(Washington, DC, June 8, 2004)

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY,

BEARING IN MIND that, under Article 2 of the Charter of the Organization of American States, one of the essential purposes of the Organization is to strengthen peace and security in the Hemisphere;

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), and AG/RES. 1967 (XXXIII-O/03), on confidence- and security-building measures (CSBMs);

RECALLING ALSO its resolutions AG/RES. 1607 (XXIX-O/99), AG/RES. 1749 (XXX-O/00), AG/RES. 1799 (XXXI-O/01), AG/RES. 1881 (XXXII-O/02), and AG/RES. 1967 (XXXIII-O/03), on the Inter-American Convention on Transparency in Conventional Weapons Acquisitions;

NOTING WITH SATISFACTION that the Governments of Argentina, Canada, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay have deposited their instruments of ratification of the Inter-American Convention on Transparency in Conventional Weapons Acquisitions, which entered into force on November 21, 2002, and that 20 OAS member states have signed it;

BEARING IN MIND the Declaration on Security in the Americas, adopted at the Special Conference on Security, held in Mexico City, Mexico, in October 2003;

NOTING the significant progress made in identifying and applying confidence- and security-building measures since the adoption of the Declaration of Santiago on Confidence- and Security-Building Measures (Santiago, 1998), which has helped to reduce factors that generate distrust and has contributed to the promotion of transparency and mutual confidence; and

CONSIDERING:

That the Heads of State and Government, at the Second and Third Summits of the Americas (Santiago, 1998, and Quebec City, 2001), pledged to continue promoting transparency in defense and security matters;

That, in the above-mentioned Declaration on Security in the Americas, member states acknowledged "the need to find prompt and peaceful solutions to the controversies that persist in the Hemisphere" and undertook "to make every effort to reach negotiated agreements based on justice and full respect for international law and treaties in force"; and

That, also in the said Declaration on Security in the Americas, 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,"

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; 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 in resolution AG/RES. 1179 (XXII-O/92).

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-fifth 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 Consensus and Declarations; 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 endorse the conclusion of the Special Conference on Security with respect to confidence- and security-building, as set out in paragraph 17 of the Declaration on Security in the Americas, in which the member states recognized that, "as stated in the Declarations of Santiago and San Salvador and the Consensus of Miami, confidence- and security-building measures increase transparency and understanding among the states of the Hemisphere and directly bolster regional stability"; affirmed "that the implementation and further development of confidence- and security-building measures, within the constitutional framework of each state, contribute to peace in the Hemisphere"; and committed to "build mutual confidence by implementing, as appropriate, confidence- and security-building measures identified in the aforementioned instruments and those established under bilateral and multilateral instruments and other arrangements."

6. To instruct the Permanent Council to convene the CSH as the Forum for Confidence- and Security-Building Measures to meet in the first semester of 2005 in order to review and evaluate existing CSBMs and to discuss, consider, and propose new CSBMs.
7. To reiterate its request that the competent bodies of the Organization of American States and other appropriate national, subregional, and regional institutions develop specific confidence-enhancing measures[1]^/ identified in the Illustrative List of Confidence- and Security-Building Measures of the Miami Meeting of Experts on Confidence- and Security-Building Measures and provide a written submission to the CSH.

8. To request member states to develop specific confidence-enhancing measures to address the new threats, concerns, and other challenges identified in section IV of the said Illustrative List of Confidence- and Security-Building Measures and inform the CSH on their actions in this regard.

9. 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.

10. To maintain as a goal universal participation 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.

11. 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.

12. To request the General Secretariat to include in OASIS the following information, inter alia, provided by member states under the Inter-American Convention on Transparency in Conventional Weapons Acquisitions and 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 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.

14. 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.

15. 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.

16. 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.

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