SUBMITTED TO: The General Assembly SUBJECT: Response to the Threat of International Terrorism SPONSORED BY: Marshall Islands, Cape Verde, Tonga SIGNATORIES: Bahamas, Bulgaria, Italy, Jamaica, Uganda, Vanuatu
The General Assembly, 1) Grieving with the citizens of the world who have suffered from terrorist attacks, 2) understanding that international terrorism constitutes one of this century’s 3) greatest threats to humanity; and 4) Affirming that collective action is required in order to eradicate this plague upon 5) humanity; and 6) Recalling the relevant international counter-terrorism conventions, the Declaration 7) on Measures to Eliminate International Terrorism (1994) and the Declaration to 8) Supplement the 1994 Declaration on Measures to Eliminate International 9) Terrorism (1996), and Security Council resolution 1373 (2001); 10) Noting with gratitude the efforts of international organizations to combat 11) terrorism such as the Organization of Islamic Conference’s 1998 12) Convention on Combating Terrorism, which denounces terrorism and exhorts 13) the Member States to refrain from assisting or supporting terrorists in 14) any way, shape or form, including the harboring of terrorists and granting 15) them financial help or other forms of assistance; 16) Acknowledging recent efforts, such as the "Plan of Action" of the European Council 17) of 21 September 2001, to counteract terrorism on the regional and global levels; 18) Reiterating that terrorism and the support of terrorism is contrary to the 19) principals established in the Charter of the United Nations and a grave threat to 20) international peace and security; 21) Noting with regret that there are terrorist organizations in existence that are 22) suspected of being sponsored by governmental organizations, 23) Reaffirming that the right of self-defense guaranteed in Article 51 of the charter 24) of the United Nations can not be infringed upon; but 25) Recognizing that the United Nations has a responsibility to coordinate collective action 26) for the greater good of humanity; 27) The General Assembly resolves to do the following: 28) 1) Reiterates that all acts, methods and practices of terrorism are in any circumstance, 29) criminal and unjustifiable, whatever the considerations of a political, philosophical, 30) ideological, racial, ethnic, religious or other nature that may be invoked to justify 31) them; 32) 2) Defines international terrorism for the purposes of this document as criminal 33) activity or the conspiracy to commit criminal activity not confined within the 34) boundaries of a single state designed to create duress through either violence or the 35) threat of violence amongst civilians in order to achieve a political objective; 36) 3) Calls upon all member nations to collaborate to combat the scourge of international 37) terrorism; 38) 4) Adopts the following recommendations for addressing the threat of international 39) terrorism; 40) a) Calls upon all members to offer safe haven and assistance to victims of 41) international terrorism; 42) b) Requests that all member nations share information that may lead to the arrest and 43) conviction of international terrorists or to the prevention of terrorist activity which 44) could lead to loss of innocent lives;
45) c) Establishes an Advisory Group on International Terrorism that will report to the 46) Secretary General at the request of the General Assembly, Security Council, or the 47) Secretary General at the behest of a Member State on the validity of evidence presented 48) as justification for actions by the United Nations under Chapter VII or a Member State 49) acting under Article 2 in response to a perceived terrorist attack; 50) i) the Advisory Group will be composed of nine persons, no two of whom shall be 51) nationals of the same state. It shall reflect geographic balance, and represent the 52) major legal traditions and practices. A person who for the purposes of membership in the 53) Advisory Group could be regarded as a national of more than one state shall be deemed to 54) be a national of the one in which he ordinarily exercises civil and political rights; 55) ii) the members of the Advisory Group will be generally recognized scholars or 56) highly-regarded practitioners of criminal law; 57) iii) the members of the Advisory Group shall be elected by the General Assembly 58) for a period of nine years, with the right to be re-elected for two terms; provided, 59) however, that of the judges elected at the first election, the terms of five judges shall 60) expire at the end of three years and the terms of five more judges shall expire at the end 61) of six years, using the following procedure: 62) a. within the three months following its ratification of the present resolution, 63) each Member State, or group of Member States shall select four persons at the most, 64) of known competency in matters of criminal, of the highest moral reputation, and disposed 65) to accept the duties of Member of the Advisory Group. In case of death, incapacity or 66) unwillingness to serve of a candidate, the Member State or group of Member states that 67) selected the candidate for the pool of possible members of the Advisory Group can select 68) another candidate to take this person's place; 65) b. before making these nominations, each national group is recommended to consult 66) its highest court of justice, its legal faculties and schools of law, and its national 67) academies and national sections of international academies devoted to the study of law. 68) c. the Secretary General will submit a list of 27 names that ensures that in the 69) body as a whole the representation of the main forms of civilization and of the principal 70) legal systems of the world should be assured, 71) d. those candidates who obtain an absolute majority of votes in the General 72) Assembly shall be considered as elected; 73) e. in the event of more than one national of the same state obtaining an absolute 74) majority of the votes both of the General Assembly, the eldest of these only shall be 75) considered