AG/RES. 2098 (XXXV-O/05) Observations And Recommendations On The Annual Report Of The Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission

(Adopted at the fourth plenary session, held on June 7, 2005)

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY,

HAVING SEEN the observations and recommendations of the Permanent Council (AG/doc.4485/05) on the Annual Report of the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission to the General Assembly (CP/doc.4033/05);

RECALLING resolutions AG/RES. 2015 (XXXIV-O/04), "Observations and Recommendations on the Annual Report of the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission," and AG/RES. 2026 (XXXIV-O/04), "Fighting Transnational Organized Crime in the Hemisphere";

RECALLING that, in the Declaration on Security in the Americas, the states of the Hemisphere adopted a new concept of security and considered that the security of the states of the Hemisphere is affected, in different ways, by traditional threats and by new threats, concerns, and other challenges of diverse types;

CONSCIOUS of the persistent need for greater progress in the fight against drug trafficking and related crimes, such as money laundering, illicit trafficking in arms, illicit diversion and misuse of pharmaceutical products and chemical substances, and transnational organized crime in general;

DEEPLY CONCERNED over the existence of armed groups and social movements related to the cultivation of illicit drug crops in certain countries, giving rise to situations that can destabilize the institutional order and undermine democratic governance;

REAFFIRMING its commitment to the Multilateral Evaluation Mechanism (MEM) as an objective instrument for measuring the progress made by member states in controlling the illicit drug problem and strengthening hemispheric solidarity and cooperation, as also set forth in resolution AG/RES. 2097 (XXXV-O/05), "Multilateral Evaluation Mechanism (MEM) of the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission: Report on Its Third Evaluation Round";

WELCOMING that the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD), aware that drug use is a public health problem that affects society as a whole, has declared 2005 as the Year of Substance Abuse Prevention in the Americas, and that the states of the Hemisphere recognize the importance of early drug abuse prevention in the family, school, and community, including programs that strengthen values and life skills in children and youth; and

NOTING WITH SATISFACTION that CICAD has strengthened its cooperation and exchange of information with the Inter-American Committee against Terrorism (CICTE), the Consultative Committee established under the Inter-American Convention against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Ammunition, Explosives, and Other Related Materials (CIFTA), the Inter-American Committee on Ports (CIP), the Working Group on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters and Extradition of the Meeting of Ministers of Justice or of Ministers or Attorneys General of the Americas (REMJA), and other pertinent bodies of the inter-American system,

RESOLVES:

1. To express appreciation for the presentation to the General Assembly of the hemispheric report and the 33 national reports of the Multilateral Evaluation Mechanism (MEM) for the 2003-2004 term, which it endorses in full; and to urge every member state to implement the recommendations made to them.

2. To welcome the work done and the decisions taken by the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD) regarding illicit drug trafficking and related crimes associated with transnational organized crime, in accordance with resolution AG/RES. 2026 (XXXIV-O/04).

3. To urge member states to:

a. Initiate, maintain, or increase their voluntary financial contributions to CICAD so that it may increase its assistance to member states in their national efforts to comply with the MEM recommendations;

b. Consider incorporating, as appropriate, the provisions of the CICAD Model Regulations for the Control of the International Movement of Firearms, Their Parts and Components and Ammunition, including the provisions on brokers;

c. Strengthen cross-border cooperation, particularly in the exchange of experiences on issues related to drug control;

d. Strengthen international cooperation and coordination by implementing the recommendations of the Expert Group on Maritime Drug Trafficking, assuring, in particular, their participation in meetings of that group and the signing of bilateral, regional, and other agreements to suppress illicit drug trafficking by sea and eliminate safe havens used by smugglers;

e. Incorporate into their domestic legislation, as appropriate, the provisions of the CICAD Model Regulations concerning Laundering Offenses Connected to Illicit Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Offenses, including the amendments adopted at the thirty-seventh regular session of CICAD, including measures referring to the seizure of assets, special investigative techniques, and transnational organized crime;

f. Strengthen the various aspects of their national drug control systems, including the national drug commissions, national drug control strategies and plans and, as appropriate, the decentralization of these strategies to local and municipal governments, and, in general, their framework of laws and regulations adapted to the current characteristics of the problem in each country;

g. During 2005, the Year of Substance Abuse Prevention in the Americas, promote programs and activities to contribute to illicit drug demand reduction and to the strengthening of prevention and education programs, through the development of life skills and the promotion of healthy living;

h. Take into consideration the document "CICAD Hemispheric Guidelines for School Prevention Programs," which may be used as a guide for standardizing school-based interventions through effective, science-based programs, to prevent drug use by children and youth in the Hemisphere;

i. Take into consideration the document "Guidelines for the Organization of a Comprehensive National Drug Treatment System," which may serve as a guide for establishing a treatment system that helps to improve the quality of care offered by treatment centers;

