AG/RES. 2113 (XXXV-O/05) Transparency And Confidence- And Security-Building In The Americas

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

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY,

HAVING SEEN the Annual Report of the Permanent Council to the General Assembly, in particular the section on the matters entrusted to the Committee on Hemispheric Security (AG/doc.4376/05 add. 5);

RECALLING its resolutions AG/RES. 1121 (XXI-O/91) and AG/RES. 1123 (XXI-O/91), on strengthening peace and security in the Hemisphere; and AG/RES. 1179 (XXII-O/92), AG/RES. 1237 (XXIII-O/93), AG/RES. 1284 (XXIV-O/94), AG/RES. 1288 (XXIV-O/94), AG/RES. 1353 (XXV-O/95), AG/RES. 1409 (XXVI-O/96), AG/RES. 1494 (XXVII-O/97), AG/RES. 1566 (XXVIII-O/98), AG/RES. 1623 (XXIX-O/99), AG/RES. 1744 (XXX-O/00), AG/RES. 1801 (XXXI-O/01), AG/RES. 1879 (XXXII-O/02), AG/RES. 1967 (XXXIII-O/03), and AG/RES. 1996 (XXXIV-O/04), on transparency and confidence- and security-building measures in the Americas (CSBMs);

TAKING NOTE of the Rapporteur's Report and the Chairman's Conclusions of the First Meeting of the Forum on Confidence- and Security-Building Measures, held in Washington, D.C., on April 25 and 26, 2005 (CSH/FORO-I/doc.10/05 and CSH/FORO-I/doc.11/05); and

CONSIDERING:

That in the Declaration on Security in the Americas, adopted at the Special Conference on Security, held in Mexico City, Mexico, in October 2003, member states affirmed that "[c]onfidence- and security-building measures and transparency in defense and security policies contribute to increasing stability, safeguarding hemispheric and international peace and security, and consolidating democracy" and recommended that periodically the Committee on Hemispheric Security meet as the "Forum for Confidence- and Security-Building Measures" in order to review and evaluate existing confidence- and security-building measures and, if appropriate, consider new measures that would make it possible to ensure progress in this area; and

That, in the Declaration of Quito of the Sixth Conference of Ministers of Defense of the Americas, member states reaffirmed their commitment to "continue to support and promote mutual confidence building measures and transparency in military matters, by implementing the Declarations of Santiago, San Salvador, and Miami, which contribute to the hemisphere’s stability and strengthen regional cooperation,"

RESOLVES:

1. To urge member states to implement, in the manner they deem most appropriate, the recommendations contained in the Declaration of Santiago and the Declaration of San Salvador on Confidence- and Security-Building Measures and in the Consensus of Miami: Declaration by the Experts on Confidence- and Security-Building Measures: Recommendations to the Summit-Mandated Special Conference on Security; and the relevant sections of the Declaration of Kingstown on the Security of Small Island States.

2. To urge all states which have not already done so to consider signing, ratifying, or acceding to the Inter-American Convention on Transparency in Conventional Weapons Acquisitions; and to request the Secretary General to present a report to the Permanent Council, prior to the thirty-sixth regular session of the General Assembly, on the status of signatures and ratifications of, and accessions to, this Convention.

3. To commend member states that have regularly submitted their reports on the application of the confidence- and security-building measures (CSBMs) contained in the above-mentioned Declarations and Consensus; and to urge all member states to provide or continue to provide such reports and information on the application of CSBMs to the General Secretariat, by July 15 of each year.

4. To request that the General Secretariat and the Inter-American Defense Board update the inventory of CSBMs based on reports presented by member states, that the Board also update its inventory of CSBMS in other regions, and that they present an annual update of these inventories to the Committee on Hemispheric Security (CSH).

5. To instruct the Permanent Council to convene the Forum on Confidence- and Security-Building Measures to meet in the first half of 2006 to evaluate the application of the Illustrative List of Confidence- and Security-Building Measures, adopted at the Meeting of Experts on Confidence- and Security-Building Measures, held in Miami in February 2003.

6. To reiterate its request to the competent bodies of the Organization of American States and other appropriate national, subregional, and regional institutions to consider developing and promoting the specific confidence-enhancing measures of a non-military nature identified in the said Illustrative List of Confidence- and Security-Building Measures and provide a written submission to the CSH.

7. To urge member states to continue promoting transparency in defense policy with regard to, among other things, modernization of the armed forces, including changes in their structure and composition, the acquisition of equipment and materiel, and military expenditures, and by considering the Guidelines on Developing National Defense Policy and Doctrine Papers, adopted by the Permanent Council.

8. To maintain as a goal universal participation by all member states in the United Nations (UN) Register of Conventional Arms and the UN Standardized International Reporting of Military Expenditures, in accordance with the pertinent resolutions of the UN General Assembly; and to renew its request that member states provide said information to the OAS Secretary General by July 15 of each year.

9. To urge member states to share bilateral and subregional experiences regarding the development of standardized methodologies for measuring military expenditures.

10. To encourage member states to use the Organization of American States Information System (OASIS) communication network for the instantaneous exchange of information on security matters, including CSBMs; and to request the General Secretariat to assign personnel to assist and train officials in member states in the use of said system.

11. To instruct the Permanent Council to continue to encourage the exchange of experiences in the area of confidence- and security-building measures with other regions, which may include the exchange of information between the CSH and other international organizations working on the subject, such as the United Nations, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), and the Association of South-East Asian Nations Regional Forum (ARF); and to request the Permanent Council to hold the next round of OAS-OSCE consultations and OAS-ARF consultations.

12. To request the General Secretariat to include in OASIS member states' national doctrine and defense policy papers, as well as the information, inter alia, provided by the states parties pursuant to the Inter-American Convention on Transparency in Conventional Weapons Acquisitions, and by the member states to the UN Register of Conventional Arms, the UN Standardized International Reporting of Military Expenditures, the OAS Roster of Experts on Confidence- and Security-Building Measures, and the OAS Register of Antipersonnel Land Mines.

13. To request the Secretary General to update each year, on the basis of information submitted by member states each year by July 15, the Roster of Experts on Confidence- and Security-Building Measures, and to circulate it to the member states each year by July 30.

14. To request the Secretary General to transmit this resolution to the Secretary-General of the UN, the Secretary General of the OSCE, the President of the ARF, and other pertinent regional organizations.

15. To instruct the Permanent Council and the General Secretariat, as appropriate, to carry out the activities mentioned in this resolution within the resources allocated in the program-budget of the Organization and other resources.

16. To request the Permanent Council to report to the General Assembly at its thirty-sixth regular session on the implementation of this resolution.