04 December 2001
Text: OSCE Statement on Terrorism, Action Plan to Combat Terrorism
(Issued at Bucharest ministerial Dec. 4) (3730)
Participating states of the Organization for Security and Cooperation
in Europe (OSCE) have vowed that they will not yield to terrorist
threats but will combat such threats in a long and sustained effort
"using all means" in accordance with their international commitments.
In a statement issued December 4 at the conclusion of a ministerial
meeting in Bucharest, Romania, OSCE members said their broad coalition
-- stretching from Vancouver to Vladivostok -- stands united against
terrorism, which they called "a scourge of our times."
The ministers adopted an anti-terrorism action plan listing the
various United Nations conventions and resolutions that constitute
"the global legal framework for the fight against terrorism" and
pledging renewed efforts to have all OSCE participating states become
parties to the 12 UN terrorism conventions and protocols by December
31, 2002.
The action plan outlines a variety of measures the OSCE can take --
based on its expertise in conflict prevention, crisis management,
post-conflict rehabilitation, and democracy-building -- through the
organization's Secretariat, Permanent Council, Parliamentary Assembly,
Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, High Commissioner
on National Minorities, and Representative on Freedom of the Media.
These measures include providing technical assistance on draft
legislation, advice on the suppression of terrorist financing, border
administration and visa controls, and projects to prevent hate speech
in the media.
The stated goal of the plan is to "expand existing activities that
contribute to combating terrorism, facilitate interaction between
States and, where appropriate, identify new instruments for action ...
immediately as well as over the medium and long term."
Following is the text of the OSCE ministers' statement on terrorism
and the full text of "The Bucharest Plan of Action for Combating
Terrorism" as they appear on the OSCE Web site (www.osce.org):
(begin text)
Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe
Ministerial Council
Bucharest
4 December 2001
DECISION No. 1 -- COMBATING TERRORISM
The 55 participating States of the OSCE stand united against
terrorism, a scourge of our times.
The OSCE participating States resolutely condemn the barbaric acts of
terrorism that were committed against the United States on 11
September 2001. They represented an attack on the whole of the
international community, and on people of every faith and culture.
These heinous deeds, as well as other terrorist acts in all forms and
manifestations, committed no matter when, where or by whom, are a
threat to international and regional peace, security and stability.
There must be no safe haven for those perpetrating, financing,
harbouring or otherwise supporting those responsible for such criminal
acts. Terrorism, whatever its motivation or origin, has no
justification.
The OSCE participating States will not yield to terrorist threats, but
will combat them by all means in accordance with their international
commitments. This will require a long and sustained effort, but they
take strength from their broad coalition, reaching from Vancouver to
Vladivostok. They will defend freedom and protect their citizens
against acts of terrorism, fully respecting international law and
human rights. They firmly reject identification of terrorism with any
nationality or religion and reconfirm the norms, principles and values
of the OSCE.
The OSCE participating States pledge to reinforce and develop
bilateral and multilateral co-operation within the OSCE, with the
United Nations and with other international and regional
organizations, in order to combat terrorism in all its forms and
manifestations, wherever and by whomever committed. As a regional
arrangement under Chapter VIII of the Charter of the United Nations,
the OSCE is determined to contribute to the fulfillment of
international obligations as enshrined, inter alia, in United Nations
Security Council resolution 1373 (2001), and will act in conformity
with the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations.
The OSCE participating States pledge to become parties to all 12
United Nations conventions and protocols related to terrorism as soon
as possible. They call for a speedy finalization of negotiations for a
Comprehensive United Nations Convention on International Terrorism.
The OSCE participating States have come together in political
solidarity to take joint action. They look forward to the substantive
contribution that the Bishkek International Conference on Enhancing
Security and Stability in Central Asia, to be held on 13 and 14
December 2001, can render to global anti-terrorism efforts, and will
support, also through technical assistance, the Central Asian
partners, on their request, in countering external threats related to
terrorism.
To that end, the OSCE Ministerial Council adopts The Bucharest Plan of
Action for Combating Terrorism, annexed to this Decision.
