Fact Sheet 8 |
| What is the UN doing to combat terrorism?
"...the international community must come together to combat this menace..."
- '...terrorist acts are in any circumstance unjustifiable, whatever the
consideration of
a political, philosophical, ideological, racial, ethnic, religious
or of any other nature
that may be invoked to justify them...' - ‘..the Security Council calls on all States to work together urgently
to bring to justice
the perpetrators, organizers and sponsors of these terrorist attacks
and stresses that
those responsible for aiding, supporting or harbouring the perpetrators,
organizers
and sponsors of these acts will be held accountable....' The United Nations has long been active in the fight against international terrorism. Reflecting the determination of the international community to eliminate this threat, the Organization and its agencies have developed a wide range of international legal instruments that enable the international community to take action to suppress terrorism and bring those responsible to justice. Dating back to 1963, these arrangements provide the basic legal tools to combat international terrorism in its many forms – from the seizure of aircraft to hostage-taking to the financing of terrorism. Many of these agreements have been ratified by the majority of countries around the world, and only the most recent - “the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism” - is not yet in force. The instruments are the: -- Convention on Offences and Certain Other Acts Committed on Board Aircraft, adopted in Tokyo in 1963; authorizes the airplane commander to impose reasonable measures on any person who has committed or is about to commit such acts, and requires States parties to take custody of offenders; developed by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO); 171 States parties -- Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Seizure of Aircraft, The Hague, 1970; requires parties to punish hijackings by "severe penalties", and either extradite or prosecute the offenders; developed by ICAO; 174 States parties as of 17 September 2001. -- Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Civil Aviation, Montreal, 1971; requires parties to punish offences by "severe penalties", and either extradite or prosecute the offenders; developed by ICAO; 175 States parties. The Protocol for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts of Violence at Airports Serving International Civil Aviation, Montreal, 1988; further extends the provisions of the Convention to encompass terrorist acts at airports; 107 States parties. -- Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Crimes against Internationally Protected Persons, including Diplomatic Agents, New York, 1973; requires parties to criminalize and punish attacks against State officials and representatives. Adopted by the General Assembly in 1973; 107 States parties as of 17 September 2001. -- Convention against the Taking of Hostages; adopted by the General Assembly, New York, 1979. Parties agree to make the taking of hostages punishable by appropriate penalties; to prohibit certain activities within their territories; to exchange information; and to carry out criminal or extradition proceedings. 96 States parties. -- Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material, Vienna, 1980; obliges parties to ensure the protection of nuclear material during transportation within their territory or on board their ships or aircraft; developed by IAEA; 68 States parties. -- Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Maritime Navigation, Rome, 1988; obliges parties to either extradite or prosecute alleged offenders who have committed unlawful acts against ships, such as seizing ships by force and placing bombs on board ships; developed by International Maritime Organization; 52 States parties This is supplemented by the Protocol for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Fixed Platforms Located on the Continental Shelf adopted by IMO, Rome, 1988; which extends the requirements of the Convention to fixed platforms such as those engaged in the exploitation of offshore oil and gas; 48 States parties. -- Convention on the Marking of Plastic Explosives for the Purpose of Detection, Montreal, 1991, seeks to curb the use of unmarked and undetectable plastic explosives; developed by ICAO; 67 States parties. -- International Convention for the Suppression of Terrorist Bombings, New York, 1997; adopted by the General Assembly; seeks to deny "safe havens" to persons wanted for terrorist bombings by obligating each State party to prosecute such persons if it does not extradite them to another State that has issued an extradition request; 26 States parties. -- International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism, New York, 1999; adopted by the General Assembly; obligates States parties either to prosecute or to extradite persons accused of funding terrorist activities, and requires banks to enact measures to identify suspicious transactions; will enter into force when ratified by 22 States. four States parties The Legal Committee of the General Assembly is elaborating a convention for the suppression of acts of nuclear terrorism and a comprehensive convention on the elimination of terrorism. In addition to bringing about four of these conventions, the General Assembly has adopted the Declaration on Measures to Eliminate International Terrorism (1994) and the Declaration to supplement the 1994 Declaration (1996). These condemn all acts and practices of terrorism as criminal and unjustifiable, wherever and by whomever committed, and urge all States to take measures at the national and international level to eliminate international terrorism. The Security Council -- as the principal international organ dealing with international peace and security -- has also long been involved in the fight against terrorism. Immediately after the 11 September attack on New York and Washington, D.C., in its resolution 1368 (2001), the Security Council condemned in the strongest terms the terrorist attack against the United States and called on all States to work together urgently to bring the perpetrators to justice. By resolution 1333 (2000), it demanded that Afghanistan's Taliban authorities act swiftly to close all camps where terrorists are trained. By resolution 1269 (1999), it unequivocally condemned all acts of terrorism as criminal and unjustifiable, and called on Member States to adopt specific measures. By resolution 1267 (1999), it demanded that the Taliban turn over Usama bin Laden to appropriate authorities so that he can be brought to justice. For its part, the General Assembly on the day of the attack strongly condemned the heinous acts of terrorism, and called for urgent action to enhance international cooperation to prevent and eradicate acts of terrorism. The Vienna-based United Nations Terrorism Prevention Branch researches terrorism trends and assists countries in upgrading their capacities to investigate – but, above all, to prevent -- terrorist acts. The Branch is an arm of the United Nations Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention. The texts of the conventions are available on the internet at: http://www.undcp.org/terrorism_conventions.html For further information on the
conventions adopted by the General Assembly, see: For conventions related to civil aviation, see: http://www.icao.int/cgi/goto_leb.pl?icao/en/leb/treaty.htm For the convention on maritime navigation, see: http://www.imo.org/HOME.html For the convention on nuclear material, see: http://www.iaea.org/worldatom/Documents/Legal/cppn.shtml For the United Nations Terrorism Prevention Branch, see: http://www.undcp.org/terrorism.html This fact-sheet has been issued by the Public Inquiries Unit, Department of Public Information,United Nations. Tel: 212-963-4475; fax: 212-963-0071; e-mail: inquiries@un.org |