scope, and implications of international security concepts in the
Hemisphere, with a view to developing the most appropriate common approaches
by which to manage their various aspects, including disarmament and arms
control]” and to “pinpoint ways to revitalize and strengthen the institutions of the
Inter-American System related to the various aspects of Hemispheric security”
with a view to holding a Special Conference on Security in the framework of
the OAS;
That at the Third Summit of the Americas, held in Quebec City in April
2001, the heads of state and government decided to hold the aforementioned
Special Conference on Security in 2004, to which end the OAS Committee on
Hemispheric Security must complete the review of all the topics related to
international security approaches in the Hemisphere, as stipulated at the
Santiago Summit; and
That the Twenty-third Meeting of Consultation of
Ministers of Foreign Affairs instructed the Committee on Hemispheric Security,
through resolution RC.23/RES. 1/01 corr. 1, “Strengthening Hemispheric
Cooperation to Prevent, Combat, and Eliminate Terrorism,” to “expedite
preparations for the Special Conference on Security...”;
BEARING IN MIND the fruitful dialogue of the Heads of Delegation on the
multidimensional approach to hemispheric security, held during the
thirty-second regular session of the General Assembly, at which it was
proposed that the Special Conference on Security be considered a permanent and
institutional framework for enhancing and implementing a new security system
of the Americas, that it meet periodically, and that the OAS is to play a
pivotal role in the follow-up of the political agreements reached in said
Conference;
RECALLING
ALSO resolutions AG/RES. 1643 (XXIX-O/99), “Work Program of the Committee on Hemispheric Security in Preparation for
the Special Conference on Security” and AG/RES. 1795 (XXXI-O/01),
“Preparations for the Summit-Mandated Special Conference on Security”;
TAKING INTO ACCOUNT that one of the essential objectives of the
Organization of American States, pursuant to Article 2 of the Charter of the
Organization, is to strengthen
the peace and security of the continent; and
BEARING IN MIND the offer of the Government of Mexico to host the
Special Conference on Security;
RESOLVES:
1.
To convene the Special
Conference on Security for the first half of May 2003.
2.
To thank the Government of
Mexico for its offer to hold the Special Conference on Security in that
country and to accept its offer.
3.
To
instruct the Permanent Council, through its Committee on Hemispheric Security,
to prepare the recommendations of that Special Conference on all pertinent
matters, as well as the draft agenda, the draft rules of procedure, and the
draft final documents of the Conference.
4.
To
instruct the Permanent Council, through its Committee on Hemispheric Security,
and in fulfillment of its mandate, to hold the necessary discussions
beforehand, particularly during its special meetings devoted to the topic.
5.
To
request the member states to provide the Permanent Council with all the
information they deem relevant, including bilateral and sub-regional elements,
to contribute to the preparations for the Special Conference on Security.
6.
To
instruct the Permanent Council to carry out the aforementioned activities
within the resources allocated in the program-budget and other resources.
7.
To invite all member states,
in particular those that have not yet done so, to submit, no later than
September 30, 2002, their opinions and views in response to the Committee on
Hemispheric Security’s “Questionnaire on New Approaches to Hemispheric
Security” (CP/CSH-338/00 rev. 5).
8.
To request the Permanent
Council:
a.
To complete by December 2002
its study on the problems and risks to peace and security in the Hemisphere
and on conflict prevention and resolution in the Hemisphere;
b.
To forward all of the annual
reports, studies and resolutions related to hemispheric security form the
General Assembly, the Permanent Council and the General Secretariat, to the
preparatory body of the Special Conference on Security as a contribution to
the preparations for that Conference;
c.
To carry out the preparatory
work for the Summit-mandated Meeting of Experts on Confidence- and
Security-Building Measures to evaluate implementation and consider next steps
to further consolidate mutual confidence; and
d.
To carry out the preparatory
work for the Second High-Level Meeting on the Special Security Concerns of
Small Island States, with a view to holding it in early 2003.
9.
To establish a working group
of the Committee on Hemispheric Security to present, to the Permanent Council
by January 31, 2003, a study and recommendations on the modernization and
changes needed to provide the OAS with technical, advisory and educational
expertise on defense and security issues in order to support the ongoing
examination of the institutions of the inter-American system related to
hemispheric security.
10.
To request the Secretary
General to present to the Permanent Council, at the commencement of its
preparatory work for the Conference, a broad document containing all the
General Assembly mandates related to the preparation of the Conference and
directed to the various organs of the system.
11.
To request the Permanent
Council to report on compliance with this resolution to the General Assembly
at its thirty-third regular session.