THE BUCHAREST PLAN OF ACTION FOR COMBATING TERRORISM
4 December 2001
Annex
I. Goal of the Action Plan
1. Terrorism is a threat to international peace and security, in the
OSCE area as elsewhere. The OSCE stands ready to make its contribution
to the fight against terrorism in close co-operation with other
organizations and fora. This contribution will be consistent with the
Platform for Co-operative Security and will benefit from interaction
between global and regional anti-terrorism efforts under the aegis of
the United Nations. The OSCE participating States commit their
political will, resources and practical means to the implementation of
their obligations under existing international terrorism conventions
and pledge themselves to intensify national, bilateral and
multilateral efforts to combat terrorism.
2. In contribution to the world-wide efforts to combat terrorism, the
OSCE will seek to add value on the basis of the specifics of the
Organization, its strengths and comparative advantages: its
comprehensive security concept linking the politico-military, human
and economic dimensions; its broad membership; its experience in the
field; and its expertise in early warning, conflict prevention, crisis
management, post-conflict rehabilitation and building democratic
institutions. In addition, many effective counter-terrorism measures
fall into areas in which the OSCE is already active and proficient,
such as police training and monitoring, legislative and judicial
reform, and border monitoring.
3. The aim of the Action Plan is to establish a framework for
comprehensive OSCE action to be taken by participating States and the
Organization as a whole to combat terrorism, fully respecting
international law, including the international law of human rights and
other relevant norms of international law. The Action Plan seeks to
expand existing activities that contribute to combating terrorism,
facilitate interaction between States and, where appropriate, identify
new instruments for action. The Action Plan, which recognizes that the
fight against terrorism requires sustained efforts, will identify
activities to be implemented immediately as well as over the medium
and long term.
II. International legal obligations and political commitments
4. United Nations conventions and United Nations Security Council
resolutions (UNSCR) constitute the global legal framework for the
fight against terrorism. UNSCR 1269 (1999), 1368, 1373 and 1377
(2001), along with the 12 relevant United Nations conventions and
protocols on anti-terrorism issues, provide the basis for this
framework and include a number of specific elements of combating
terrorism. In addition, a range of OSCE documents, including Summit
declarations from Helsinki to Istanbul, spell out the OSCE's
commitment to fight terrorism, in accordance with the Charter of the
United Nations. The widest and most comprehensive participation in and
implementation of existing instruments and commitments to combat
terrorism by the participating States must be pursued and ensured.
5. Participating States: Pledge themselves to apply efforts to become
parties to all 12 United Nations conventions and protocols relating to
terrorism, by 31 December, 2002, if possible, recognizing the
important role that parliamentarians may play in ratification and
other antiterrorism legislative processes. States are encouraged to
inform the Permanent Council of steps taken in this regard. Will
participate constructively in the ongoing negotiations at the United
Nations on a Comprehensive Convention against International Terrorism
and an International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear
Terrorism, with a view to their early and successful conclusion.
6. Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR): Will,
on formal request by interested participating States and where
appropriate, offer technical assistance/advice on legislative drafting
necessary for the ratification of international instruments, in close
co-operation with other organizations, including the United Nations
Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention (UNODCCP).
7. Participating States: Will consider how the OSCE may draw upon best
practices and lessons learned from other relevant groups,
organizations, institutions and fora in areas such as police and
judicial cooperation; prevention and suppression of the financing of
terrorism; denial of other means of support; border controls including
visa and document security; and access by law enforcement authorities
to information.
8. The participating States will also use the Forum for Security
Co-operation (FSC) to strengthen their efforts in combating terrorism
through full and timely implementation of all relevant measures agreed
by the OSCE. To this end they will enhance implementation of existing
politico-military commitments and agreements, in particular the Code
of Conduct on Politico-Military Aspects of Security and the Document
on Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW).
The FSC will examine the relevance of its other documents to the fight
against terrorism, and will assess whether there is a need to develop
additional norms and measures. The Security Dialogue may serve as a
suitable basis for regular consultations on these issues within the
FSC.
