Organization of American States Summits of the Americas
 
Follow-up and Implementation: Mandates
  

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SECURITY: Arms Trafficking
 MANDATES

  1. Promote and strengthen international cooperation among States to effectively prevent, prosecute, investigate, and try cybercrimes, illicit use of data that belong to government, private institutions, and persons and other criminal activities furthered by the misuse of information and communication technologies, such as human trafficking, migrant smuggling, child sexual exploitation and other forms of sexual violence, and illicit drug and arms trafficking, as well as money laundering, inter alia, in a framework of respect for human rights and with a gender perspective. (Regional Agenda for Digital Transformation, IX Summit of the Americas, Los Angeles, 2022).

  1. To continue efforts to prevent and combat illicit trafficking of firearms, ammunitions, explosives and other related materials with the aim of reducing high crime rates and violence in the region using, among others, the existing mechanisms in the OAS and the United Nations. (Security, Initiatives VII Summit of the Americas, Panama City, 2015).

  1. To take note that Trinidad and Tobago hosted the first preparatory meeting towards the First Conference of States Parties to the Arms Trade Treaty and that it is interested in hosting the Secretariat of the Arms Trade Treaty; to note, also, the commitment of the Government of Mexico to hosting the First Conference of States Parties to the Treaty in 2015. (Security, Initiatives VII Summit of the Americas, Panama City, 2015).

  1. We will continue to fight all forms of transnational organised crime, illicit trafficking in drugs, illicit trafficking in arms, ammunition and explosives, illicit trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants, money laundering, corruption, terrorism, kidnapping, criminal gangs, and crimes associated with the use of technology, including cyber crime. We therefore reaffirm our will to implement the Commitment to Public Security in the Americas adopted by the First Meeting of Ministers Responsible for Public Security in the Americas in October 2008 in Mexico City, the commitments emanating from Meetings of Ministers of Justice or other Ministers or Attorneys General of the Americas (REMJA), as well as the 2006 Hemispheric Plan of Action Against Transnational Organised Crime. We thus invite the international community and international financial organisations to continue making financial contributions and other appropriate forms of assistance, within the scope of their respective competencies, to facilitate the achievement of the objectives of public security in the Americas. (Declaration of Port of Spain, 2009).

  1. We are convinced that illicit manufacturing of and trafficking in firearms, ammunition, explosives and other related materials are a threat to security, breed violence, exacerbate conflicts and adversely affect the rule of law. We reiterate the need for effective cooperation to prevent, combat and eradicate this threat and in this regard we reaffirm the value of the Inter-American Convention against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Ammunition, Explosives and other Related Materials (CIFTA) and its model legislation as a basis for such cooperation. We will continue to combat the illicit manufacturing of and trafficking in firearms, ammunition, explosives and other related materials by, among other actions, marking and tracing firearms, destroying excess stocks of firearms designated by each State, securing and managing stockpiles and regulating firearms brokering, including sanctions for illicit arms brokering for the purpose of avoiding their diversion through illicit channels and their proliferation. (Declaration of Port of Spain, 2009).

  1. 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 human rights, refugee, and humanitarian law. Similarly, we commit to fight all forms of transnational crime, including illicit trafficking in drugs, arms, and persons, particularly when they generate funds used in support of terrorist organizations. We also commit to adhere to global anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing standards. (Declaration of Nuevo León, 2004).

  1. We reiterate our commitment to combat new, multi-dimensional threats to the security of our societies. Foremost amongst these threats are the global drug problem and related crimes, the illicit traffic in and criminal use of firearms, the growing danger posed by organized crime and the general problem of violence in our societies. Acknowledging that corruption undermines core democratic values, challenges political stability and economic growth and thus threatens vital interests in our Hemisphere, we pledge to reinvigorate our fight against corruption. We also recognize the need to improve the conditions for human security in the Hemisphere (Declaration of Québec, 2001).

  1. Support measures to impede organized crime, money-laundering, the diversion of chemical precursors, the financing of armed groups, and other illicit activities resulting from drug and arms trafficking; (Plan of Action Québec, 2001).

  1. Encourage all countries in the Hemisphere to consider signing and ratifying, ratifying, or acceding to, as soon as possible and as the case may be, the UN Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime, its Protocol Against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air and its Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, as well as the Protocol Against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Their Parts and Components, and Ammunition, once that protocol is open for signature; (Plan of Action Québec, 2001).

  1. Implement, as soon as possible, the Inter-American Convention Against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Ammunition, Explosives and Other Related Materials, and apply the CICAD Model Regulations, as appropriate; (Plan of Action Québec, 2001).

  1. 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; (Plan of Action Québec, 2001).

  1. 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; (Plan of Action Québec, 2001).

  1. We will lend new impetus to the struggle against corruption, money laundering, terrorism, weapons trafficking, and the drug problem, including illicit use, and work together to ensure that criminals do not find safe haven anywhere in the Hemisphere. We are determined to persevere in this direction (Declaration of Santiago, 1998).

  1. Promote the rapid ratification and entry into force of the Inter-American Convention Against the Illicit Production and Trafficking of Firearms; promote the approval and prompt application of the Model Regulations on the Control of Arms and Explosives Connected with Drug Trafficking of CICAD; encourage States, that have not already done so, to adopt the necessary legislative or other measures to ensure effective international cooperation to prevent and combat illicit transnational traffic in firearms and ammunition, while establishing, or strengthening, systems to enhance the tracing of firearms used in criminal activity; and (Plan of Action Santiago, 1998).

  1. Recognizing the pernicious effects of organized crime and illegal narcotics on our economies, ethical values, public health, and the social fabric, we will join the battle against the consumption, production, trafficking and distribution of illegal drugs, as well as against money laundering and the illicit trafficking in arms and chemical precursors. We will also cooperate to create viable alternative development strategies in those countries in which illicit crops are grown. Cooperation should be extended to international and national programs aimed at curbing the production, use and trafficking of illicit drugs and the rehabilitation of addicts (Declaration of Principles Miami, 1994).

  • 6.9 Strengthen efforts to control firearms, ammunition, and explosives to avoid their diversion to drug traffickers and criminal organizations (Plan of Action Miami, 1994).

 

 
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