General Assembly

Distr. GENERAL  

4 December 1989

ORIGINAL:
ENGLISH

                                                 A/RES/44/29
                                                 72nd plenary meeting
                                                 4 December 1989
 
 44/29.   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
                     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, 38/130 of 19 December 1983, 40/61 of
 9 December 1985 and 42/159 of 7 December 1987,
 
      Recalling also the recommendations of the Ad Hoc Committee on
 International Terrorism contained in its report to the General Assembly at its
 thirty-fourth session,
 
      Recalling further 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,
 
      Recalling moreover 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 in New York on 14 December 1973, the
 International Convention against the Taking of Hostages, adopted in New York
 on 17 December 1979, the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear
 Material, adopted at Vienna on 3 March 1980, the Protocol for the Suppression
 of Unlawful Acts of Violence at Airports Serving International Civil Aviation,
 supplementary to the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against
 the Safety of Civil Aviation, signed at Montreal on 24 February 1988,  the
 Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Maritime
 Navigation, done at Rome on 10 March 1988, and the Protocol for the
 Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Fixed Platforms located on
 the Continental Shelf, done at Rome on 10 March 1988,
 
      Convinced that a policy of firmness and effective measures should be
 taken in accordance with international law in order that all acts, methods and
 practices of international terrorism may be brought to an end,
 
      Noting the ongoing work within the International Civil Aviation
 Organization regarding research as to the detection of plastic or sheet
 explosives and the devising of an international regime for the marking of such
 explosives for the purposes of detection, and taking note of Security Council
 resolution 635 (1989) of 14 June 1989 relating thereto,
 
      Taking note of Security Council resolution 638 (1989) of 31 July 1989 on
 the taking of hostages,
 
      Deeply disturbed by the world-wide persistence of acts of international
 terrorism in all its forms, including those in which States are directly or
 indirectly involved, which endanger or take innocent lives, have a deleterious
 effect on international relations and may jeopardize the territorial integrity
 and security of States,
 
      Calling attention to the growing connection between terrorist groups and
 drug traffickers,
 
      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,
 
      Convinced also 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 further 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,
 
      Mindful of the need to enhance the role of the United Nations and the
 relevant specialized agencies in combating international terrorism,
 
      Mindful also of the necessity of maintaining and protecting the basic
 rights of, and guarantees for, the individual in accordance with the relevant
 international human rights instruments and generally accepted international
 standards,
 
      Reaffirming the principle of 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 foreign occupation, 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 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,
 
      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 139 (b),
 
      Taking note of the report of the Secretary-General,
 
      1.  Once again unequivocally condemns, as criminal and unjustifiable, all
 acts, methods and practices of terrorism wherever and by whomever committed,
 including those which jeopardize the friendly relations among States and their
 security;
 
      2.  Deeply deplores the loss of human lives which results from such acts
 of terrorism, as well as the pernicious impact of these acts on relations of
 co-operation among States;
 
      3.  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 or encouraging activities
 within their territory directed towards the commission of such acts;
 
      4.  Urges all States to fulfil their obligations under international law
 and take effective and resolute measures for the speedy and final elimination
 of international terrorism and to that end, in particular:
 
      (a) To prevent the preparation and organization in their respective
 territories, for commission within or outside their territories, of terrorist
 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 take promptly all steps necessary to implement the existing
 international conventions on this subject to which they are parties, including
 the harmonization of their domestic legislation with those conventions;
 
      5.  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;
 
      6.  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 foreign
 occupation, that may give rise to international terrorism and may endanger
 international peace and security;
 
      7.  Firmly calls for the immediate and safe release of all hostages and
 abducted persons, wherever and by whomever they are being held;
 
      8.  Calls upon all States to use their political influence in accordance
 with the Charter of the United Nations and the principles of international law
 to secure the safe release of all hostages and abducted persons and to prevent
 the commission of acts of hostage-taking and abduction;
 
      9.  Expresses concern at the growing and dangerous links between
 terrorist groups, drug traffickers and their paramilitary gangs, which have
 resorted to all types of violence, thus endangering the constitutional order
 of States and violating basic human rights;
 
      10. 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 welcomes its recent adoption
 of the Protocol for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts of Violence at Airports
 Serving International Civil Aviation;
 
      11. Also welcomes the adoption by the International Maritime Organization
 of the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of
 Maritime Navigation and the Protocol for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts
 against the Safety of Fixed Platforms located on the Continental Shelf;
 
      12. Urges the International Civil Aviation Organization to intensify its
 work on devising an international regime for the marking of plastic or sheet
 explosives for the purposes of detection;
 
      13. 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;
 
      14. Requests the Secretary-General to continue seeking the views of
 Member States on international terrorism in all its aspects and on ways and
 means of combating it, including 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;
 
      15. Also requests the Secretary-General to seek the views of Member
 States on the ways and means of enhancing the role of the United Nations and
 the relevant specialized agencies in combating international terrorism, as
 well as on proposals made during the debate on this item in the Sixth
 Committee at the forty-fourth session of the General Assembly;
 
      16. 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-sixth session;
 
      17. 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 or other forms of alien domination, or the right of these
 peoples to struggle legitimately to this end and to seek and receive support
 in accordance with the principles of the Charter, the above-mentioned
 Declaration and the relevant General Assembly resolutions, including the
 present resolution;
 
      18. Decides to include the item in the provisional agenda of its
 forty-sixth session.