General Assembly

Distr. GENERAL  

7 December 1987

ORIGINAL:
ENGLISH

                                                        A/RES/42/159
                                                        94th plenary meeting
                                                        7 December 1987
 
         42/159.  Measures to prevent international terrorism which endangers
                  or takes innocent human lives or jeopardizes fundamental
                  freedoms and study of the underlying causes of those forms
                  of terrorism and acts of violence which lie in misery,
                  frustration, grievance and despair and which cause some
                  people to sacrifice human lives, including their own, in an
                  attempt to effect radical changes:
 
                  (a)  Report of the Secretary-General;
 
                  (b)  Convening, under the auspices of the United Nations,
                       of an international conference to define terrorism
                       and to differentiate it from the struggle of peoples
                       for national liberation
 
      The General Assembly,
 
      Recalling its resolutions 3034 (XXVII) of 18 December 1972, 31/102 of
 15 December 1976, 32/147 of 16 December 1977, 34/145 of 17 December 1979,
 36/109 of 10 December 1981 and 38/130 of 19 December 1983,
 
      Reaffirming its resolution 40/61 of 9 December 1985, adopted without a
 vote, and the importance thereof in the consideration of the question of
 international terrorism and, in particular, in the strengthening of
 co-operation in preventing and eliminating terrorism,
 
      Recalling the recommendations of the Ad Hoc Committee on International
 Terrorism contained in its report to the General Assembly at its thirty-fourth
 session,
 
      Recalling also the Declaration on Principles of International Law
 concerning Friendly Relations and Co-operation among States in accordance with
 the Charter of the United Nations, the Declaration on the Strengthening of
 International Security, the Definition of Aggression and relevant
 instruments on international humanitarian law applicable in armed conflict,
 
      Further recalling the existing international conventions relating to
 various aspects of the problem of international terrorism, inter alia, the
 Convention on Offences and Certain Other Acts Committed on Board Aircraft,
 signed at Tokyo on 14 September 1963, the Convention for the Suppression of
 Unlawful Seizure of Aircraft, signed at The Hague on 16 December 1970, the
 Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Civil
 Aviation, concluded at Montreal on 23 September 1971, the Convention on the
 Prevention and Punishment of Crimes against Internationally Protected Persons,
 including Diplomatic Agents, adopted at New York on 14 December 1973, and
 the International Convention against the Taking of Hostages, adopted at New
 York on 17 December 1979, as well as the Convention on the Physical
 Protection of Nuclear Material, adopted at Vienna on 3 March 1980,
 
      Convinced of the importance of the observance by States of their
 obligations under the relevant international conventions to ensure that
 appropriate law enforcement measures are taken in connection with the offences
 addressed in those conventions,
 
      Deploring the continuation of all terrorist acts, including those in
 which States are directly or indirectly involved, which spread violence and
 terror, may result in loss of human lives and material damage and jeopardize
 the normal functioning of international relations,
 
      Deeply disturbed by the world-wide persistence of those acts of
 international terrorism which can pose a threat to international peace and
 security and to friendly relations among States,
 
      Convinced of the importance of expanding and improving international
 co-operation among States, on a bilateral, regional and multilateral basis,
 which will contribute to the elimination of acts of international terrorism
 and their underlying causes and to the prevention and elimination of this
 criminal scourge,
 
      Convinced that international co-operation in combating and preventing
 terrorism will contribute to the strengthening of confidence among States,
 reduce tensions and create a better climate among them,
 
      Reaffirming the principle of the self-determination of peoples as
 enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations,
 
      Reaffirming also the inalienable right to self-determination and
 independence of all peoples under colonial and racist regimes and other forms
 of alien domination, and upholding the legitimacy of their struggle, in
 particular the struggle of national liberation movements, in accordance with
 the purposes and principles of the Charter and of the Declaration on
 Principles of International Law concerning Friendly Relations and Co-operation
 among States in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations,
 
      Noting the efforts and important achievements of the International Civil
 Aviation Organization and the International Maritime Organization in promoting
 the security of international air and sea transport against acts of terrorism,
 consistent with General Assembly resolution 40/61,
 
      Appealing to all States to take all appropriate steps to prevent
 terrorist attacks against various forms of public transport,
 
      Urging all States to take effective measures, in accordance with
 established principles of international law, in order that all acts, methods
 and practices of international terrorism may be brought to an end,
 
      Mindful of the necessity of maintaining and safeguarding the basic rights
 of the individual in accordance with the relevant international human rights
 instruments and generally accepted international standards,
 