The participating States will submit responses to the Code of Conduct
Questionnaire that provide further transparency on international,
regional and national commitments in combating terrorism, especially
relevant United Nation conventions and resolutions. The FSC will
consider ways to fully implement the Document on SALW, inter alia
Section V on early warning, conflict prevention, crisis management,
and post-conflict rehabilitation. The FSC will examine the possibility
of enhancing transparency on national marking systems, exports and
imports, and national stockpile management and security procedures,
primarily by reviewing the information thus exchanged and developing
best practice guides. The follow-up conference on the Code of Conduct
and the SALW workshop, both of which will take place in 2002, could
further enhance the application of these documents in combating
terrorism.
III. Preventive action against terrorism in the OSCE area
9. No circumstance or cause can justify acts of terrorism. At the same
time, there are various social, economic, political and other factors,
including violent separatism and extremism, which engender conditions
in which terrorist organizations are able to recruit and win support.
The OSCE's comprehensive approach to security provides comparative
advantages in combating terrorism by identifying and addressing these
factors through all relevant OSCE instruments and structures.
10. Institution building, strengthening the rule of law and state
authorities: ODIHR: Will continue and increase efforts to promote and
assist in building democratic institutions at the request of States,
inter alia by helping to strengthen administrative capacity, local and
central government and parliamentary structures, the judiciary,
ombudsman institutions and civil society. Will facilitate exchanges of
best practices and experience between participating States in this
regard. Will continue to develop projects to solidify democratic
institutions, civil society and good governance.
11. Promoting human rights, tolerance and multi-culturalism:
Participating States/Permanent Council/ODIHR/High Commissioner on
National Minorities (HCNM)/Representative on Freedom of the Media:
Will promote and enhance tolerance, co-existence and harmonious
relations between ethnic, religious, linguistic and other groups as
well as constructive co-operation among participating States in this
regard. Will provide early warning of and appropriate responses to
violence, intolerance, extremism and discrimination against these
groups and, at the same time, promote their respect for the rule of
law, democratic values and individual freedoms. Will work to ensure
that persons belonging to national minorities have the right freely to
express, preserve and develop their ethnic, cultural, linguistic or
religious identity.
12. Representative on Freedom of the Media: Will consider developing
projects aimed at supporting tolerance towards people of other
convictions and beliefs through the use of the media. Will promote
measures aimed at preventing and fighting aggressive nationalism,
racism, chauvinism, xenophobia and anti-Semitism in the media. Will
continue to encourage pluralistic debate and increased media attention
to promoting tolerance of ethnic, religious, linguistic and cultural
diversity and will, in this context, promote broad public access to
media as well as monitor hate speech.
13. Addressing negative socio-economic factors: Participating
States/Secretariat: Will aim to identify economic and environmental
issues that undermine security, such as poor governance; corruption;
illegal economic activity; high unemployment; widespread poverty and
large disparities; demographic factors; and unsustainable use of
natural resources; and will seek to counter such factors with the
assistance, on their request, of the Office of the Co-ordinator of
OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities (OCEEA), acting, among
other things, as a catalyst for action and co-operation.
14. Preventing violent conflict and promoting peaceful settlement of
disputes: Drawing on all its capacities, the OSCE will continue and
intensify work aimed at early warning and appropriate response,
conflict prevention, crisis management and post-conflict
rehabilitation; will strengthen its ability to settle conflicts; will
increase efforts to find lasting solutions to unresolved conflicts,
including through promotion of the rule of law and crime prevention in
such conflict zones through increased co-operation with the United
Nations, the European Union and other international organizations; and
will further develop its rapid deployment capability (REACT) in crisis
situations.
15. Addressing the issue of protracted displacement: Participating
States/ODIHR/HCNM/Representative on Freedom of the Media: Will explore
strengthened OSCE potential for contributing to durable solutions,
supporting and closely co-operating with other relevant organizations,
primarily the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees. Will closely monitor situations of protracted displacement.