j. Endeavor to ensure that alternative development projects support the ongoing economic viability of communities and families in those countries most affected by the presence of illicit crops, and those most vulnerable to the appearance of such crops;

k. Consider the possibility of adopting alternative mechanisms to replace prison for drug users who commit minor crimes related to the possession of drugs for personal use, in accordance with the pertinent legislation in each country;

l. Continue efforts to disrupt and prevent the growth of juvenile criminal gangs involved in illegal activities associated with drugs and in related crimes; and

m. Consider, if they have not yet done so, signing and ratifying the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and the three Protocols thereto; the United Nations Convention against Corruption; the Inter-American Convention against Corruption; the Inter-American Convention against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Ammunition, Explosives, and Other Related Materials (CIFTA); and the Inter-American Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters.[1]^/

4. Also to urge the permanent observers and international financial institutions to initiate, maintain, or increase their contributions to CICAD activities.

5. To recognize the progress made in the above-mentioned areas and, in accordance with the 2004 annual report of CICAD, to urge the Executive Secretariat of CICAD to continue to support and develop these areas and programs.

6. In accordance with the Anti-Drug Strategy in the Hemisphere of 1996, the CICAD Executive Secretariat should continue supporting the policies and programs corresponding to areas identified by the MEM, according to the necessities of each country in relation to efforts to control illicit drugs and related crimes in the four principal areas of the MEM: institutional development, demand reduction, supply reduction, and control measures.

7. To instruct the CICAD Executive Secretariat:

a. Working through the Inter-American Observatory on Drugs, to support member states in their efforts to develop and maintain uniform national data collection systems on the problem of drug use and related crimes at the national level, enabling them to measure the dimensions of the problem and track new trends in substance abuse. Further, to develop and maintain information systems at the hemispheric level, and to expand to other member states, as appropriate, the CICAD pilot program to develop and test a standardized methodology to estimate the human, social, and economic cost of drugs in the Hemisphere, as mandated by the Third Summit of the Americas;

b. To support the work of the expert groups dedicated to progress in the following thematic areas: demand reduction, control of firearms trafficking, pharmaceutical products, chemical precursors, money laundering, and maritime cooperation, to enable them to increase and facilitate cooperation and coordination, as well as information exchange, among the member states in these areas;

c. To make an effort to prioritize the programs conducted by CICAD in all areas according to member states’ needs, and to explore new technologies and other measures to reduce costs, in order to adapt to the Organization’s current financial problems;

d. To strengthen its cooperation and exchange of information with the various inter-American committees and mechanisms, taking into account paragraphs 27 and 45 of the Declaration on Security in the Americas, in particular with the Consultative Committee of the CIFTA, the Inter-American Committee on Ports (CIP), the Working Group on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters and Extradition of the Meeting of Ministers of Justice or of Ministers or Attorneys General of the Americas (REMJA), the special joint committee of the Permanent Council and the REMJA on transnational organized crime, the Inter-American Committee against Terrorism (CICTE), and other relevant organs of the inter-American system; and

e. To work to identify new resources for continuing its support for the efforts of the member states in developing alternative development programs and projects.

However, Colombia has stated that it will not ratify the Protocol against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Their Parts and Components and Ammunition, or the Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air.
Colombia does not agree with the text of Article 4, paragraph 2, of the Protocol against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Their Parts and Components and Ammunition, concerning its scope of application. Colombia would have preferred that the Protocol apply to all transfers of firearms, their parts and components, and ammunition, in order to make a real contribution to preventing and combating illicit trafficking therein, and in order that transfers between states, like all other transfers, be subject to the control mechanisms set out in the Protocol.

The definition of "illicit trafficking" contained in Article 3, section (e), of the Protocol must be borne in mind: it states that, for a transfer to be licit, the authorization of all states parties involved in it is required. An escape clause, such as that appearing in Article 4, runs counter to that definition inasmuch as it implies that a state may transfer arms without the authorization or consent of one of the other states concerned. This would not only make such a transfer illicit but also open up the possibility for arms to be transferred to non-state actors.
Colombia, a country that has been seriously affected by the illicit trafficking in arms, cannot accept that certain arms transfers, such as transfers to non-state actors–which in our view constitute a grave crime–and transfers between states be excluded from the Protocol’s control measures, and therefore, in accordance with the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, took the sovereign decision not to ratify this Protocol.

With reference to the Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air, Colombia has stated that it will not ratify this instrument inasmuch as it considers that it contains provisions designed to legitimize the forced repatriation of migrants who have not necessarily been smuggled. That approach was promoted during the negotiation of the Protocol by the destination countries, none of which has ratified the 1990 United Nations Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families.
Colombia believes that the clause contained in Article 6, paragraph 4, could lead to the criminalization of migrants, whereas the purpose of the Protocol is to pursue organized criminal gangs, not migrants.