|
Hemispheric
Security
In the
Summits of the Americas process, governments have reaffirmed their
commitment to maintaining peace and security in the region through
dispute resolution and the adoption of confidence and security
building measures. They have also recognized the new,
multi-dimensional threats to the security of the hemisphere and
address these ideas accordingly through the Summits of the Americas
|
Mar del Plata, Argentina,
2005
IV Summit of the Americas
|
At the Fourth Summit of the Americas, that was held in Mar del
Plata, Argentina, the Leaders of the Hemisphere reiterated
their commitment to the objectives and proposals contained in
the Declaration pertaining to Security in the Americas,
bearing in mind that their concept of security is
multidimensional.
Terrorism:
In the same way, they stated that terrorism affects the normal
functioning of society and has a negative impact on economies,
labor markets and particularly in the generation of jobs. In
order to sustain an environment that will promote economic
prosperity and the well-being of the people, they pledged to
take all necessary steps to prevent and counter terrorism and
its financing in full compliance with obligations under
international law, including international humanitarian law,
international human rights law, and international refugee law.
Finally, they committed to strengthening the timely exchange
of information, and the broadest possible mutual legal
assistance in order to prevent, combat, and eliminate
terrorism, prevent the international movement of terrorists
and ensure their prosecution, and, as appropriate, their
extradition in accordance with domestic laws and relevant
treaties and conventions and agreed to cooperate to ensure
that any individual who participates in the financing,
planning, preparation and commission of terrorist acts does
not find safe haven in the Member States.
|
|
|
|
Monterrey, Mexico, 2004
Special Summit of the Americas |
Terrorism:
At the
Special Summit of the Americas held in Monterrey, Mexico,
the Heads of State and Government reiterated that terrorism, as well
as the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, constitute grave
threats to international security, to the institutions and the
democratic values of States, and to the well-being of our peoples. In
this sense, they resolved to intensify their efforts and strengthen
cooperation in confronting these threats and to take all necessary
steps to prevent and counter terrorism and its financing in full
compliance with their obligations under international law, including
international human rights, refugee, and humanitarian law. Similarly,
they committed to fighting all forms of transnational crime, including
illicit trafficking in drugs, arms, and persons, particularly when
they generate funds used in support of terrorist organizations, and to
adhere to global anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing
standards. They also called upon all countries that have not yet done
so to ratify the Inter-American Convention against Terrorism, the
twelve United Nations conventions and protocols on terrorism, as well
as other related instruments. Finally, they further called upon all
countries to urgently consider signing and ratifying the
Inter-American Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters and
to participate actively in the Network on Mutual Legal Assistance in
Criminal Matters.
|
|
|
|
Quebec City, Canada, 2001
Third Summit of the Americas |
Strengthening Mutual Confidence:
As a follow up to the Regional
Conferences that took place before the Santiago Summit, the
Third Summit of the Americas, which took place in Quebec City,
mandated the carrying out of a Special Conference on Security
in 2003, which would consider both new and traditional
approaches to international security. Again, the special
security concerns of the Small Island Developing State (SIDS)
were recognized in Quebec City and the continual building of
confidence and security measures in the hemisphere was
promoted. Governments also asked for greater transparency and
accountability from its defense and security institutions and
promoted the signing, ratifying or acceding to several
existing Conventions, including the Convention on the
Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer
of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction and the
Inter-American Convention on Transparency in Conventional
Weapons Acquisitions.
Finally, at the Quebec City Summit
governments agreed to consider further financing the OAS Fund
for Peace and expressed their support for the preparatory work
for the Fifth Meeting of Defense Ministers of the Americas.
Terrorism:
The Heads of State and Government at the Third Summit of the
Americas endorsed the work initiated by the Inter-American
Committee on Terrorism (CICTE), established within the
framework of the OAS as a result of the Commitment of Mar del
Plata adopted in 1998, and encouraged hemispheric cooperation
to prevent, combat and eliminate all forms of terrorism,
taking into account the approval of the Statute and Work Plan
of CICTE.
|
|
|
|
Santiago,
Chile, 1998
Second Summit of the Americas |
Strengthening Mutual Confidence:
Two Regional Conferences (Chile, 1995 and El Salvador, 1998) on
Confidence and Security Building Measures
were held before the Second Summit of
the Americas took place in Santiago,
Chile. At the Santiago Summit, governments committed to carry out
the measures and recommendations put forth at these Conferences.
The Second Summit also mandated supporting the efforts of
small-island States, recognizing their special, multidimensional
security concerns and encouraged actions to support international
humanitarian demining efforts. Governments recognized, as well, the
importance of ministerial and high-level meetings on international
defense and security and strengthened the OAS Committee on
Hemispheric Security to pursue many of the mandates laid out in the
First and Second Summits of the Americas.
