Inter-American Committee Against Terrorism (CICTE)
Fifth Regular Session
February 16-18, 2005
Port-Of-Spain, Trinidad And Tobago

Declaration of Port-Of-Spain on Strengthening Cooperation on Strategies To Sustain and Advance the Hemispheric Fight Against Terrorism
(Adopted at the Third Plenary Session, held on February 17, 2005)

The Member States of the Inter-American Committee against Terrorism (CICTE) of the Organization of American States (OAS), meeting at the Fifth Regular Session, in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, from February 16-18, 2005,
REAFFIRMING:

That terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, whatever its origin or motivation, has no justification whatsoever and constitutes a grave threat to international peace and security, undermines on-going efforts to foster stability, prosperity and equity in the countries of the region, and violates the democratic values and principles enshrined in the OAS Charter, Inter-American Democratic Charter and other regional and international instruments;

That states have made a commitment to ensure that the fight against terrorism and its financing is in compliance with their obligations under national and international law, including international humanitarian law, international refugee law and international human rights law;

Their commitment to prevent, combat, and eliminate terrorism and its financing through the broadest cooperation;

That the threat of terrorism is exacerbated by connections between terrorism and illicit drug trafficking, illicit trafficking in arms, money laundering, and other forms of transnational organized crime and that the resulting alliances and benefits derived from those connections are or can be used to support and finance terrorist activities; and

That, in order to combat impunity, all governments in the Hemisphere should promote, within their constitutional frameworks, legislative measures that criminalize the offenses identified in the Inter-American Convention against Terrorism, in order to prosecute and punish all those persons responsible for planning, facilitating, financing, and committing acts of terrorism, ensuring due process and respect for the principle that the punishment should be commensurate with the offense committed;

TAKING INTO ACCOUNT the role that pertains to the member states of the Organization of American States in the implementation of the United Nations Security Council resolution S/RES/1373 (2001);

NOTING WITH SATISFACTION:

That the First Meeting of Government Cybersecurity Experts, (Cybersecurity Practitioners' Workshop), was held in Ottawa, Canada, from March 29�, 2004, as convened by CICTE at its Fourth Regular Session, to prepare CICTE's contribution to a cybersecurity strategy for OAS Member States, in compliance with the request made by the OAS General Assembly in its resolution AG/RES. 1939 (XXXIII-O/03);

That, through its resolution AG/RES. 2004 (XXXIV-O/04), the General Assembly adopted the Comprehensive Inter-American Strategy to Combat Threats to Cyber-security: A Multidimensional and Multidisciplinary Approach to Creating a Culture of Cyber-security, which includes the CICTE contribution from the said Meeting of Government Cybersecurity Experts;and

The holding of Subregional Workshops on Cyber-Crimes organized by the OAS Group of Governmental Experts on Cyber-Crime;

WELCOMING:

The increasing coordination of efforts and cooperation between CICTE and the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD) which strengthen hemispheric security, including their joint leadership in organizing the "OAS Symposium on Border Management: A Dialogue on Cross-Border Cooperation and Border Integrity", that took place in Vancouver, Canada, from August 30 to September 2, 2004;

The significant efforts made by the states of the Hemisphere toeffectively implement the measures adopted by the Conference of Contracting Governments to the International Maritime Organization (IMO), including the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS), and in particular, the International Ship and Port Security (ISPS) Code which became effectiveon July 1, 2004, taking into account the vast resources that this called for, as well as to implement the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Standards and Recommended Practices outlined in the 18 Annexes to the Convention on International Civil Aviation;and

The continuing efforts made by the states of the Hemisphere to implement the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering's Special Recommendations on Terrorist Financing, including through regional anti-money laundering bodies such as Financial Action Task Force of South America against Money Laundering (GAFISUD) and the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF);

BEARING IN MIND that the Meeting of Government Experts to Exchange, from a Human Rights Perspective, Best Practices and National Experiences in Adopting Anti-terrorism Measures, was held at the Headquarters of the OAS, Washington DC, U.S.A. from February 12�, 2004;

RECOGNIZING the important contribution of other appropriate entities of the inter-American system, sub-regional mechanisms, and bilateral agreements to the fight against terrorism in the Hemisphere; and

DETERMINED to address the constantly evolving threat of terrorism by strengthening existing strategies, implementing the new international agreed security measures adopted at ICAO and IMO, and exploring,as maybe necessary, new strategies of multilateralco-operation to promote and sustain the hemispheric fight against terrorism, thereby making the Hemisphere an inhospitable environment for terrorist networks and laying the foundation for a Hemisphere free of terrorism,

DECLARE:

1. The need to evaluate the effectiveness of current counter-terrorist policies and practices, including those related to border controls, transportation security and terrorist financing, implemented at the national, sub-regional and regional levels.