16. Strengthening national anti-terrorism legislation: Participating
States: Will commit themselves to implementing all the obligations
they have assumed under relevant conventions and protocols relating to
terrorism as well as the United Nations Convention against
Transnational Organized Crime and its additional protocols, sharing
information and methods in this regard and considering ways and means
of co-operation in implementation at bilateral, OSCE-wide and
sub-regional meetings.
17. OSCE Parliamentary Assembly: Will continue its efforts to promote
dialogue among OSCE parliamentarians with a view to strengthening
legislation essential in combating terrorism.
18. ODIHR: Will, on request by interested participating States and
where appropriate, offer technical assistance/advice on the
implementation of international anti-terrorism conventions and
protocols as well as on the compliance of this legislation with
international standards, in accordance with Permanent Council
decisions, and will seek co-operation with other organizations,
especially the UNODCCP, to this end. Will consider facilitating
contacts between national experts to promote exchange of information
and best practices on counter terrorism legislation.
19. Supporting law enforcement and fighting organized crime:
Participating States: Noting the close connection between terrorism
and transnational organized crime, illicit trafficking in drugs, money
laundering and illicit arms trafficking, will take the necessary steps
to prevent in their territory illegal activities of persons, groups or
organizations that instigate, finance, organize, facilitate or engage
in perpetration of acts of terrorism or other illegal activities
directed at the violent overthrow of the political regime of another
participating State. Will afford one another the greatest measure of
assistance in providing information in connection with criminal
investigations or criminal extradition proceedings relating to
terrorist acts, in accordance with their domestic law and
international obligations.
20. Permanent Council: Will consider arranging regular meetings of law
enforcement officials of participating States and, where applicable,
of OSCE experts with relevant experience in the field to exchange best
practices and ways of improving co-operation.
21. Secretariat: Will assist participating States, on their request,
through measures to combat trafficking in human beings, drugs and
small arms and light weapons, in accordance with relevant Permanent
Council decisions, and will undertake efforts to assist in
facilitating increased border monitoring, where appropriate. Will
further assist participating States, on the request and with their
agreement, through provision of advice and assistance on restructuring
and/or reconstruction of police services; monitoring and training of
existing police services, including human rights training; and
capacity building, including support for integrated or multi-ethnic
police services. Will, to this end, reinforce its existing
police-related activities in conflict prevention, crisis management
and post-conflict rehabilitation.
22. ODIHR: Will provide continued advice to participating States, at
their request, on strengthening domestic legal frameworks and
institutions that uphold the rule of law, such as law enforcement
agencies, the judiciary and the prosecuting authorities, bar
associations and defence attorneys. Will expand its efforts to combat
trafficking in human beings and to support victims of trafficking.
Will, where appropriate, support prison reform and improvements in
criminal procedure.
23. Representative on Freedom of the Media: Will co-operate in
supporting, on request, the drafting of legislation on the prevention
of the abuse of information technology for terrorist purposes,
ensuring that such laws are consistent with commitments regarding
freedom of expression and the free flow of information.
24. Suppressing the financing of terrorism. Participating States:
Will, within the framework of the United Nations Convention on the
Suppression of Financing of Terrorism and UNSCR 1373 (2001), take
action to prevent and suppress the financing of terrorism, criminalize
the wilful provision or collection of funds for terrorist purposes,
and freeze terrorist assets also bearing in mind UNSCR 1267 (1999).
Will, in accordance with their domestic legislation and obligations
under international law, provide early response to requests for
information by another participating State and relevant international
organizations.
25. Participating States/Secretariat: Will, in the realm of the
Economic and Environmental activities for 2002, also consider ways of
combating economic factors which may facilitate the emergence of
terrorism, economic consequences of terrorism as well as financial
support for terrorists. Will consider how the OSCE may contribute,
within the framework of its work on transparency and the fight against
corruption, to the wider international effort to combat terrorism.