Terrorism:
During the Second Summit of the Americas, which took place in
Santiago de Chile on April 18-19, 1998, the Heads of State and
Government approved the Plan of Action in which they expressed their
will to "take measures to evaluate the progress reached and define
the future course of action for the prevention, combat and
elimination of terrorism". The Plan of Action also mandated the
convocation of the Second Specialized Inter-American Conference on
Terrorism, which took place in the city of Mar del Plata, Argentina,
on November 23-24, 1998. In this conference, the countries produced
the
Commitment of Mar de la Plata, which
established the Inter-American Committee Against Terrorism (CICTE).
CICTE is composed of "competent national authorities" of the OAS
member states and acts as the main organization in the
Inter-American system for the coordination of efforts oriented
towards the prevention, combating and elimination of terrorism.
|
|
|
|
Miami,
Florida, USA, 1994
First
Summit of the Americas |
Strengthening Mutual Confidence:
At the
Miami Summit of the Americas, hemispheric
leaders emphasized the importance of building mutual confidence in
order to strengthen and consolidate democracy in the region. To do
this, they agreed to promote regional dialogue and prepare a
conference on confidence-building measures in Santiago, Chile.
Terrorism:
The First Specialized Inter-American Conference on Terrorism has its
origins in the Plan of Action of the First Summit of the Americas
(Miami, December 1994), in which the heads of State and Government
expressed their will to "eliminate the threat of national and
international terrorism", and convoked a Special Conference of the
Organization of American States (OAS) for the prevention of terrorism.
This Conference took place in Lima, Peru on April 23-26, 1996. In this
meeting the
Plan of Action on Hemispheric Cooperation
to Prevent, Combat, and Eliminate Terrorism
and the
Declaration of Lima to prevent, Combat, and Eliminate Terrorism
were approved.
|
|
|
|
Fourth Summit of the Americas, Mar del Plata, Argentina 2005 |
|
Plan of Action
on
Hemispheric Security
IV Summit
|
|
Mar del Plata Plan of Action |
|
| |
.
 |
Hemispheric Security
|
|
|
|
IV.
Strengthening Democratic Governance:
A. NATIONAL COMMITMENTS
61. Taking into account the theme of the Mar del Plata
Summit and bearing in mind that our concept of security is
multidimensional, to promote through concrete actions, at
the national, sub-regional, hemispheric, and global levels,
the implementation of the commitments identified in the
Declaration on Security in the Americas.
|
|
|
|
| |
Declaration of Mar del Plata |
|
| |
.
|
Fight Against Terrorism
|
|
|
|
|
Strengthening Democratic Governance:
68. We
state that terrorism affects the normal functioning of our
societies and has a negative impact on our economies and labor
markets and particularly the generation of jobs. To sustain an
environment to promote economic prosperity and the well-being
of our people, we will take all necessary steps to prevent and
counter terrorism and its financing in full compliance with
our obligations under international law, including
international humanitarian law, international human rights
law, and international refugee law.
69. We will
strengthen the timely exchanges of information and the
broadest possible mutual legal assistance in order to prevent,
combat, and eliminate terrorism, prevent the international
movement of terrorists and ensure their prosecution, and, as
appropriate, their extradition in accordance with domestic
laws and relevant treaties and conventions. We will cooperate
to avoid that any individual who participates in the
financing, planning, preparation and commission of terrorist
acts finds safe haven in our countries.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Mar del
Plata
Plan of Action (complete version): English
|
Español
|
Português
|
Français
Declaration of Mar del
Plata
(complete version):
English |
Español |
Português
|
Français |
|
|
Third Summit of the Americas,
Quebec City, Canada 2001
|
|
Plan of Action
on
Hemispheric Security
III Summit
|
|
|
|
|
| |
.