2. The importance of strengthening current effective cooperation measures and mechanisms through improved access to sources of technical and financial assistance for counter-terrorism capacity-buildingto prevent, combat and eliminate terrorism.

3. The urgent need to adopt measures in accordance with national laws and international instruments in force to strengthen regional and international cooperation and the exchange of information with the aim of locating, capturing, prosecuting, and punishing the sponsors, organizers, and perpetrators of terrorist acts, as well as of identifying and freezing assets and resources used to facilitate, promote, or commit such acts.

4. That any measures to fight terrorism and its financing undertaken by states must fully respect the rule of law and comply with their obligations under international law, including international humanitarian law, international refugee law and international human rights law.

5. The need for member states that have not done so to sign, ratify, or accede to, and implement the Inter-American Convention against Terrorism and other relevant regional and international conventions and protocols, including the 12 UN conventions and protocols on terrorism and to implement the United Nations Security Council resolution 1373 of 2001.

6. Their commitment to identifying and fighting emerging terrorist threats, regardless of origin and motivation, and to developing and/or adopting, in a proactive manner, national emergency response and consequence management plans, and cooperative programs aimed at reducing the physical and cyber risks associated with such threats.

7. Their commitment to strengthen multilateral efforts to prevent terrorist threats against all transportation systems and confront the threat posed by terrorists� acquisition and use of man portable air defense systems (MANPADS) as well as other potential threats against international civil aviation.

8. Their commitment to preventing the possibility of access, possession, and use of weapons and materiel of mass destruction and their means of delivery by terrorists.

9. Their commitment to implement the new international agreed security measures adopted by the Conference of the Contracting Governments to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and the importance of the role of cooperation and technical assistance in enabling states to carry out those measures.
10. Their readiness to extend to each other the broadest and swiftest mutual legal assistance, in accordance with applicable multilateral and bilateral agreements.

11. The importance of exploring new strategies of multilateral cooperation among member states in order to improve their capacity to sustain the fight against terrorism and promote early detection capabilities.

12. The importance of ensuring that strengthened cooperation among member states in the fight against terrorism is undertaken in harmony with initiatives being pursued in the Hemisphere to facilitate increased trade and development and improved democratic governance.

13. The need to support cooperation on cross-border management aimed at preventing, combating and eliminating terrorism throughout the Hemisphere, without prejudice to applicable international commitments in relation to the free movement of people, increased trade, and development.

14. The importance of promoting civil society awareness of policies and measures implemented at the national, sub-regional and regional levels to prevent, combat and eliminate terrorism.

15. The need for member states to prohibit their nationals or any person or entity within their territories from willfully providing, collecting, or making available funds, financial resources, or any other economic resources for the benefit of persons or groups that commit, attempt to commit, facilitate, or participate in the commission of terrorist acts, and to punish them for doing so.

16. The need for member states to implement the 40 plus 9 recommendations of FATF on money-laundering and terrorist financing, including the need to increase international cooperation to identify and trace the recipients of wire transfers and bank transactions.

AFFIRM:

17. Their commitment to intensify efforts to disrupt the capacity of terrorist networks to threaten the ability of individuals to travel and move safely between and recreate in Member States, by strengthening the coordination and provision of technical assistance, when requested, in the establishment and implementation of and compliance with security standards and practices, including those related to tourist and recreational facilities.

18. Their commitment to improve the security and integrity of official documents at the national, sub-regional and regional levels.

19. Their commitment to continue to strengthen cooperation within the framework of CICTE.

20. Their commitment to support the Comprehensive Inter-American Strategy to Combat Threats to Cybersecurity: A Multidimensional and Multidisciplinary Approach to Creating a Culture of Cybersecurity, and in particular to establish or identify national "alert and watch and warning" groups, also known as Computer Security Incident Response Teams (CSIRTs) and thereby promote an inter-American watch and warning network to rapidly disseminate cybersecurity information to respond to and recover from crises, incidents and threats to computer security.

21. Their commitment to deepen cooperation in the fight against terrorism among Member States, OAS permanent observer states, the CICTE Secretariat, the Counter Terrorism Committee of the United Nations Security Council, and other pertinent international and regional organizations.

22. Their commitment to implement the CICTE Work Plan adopted at this session.