Will consider taking on a catalytic role in providing targeted
projects for the training of the personnel of domestic financial
institutions in counter terrorism areas, inter alia on monitoring of
financial flows and on prevention of money laundering. Participating
States will participate constructively in the forthcoming negotiations
at the United Nations on a global instrument against corruption, with
a view to their early and successful conclusion.
26. Preventing movement of terrorists: Participating States: Will
prevent the movement of terrorist individuals or groups through
effective border controls and controls on issuance of identity papers
and travel documents, as well as through measures for ensuring the
security of identity papers and travel documents and preventing their
counterfeiting, forgery and fraudulent use. Will apply such control
measures fully respecting their obligations under international
refugee and human rights law. Will, through the proper application of
the exclusion clauses contained in the 1951 Convention Relating to the
Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol, ensure that asylum is not
granted to persons who have participated in terrorist acts. Will
provide for the timely detention and prosecution or extradition of
persons charged with terrorist acts, in accordance with their
obligations under international and national law.
IV. Action under the Platform for Co-operative Security --
Co-operation with other organizations
27. The United Nations is the framework for the global fight against
terrorism. Close co-operation and co-ordination between all relevant
actors must be secured. The OSCE can take on a co-ordinating role for
inter- and intra-regional initiatives. The OSCE reaches out through
close contacts to non-governmental organizations (NGOs), civil society
and parliamentarians, creating an ever-closer network for the
international coalition against terrorism.
28. Participating States/Secretariat: Will strengthen co-operation and
information exchanges, both formally and informally, with other
relevant groups, organizations, and institutions involved in combating
terrorism. Will strengthen co-operation with the European Union on
analysis and early warning and reinforce synergy with the Stability
Pact for South Eastern Europe and the Central European Initiative in
areas relevant to combating terrorism. Will promote dialogue within
the OSCE area on issues relating to new threats and challenges. Will
broaden dialogue with partners outside the OSCE area, such as the
Mediterranean Partners for Co-operation and Partners for Co-operation
in Asia, the Shanghai Co-operation Organization, the Conference on
Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia, the Organization
of the Islamic Conference, the Arab League, the African Union, and
those States bordering on the OSCE area to exchange best practices and
lessons learned in counter-terrorism efforts for application within
the OSCE area.
V. Follow-up
29. The "Bishkek International Conference on Enhancing Security and
Stability in Central Asia: Strengthening Comprehensive Efforts to
Counter Terrorism", to be held on 13 and 14 December 2001 in Bishkek,
will be a first opportunity to:
-- discuss among a broad range of participants, on the basis of the
present Action Plan, concrete experiences and best practices in
combating international terrorism and
-- due to the specific security challenges to which this region is
exposed, apply relevant provisions of this Action Plan for practical
support to participating States in Central Asia, including financial
and technical assistance in concrete areas of their interest.
30. The Secretary General will, by 27 December 2001, report to the
United Nations Counter Terrorism Committee on action on combating
terrorism taken by the OSCE, and will thereafter inform the United
Nations as appropriate. In addition, he will regularly inform the
Permanent Council about OSCE activities under this Plan of Action. He
will prepare a report for submission to the next OSCE Ministerial
Council/Summit on activities of OSCE bodies in the anti-terrorism
field, and thereafter as requested by the Permanent Council.
31. Each OSCE body called upon to take action under this Plan will
prepare, for submission to the Permanent Council, a "road map" for
implementation of these tasks, including a timetable, resource
implications, and indication of activities requiring further Permanent
Council decisions.
On the basis of information provided by other OSCE bodies, the
Secretariat will prepare an indicative assessment of the
administrative and financial implications of this Plan of Action,
including the possible need for establishing an anti-terrorism unit or
focal point within the Secretariat, and make recommendations for the
approval by the Permanent Council of necessary resources within the
2002 budget. The Permanent Council, acting, inter alia, through the
Chairman-in-Office and assisted by the Secretariat, will monitor the
implementation of this Action Plan. It will further identify sources
for assistance in implementing counter-terrorism measures, including
expert teams, and possible additional tasking by the Permanent Council
of OSCE field presences in close co-operation and agreement with host
governments.
(end text)
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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