|
Strengthening Mutual Confidence
|
|
|
|
Recognizing that democracy is essential for peace,
development and security in the Hemisphere which, in turn,
are the best basis for furthering the welfare of our people,
and noting that the constitutional subordination of armed
forces and security forces to the legally constituted
authorities of our states is fundamental to democracy:
-
Hold the Special Conference on Security in 2004, for which
the OAS Committee on Hemispheric Security will conclude the
review of all issues related to approaches to international
security in the Hemisphere, as defined at the Santiago
Summit;
-
Continue with priority activities on conflict prevention and
the peaceful resolution of disputes, respond to shared
traditional and non-traditional security and defense
concerns and support measures to improve human security;
-
Support the efforts of the Small Island Developing States
(SIDS) to address their special security concerns,
recognizing that for the smallest and most vulnerable states
in the Hemisphere, security is multi-dimensional in scope,
involves state and non-state actors and includes political,
economic, social and natural components, and that the SIDS
have concluded that among the threats to their security are
illicit drug trafficking, the illegal trade in arms,
increasing levels of crime and corruption, environmental
vulnerability exacerbated by susceptibility to natural
disasters and the transportation of nuclear waste, economic
vulnerability particularly in relation to trade, new health
threats including the Human Immunodeficiency Virus
(HIV)/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) pandemic
and increased levels of poverty;
-
Improve the
transparency and accountability of defense and security
institutions and promote greater understanding and
cooperation among government agencies involved in security
and defense issues, through such means as increased sharing
of defense policy and doctrine papers, information and
personnel exchanges, including, where feasible, cooperation
and training for participation in UN peace-keeping
activities and to respond better to legitimate security and
defense needs, by improving transparency of arms
acquisitions in order to improve confidence and security in
the Hemisphere;
-
Continue promoting greater degrees of confidence and
security in the Hemisphere, inter alia through sustained
support for measures, such as those set forth in the
Santiago and San Salvador Declarations on Confidence and
Security Building Measures (CSBMs), and for existing
mechanisms, agreements and funds, and consider signing and
ratifying, ratifying, or acceding to, as soon as possible
and as the case may be, the Convention on the Prohibition of
the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of
Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction, the
Inter-American Convention on Transparency in Conventional
Weapons Acquisitions, and the Inter-American Convention
Against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in
Firearms, Ammunition, Explosives and Other Related
Materials, giving full support to the UN Conference on the
Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in all Its
Aspects to be held in July 2001, bearing in mind the results
of the Regional Preparatory Meeting of Latin America and the
Caribbean, held in Brasilia in November 2000, and the work
of the OAS, which contributed a regional perspective to the
discussions;
-
Strongly support the Third Meeting of State Parties to the
Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling,
Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their
Destruction, to be held in September 2001 in Managua,
Nicaragua, and the Review Conference of the 1980 UN
Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of
Certain Conventional Weapons Which May Be Deemed to Be
Excessively Injurious or to Have Indiscriminate Effects, to
be held in December 2001 in Geneva; as well as the efforts
of the OAS to pursue the goal of the conversion of the
Western Hemisphere into an anti-personnel- landmine-free
zone;
-
Call for an experts meeting, before the Special Conference
on Security, as a follow-up to the regional conferences of
Santiago and San Salvador on CSBMs, in order to evaluate
implementation and consider next steps to further
consolidate mutual confidence;
-
Promote financial support to the OAS Fund for Peace:
Peaceful Settlement of Territorial Disputes, established to
provide financial resources to assist with defraying the
inherent costs of proceedings previously agreed to by the
parties concerned for the peaceful resolution of territorial
disputes among OAS member states;
-
Support the work leading up to the Fifth Meeting of Defense
Ministers of the Americas to take place in Chile, as well as
meetings that will take place subsequently;
|
|
|
|
| |
.
|
Fight Against Terrorism
|
|
|
|
-
Support the work initiated by the Inter-American Committee
on Terrorism (CICTE) established within the OAS as a result
of the Commitment of Mar del Plata adopted in 1998, and
encourage hemispheric cooperation to prevent, combat and
eliminate all forms of terrorism, taking into account the
approval of the Statute and Work Plan of CICTE;
-
Consider signing and ratifying, ratifying, or acceding to,
as soon as possible and as the case may be, those
international agreements related to the fight against
terrorism, in accordance with their respective internal
legislation;
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Quebec
Plan of Action (complete version):
English |
Spanish |
French |
Portuguese |
|
|
Key documents in the area of Hemispheric Security
|
|
|
|
|
|
Strengthening
Mutual Confidence |
| |
.
|
VII Meeting of Ministers of Defense of the
Americas |
|
|
|
The OAS Secretary General, José Miguel Insulza, opened the
Conference with an intervention that sought to define
regional defense tasks and urged Member States to continue
working closely for further international cooperation. The
Secretary General noted the peace in the region and
identified priority tasks: averting conflict among Member
States, resolving problems through dialogue and
reconciliation, always employing legal means of settling
disputes, and broadening integration processes. Mr. Insulza
cautioned Member States against identifying all regional
problems as threats to security. Social and economic
problems affecting peoples of the Americas are at the root
of many security issues yet regional leaders must not extend
the concept of security to every arena of political and
social problems, which could harm democracy, the Secretary
General said. Furthermore, the Secretary General stated
that subordination of armed forces to civilian, democratic
political authority has given them a more legitimate role in
a democratic society.