as elected; 76) f. if, after the first ballot, one or more seats remain to be filled, a second and, 77) if necessary, a third ballot shall take place; 78) g. if after the third ballot, the General Assembly has not been successful in 79) procuring an election, those members of the Advisory Group who have already been elected 80) shall, within a period to be fixed by the Secretary General, proceed to fill the vacant 81) seats by selection from among those candidates who have obtained votes in the General 82) Assembly; 83) h. the judges whose terms are to expire at the end of the above-mentioned initial 84) periods of three and six years shall be chosen by lot to be drawn by the Secretary-General 85) immediately after the first election has been completed; 86) i. the members of the Advisory Group shall continue to discharge their duties 87) until their places have been filled. Though replaced, they shall finish any evidentiary 88) hearings which they may have begun; 89) j. vacancies shall be filled by the same method as that laid down for the first 90) election subject to the following provision: the Secretary-General shall, within one 91) month of the occurrence of the vacancy, proceed to issue the invitations provided for in 92) sub-clause 4 c) iii) b. above, and the date of the election shall be fixed by the Secretary 93) General; 94) k. in the performance of their duties, the members of the Advisory Group on 95) International Terrorism shall not seek or receive instructions from any government or from 96) any other authority external to the United Nations. They shall refrain from any action which 97) might reflect on their position as international officials responsible only to the 98) Organization; and will be acting in their personal capacity, not as a representative of a 99) Member State, or any other international organization other that the United Nations; 100) iv) the Advisory Group will provide an advisory opinion to the Secretary General on 100) the validity of the evidence submitted of a terrorist attack is concurrent with the 101) appropriate international conventions, declarations, and agreements regarding terrorism; 102) v) the Secretary General will submit the opinion to the Security Council, who can then 103) take action under Chapter VII or if the Security Council decides not to take action, 104) then the Secretary General will submit the Advisory Group's opinion to the General 105) Assembly who will have the right to make recommendations on international peace and 106) security under Article 11 of the Charter; 107) vi) urges all Member States to expeditiously facilitate the administration of justice 108) for all persons whose charges are upheld as valid by the Advisory Group and the United 109) Nations either through internal judicial processes or extradition to the aggrieved nation;
110) d) Requests that member states seize all funds and assets which can be identified as 111) belonging to international terrorists and international terrorist organizations; 112) e) Calls for the exclusion of expulsion as a possible punishment from a member state as 113) a punishment for individuals indicted or convicted of terrorist activities within that 114) state; 115) f) Demands that all member nations refrain from giving support and or safe passage 116) to international terrorists and international terrorist organizations; 117) g) Requests the Security Council investigate allegations of state sponsored terrorism 118) and make recommendations for disciplinary action to the GA when any member nation 119) is found to be guilty of such sponsorship as it is a violation of the principals of the 120) Charter; 121) h) i.) Authorizes the creation of the Search Engine of International Terrorism (SEIT), 122) an international database accessible to all member states of known and suspected 123) international terrorists including known and/or suspected aliases, as well as, but 124) not limited to, their sponsors and recruiting agents; 125) ii.) Assigns the Terrorism Prevention Branch of the ODCCP with the tasks of 126) maintaining the SEIT database and facilitating accessibility to the information 127) to all member states; 128) iii.) Urges full cooperation from the law enforcement and intelligence services 129) of all Member States in the creation and maintenance of SEIT; 130) iv.) Urges all member nations to reject visa applications by individuals that match 131) a SEIT entry, regardless of reason for application; 132) v.) Requests the Secretary-General provide the Terrorism Prevention Branch of 133) the ODCCP with the resources necessary to enable it to promote in an effective 134) manner the expeditious creation and maintenance of SEIT; 135) i) Urges all member states to exercise extraordinary scrutiny when evaluating 136) visa applications from nations found to be supportive of terrorist activities. 137) j) Condones the use of military force against external international terrorists and 138) their sponsors only in instances where proper charges have been made and recognized as 139) valid by the Advisory Board and traditional diplomatic means can not facilitate the 140) administration of justice; 141) k) Urges all nations to place upon their military and police forces the primary 142) consideration of safe guarding the health and welfare of innocent citizens when 143) engaging the forces of international terrorism; 144) l) Recommends that an "International Conference on the Global Combat against 145) Terrorism" should be convened in the near future with the main aim to solidify a 146) comprehensive and legally binding strategy - e.g. in the form of a convention – for 147) addressing the scourge of international terrorism; 148) m) i.) Suggests that the Security Council should work on a concrete "plan of action" 149) to combat terrorism; 150) ii.) Further suggests that this plan could consist of the following elements: 151) a) Enhancing police and judicial cooperation; 152) b) Developing international legal instruments; 153) c) Putting an end to the funding of terrorism; 154) d) Strengthening air security;