      Recognizing that the effectiveness of the struggle against terrorism
 could be enhanced by the establishment of a generally agreed definition of
 international terrorism,
 
      Taking into account the proposal made at its forty-second session to
 hold an international conference on international terrorism, as referred to in
 agenda item 126 (b),
 
      Taking note of the report of the Secretary-General,
 
      1.   Once again unequivocally condemns, as criminal, all acts, methods
 and practices of terrorism wherever and by whomever committed, including those
 which jeopardize friendly relations among States and their security;
 
      2.   Deeply deplores the loss of human lives which results from such acts
 of terrorism;
 
      3.   Also deplores the pernicious impact of acts of international
 terrorism on relations of co-operation among States, including co-operation
 for development;
 
      4.   Calls upon all States to fulfil their obligations under
 international law to refrain from organizing, instigating, assisting or
 participating in terrorist acts in other States, or acquiescing in activities
 within their territory directed towards the commission of such acts;
 
      5.   Urges all States to fulfil their obligations under international law
 and to take effective and resolute measures for the speedy and final
 elimination of international terrorism and, to that end:
 
      (a)  To prevent the preparation and organization in their respective
 territories, for commission within or outside their territories, of terrorist
 acts and subversive acts directed against other States and their citizens;
 
      (b)  To ensure the apprehension and prosecution or extradition of
 perpetrators of terrorist acts;
 
      (c)  To endeavour to conclude special agreements to that effect on a
 bilateral, regional and multilateral basis;
 
      (d)  To co-operate with one another in exchanging relevant information
 concerning the prevention and combating of terrorism;
 
      (e)  To harmonize their domestic legislation with the existing
 international conventions on this subject to which they are parties;
 
      6.   Appeals to all States that have not yet done so to consider becoming
 party to the international conventions relating to various aspects of
 international terrorism referred to in the preamble to the present resolution;
 
      7.   Urges all States not to allow any circumstances to obstruct the
 application of appropriate law enforcement measures provided for in the
 relevant conventions to which they are party to persons who commit acts of
 international terrorism covered by those conventions;
 
      8.   Also urges all States, unilaterally and in co-operation with other
 States, as well as relevant United Nations organs, to contribute to the
 progressive elimination of the causes underlying international terrorism and
 to pay special attention to all situations, including colonialism, racism and
 situations involving mass and flagrant violations of human rights and
 fundamental freedoms and those involving alien domination and occupation, that
 may give rise to international terrorism and may endanger international peace
 and security;
 
      9.   Welcomes the efforts undertaken by the International Civil Aviation
 Organization aimed at promoting universal acceptance of and strict compliance
 with international air-security conventions, and its ongoing work on a new
 instrument for the suppression of unlawful acts of violence at airports
 serving international civil aviation;
 
      10.  Also welcomes the work undertaken by the International Maritime
 Organization on the problem of terrorism on board or against ships, and the
 initiative under way to draft instruments on the suppression of unlawful acts
 against the safety of maritime navigation and of fixed platforms on the
 continental shelf;
 
      11.  Requests the other relevant specialized agencies and
 intergovernmental organizations, in particular the Universal Postal Union, the
 World Tourism Organization and the International Atomic Energy Agency, within
 their respective spheres of competence, to consider what further measures can
 usefully be taken to combat and eliminate terrorism;
 
      12.  Requests the Secretary-General to seek the views of Member States on
 international terrorism in all its aspects and on ways and means of combating
 it, including, inter alia, the convening, under the auspices of the United
 Nations, of an international conference to deal with international terrorism
 in the light of the proposal referred to in the penultimate preambular
 paragraph of the present resolution;
 
      13.  Further requests the Secretary-General to follow up, as appropriate,
 the implementation of the present resolution and to submit a report in this
 respect to the General Assembly at its forty-fourth session;
 
      14.  Considers that nothing in the present resolution could in any way
 prejudice the right to self-determination, freedom and independence, as
 derived from the Charter of the United Nations, of peoples forcibly deprived
 of that right referred to in the Declaration on Principles of International
 Law concerning Friendly Relations and Co-operation among States in accordance
 with the Charter of the United Nations, particularly peoples under colonial
 and racist regimes and foreign occupation or other forms of colonial
 domination, nor, in accordance with the principles of the Charter and in
 conformity with the above-mentioned Declaration, the right of these peoples to
 struggle to this end and to seek and receive support;
 
      15.  Decides to include the item in the provisional agenda of its
 forty-fourth session.