The Defense Ministers adopted the Declaration of Managua,
which recommends modernizing hemispheric defense and
security institutions, strengthening the Inter-American
Security System, fighting all forms of terrorism, joining
forces for peacekeeping missions, combating the
proliferation of small arms, and confronting transnational
crime threats. Likewise, Ministers proposed closer
collaboration on the subregional level to achieve common
goals.
The Defense Ministers agreed to follow up with cooperation
in the following areas stated in the Declaration to face the
challenges to the Inter-American Security System. Defense
Ministers proposed a subregional strategy in Central America
to combat organized crime and drug trafficking; subregional
strategies would contribute to the Inter-American Security
System and the OAS Permanent Council Committee on
Hemispheric Security. In another form of cooperation,
Defense Ministers agreed to strengthen capacity to undertake
international peacekeeping and natural disaster missions,
such as the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH)
force in Haiti. Defense Ministers discussed establishing a
regional peacekeeping force for use in future UN
peacekeeping missions.
Defense Ministers stressed support for humanitarian demining
activities and cooperation. In a concrete measure, Nicaragua
formalized its proposal to create an International School of
Humanitarian Demining. It had earlier received backing for
the proposal in August from the Inter-American Defense
Board. Graduates from the proposed school would receive
training in demining techniques from the Nicaraguan Army
Corps of Engineers and other international experts.
Defense Ministers pledged to fighting all forms of terrorism
in addition to confronting threats of transnational
organized crime—drug trafficking, corruption, and
trafficking in persons and small arms. They recommended
continuing policies to combat small arms proliferation and
portable anti-aircraft missiles, with OAS coordination.
Defense Ministers agreed to propose to their governments the
possibility of supporting the Security Proliferation
Initiative.
Additionally, Defense Ministers will return to their home
countries and consider proposals, initiatives, and
conclusions from the conference thematic agenda in working
groups: Cooperation in Multilateral Operations, Modernizing
Defense Institutions, and Inter-American Security System
Improvements. The Defense Ministers accepted Canada’s offer
to host the VIII Conference in 2008 and took note of the
intention of Bolivia to host the IX Conference in 2010.
Representatives from civil society groups and regional
international organizations observed the meeting, such as
the Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies, the Washington
Office on Latin America (WOLA), Instituto de Estudios
Estratégicos y Políticas Públicas, the Inter-American
Defense Board, CARICOM, the UN Department for Disarmament
Affairs, and the Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias
Sociales (FLACSO).
The Conference continues its original objective of creating
space for debate and experience exchange among the Ministers
of Defense of the Americas every two years, oriented toward
the most relevant, strategic, and timely issues regarding
hemispheric security and defense. The Summits of the
Americas Secretariat participated in the V and VI
Conferences of Ministers of Defense in Chile in November of
2002 and Quito in November of 2004, respectively.
Conferences of Ministers of Defense of the Americas trace
their origins to the Summits of the Americas. During the
First Summit of the Americas, held in Miami in 1994, the
need emerged to organize and connect Defense Ministries to
press for further economic and international security. A
mandate from that Summit of the Americas led to the first
Conference held in Williamsburg, Virginia. Later, in the
Second Summit of Santiago in 1998, the Heads of State and
Government reaffirmed the value of discussing international
security and defense themes. In the Third Summit of the
Americas in 2001, Heads of State and Government supported
the work of the V Conference of Ministers of Defense, as
Heads of State and Government supported the VI Conference of
Ministers of Defense at the Fourth Summit of the Americas in
Mar del Plata, Argentina.
|
|
|
| |
.
|
VI Meeting of Ministers of Defense of the
Americas |
|
|
|
The VI Meeting of Ministers of Defense
of the Americas took place the 16-21 of November, 2004 in
Quito, Ecuador. The main objective of this Meeting was to
coordinate regional efforts in relation to hemispheric
security in order to confront the threats, problems, and
challenges in the region. The key themes of the meeting were
focused on the new architecture of hemispheric security; as
well as defense, development and society as possibilities
for cooperation. Similarly, themes such as civil-military
relations and the roles that the armed forces meet in each
one of the countries were debated.
In the Declaration of Quito, the Ministers of Defense
emphasized the fact that the hemisphere suffers from wide
social and economic differences and indicated that the
diminution in these differences is the labor of all,
including the defense sectors, given that these efforts can
contribute to the internal and external security of the
region. In the same manner, they stressed the importance of
democracy as a crucial condition for stability, peace,
| | | | |
