AG/RES. 2247 (XXXVI-O/06)
PROMOTION OF HEMISPHERIC COOPERATION IN DEALING WITH GANGS
INVOLVED IN CRIMINAL ACTIVITIES
(Adopted at the fourth plenary session, held on June 6, 2006)
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY,
TAKING INTO CONSIDERATION the findings of studies by different international organizations and some member states on the issue of gangs, which conclude that it is a very complex matter and should be addressed from a holistic viewpoint, including, inter alia, prevention, social support, respect for and protection of human rights, and mutual legal assistance in international matters;
ACKNOWLEDGING that gangs constitute a phenomenon that many countries of the Hemisphere share and that calls for in-depth analysis, as it represents a challenge that requires, first of all, recognition of the advisability and urgency of becoming more knowledgeable on the subject;
CONCERNED over the contemporary social problems that affect public security, which adversely affect communities and the quality of life of their inhabitants;
RECALLING its resolution AG/RES. 2144 (XXXV-O/05), “Promotion of Hemispheric Cooperation in Dealing with Gangs”;
EMPHASIZING that, in the Declaration of Mar del Plata of the Fourth Summit of the Americas, the Heads of State and Government underscored their concern over the problem of criminal gangs and related issues, as well as their effects on the economic and social environment, which jeopardize the progress attained by our societies in the process of stabilization, democratization, and sustainable development, which situation calls for urgent and complementary action to prevent crime, to prosecute those who commit crimes, to rehabilitate and reintegrate them, and to create opportunities to facilitate access to decent employment for youths, as expressed in paragraphs 2 and 3 of the Plan of Action of the Fourth Summit of the Americas;
HAVING SEEN the conclusions and recommendations issued at the Meeting on Transnational Criminal Gangs: Characteristics, importance, and public policies, and their relationship with the problem of drugs in the context of transnational organized crime,” held in Tapachula, Chiapas, Mexico, in June 2005, at the initiative of the General Secretariat; and at the First Regional Forum on Social Prevention of Violence, Rehabilitation, and Reintegration of At-Risk Youth and Youths in Conflict with the Law, held in San Salvador, in September 2005, at the initiative of El Salvador, to contribute to seeking solutions to the problem from its social and human perspectives; and
NOTING the creation of the Secretariat for Multidimensional Security and, within it, of the Department for the Prevention of Threats against Public Security, charged, among other tasks, with coordinating the efforts of the General Secretariat in areas related to public security,
RESOLVES:
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To instruct the General Secretariat, through the competent organs of the Organization of American States:
a. To support member states that share the problem of gangs involved in criminal activities, in organizing meetings they may hold at the regional, subregional, and national levels on the different aspects of such gangs, using a crosscutting and integral approach; to consolidate and publish the findings; and to follow up on the conclusions, as applicable; and
b. To coordinate its work on gangs involved in criminal activities with that of other international organizations, human rights organizations, and civil society organizations, including private enterprise, to promote crime prevention, prosecute those who commit crimes, rehabilitate them, reintegrate them into society, and create opportunities to enable young people to find decent employment.
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To instruct the General Secretariat to carry out, as appropriate, the activities mentioned in this resolution in coordination with the countries that share the problem of gangs involved in criminal activities, in accordance with the resources allocated in the program-budget of the Organization and other resources.
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To instruct the Permanent Council to follow up on this resolution and to present a report on its implementation to the General Assembly at its thirty-seventh regular session.
AG/RES. 2248 (XXXVI-O/06)
MIGRANT POPULATIONS AND MIGRATION FLOWS IN THE AMERICAS
(Adopted at the fourth plenary session, held on June 6, 2006)
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY;
RECALLING the important work of the Organization of American States (OAS) in promoting and protecting the human rights of migrant workers and their families pursuant to, inter alia, the following resolutions: AG/RES. 1717 (XXX-O/00), AG/RES. 1775 (XXXI-O/01), AG/RES. 1898 (XXXII-O/02), AG/RES. 1928 (XXXIII-O/03), AG/RES. 2027 (XXXIV-O/04), and AG/RES. 2130 (XXXV-O/05);
RECALLING ALSO the adoption, by resolution AG/RES. 2141 (XXXV-O/05), of the Inter-American Program for the Promotion and Protection of the Human Rights of Migrants, Including Migrant Workers and Their Families;
CONSIDERING the importance of broadening discussion and analysis of human migration, regular and irregular, and migration flows in the Americas and their causes and impact on all member states of the OAS;
RECOGNIZING that migration is also an integral reflection of the processes of integration and globalization, as well as a consequence of the erosion of traditional barriers to the mobilization of populations, such as the time it takes to travel and long distances;
TAKING INTO ACCOUNT the social and economic significance of migrations in the countries of origin, transit, and reception of migrants; and
TAKING INTO ACCOUNT ALSO that these migration flows will very likely increase as a result of various social, economic, and demographic factors, including subregional integration efforts,
RESOLVES:
1. To instruct the Permanent Council to hold a special meeting in the second half of 2006 to consider, analyze, and discuss human migration flows, their impact on the member states, and their relation to the human rights of migrant workers and their families, with the participation of all stakeholders, including the Special Rapporteur on Migrant Workers and Their Families of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR).
2. To request the Permanent Council to work towards establishing a special committee on migration issues as a specialized committee of the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States in order to analyze migration issues and flows from an integral perspective, taking into account the relevant provisions of international law, especially international human rights law.
3. To urge member states to make voluntary contributions to support the activities of the Special Rapporteur on Migrant Workers and Their Families of the IACHR, and the Inter-American Program for the Promotion and Protection of the Human Rights of Migrants, Including Migrant Workers and Their Families.
4. To request the Permanent Council to report to the General Assembly at its thirty-seventh regular session on the implementation of this resolution.
AG/RES. 2249 (XXXVI-O/06)
EXTRADITION OF AND DENIAL OF SAFE HAVEN TO TERRORISTS:
MECHANISMS FOR COOPERATION IN THE FIGHT AGAINST TERRORISM
(Adopted at the fourth plenary session, held on June 6, 2006)
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY,
HAVING SEEN, with satisfaction, the instruments adopted in the framework of the Organization of American States, as an expression of the political will of member states to strengthen reciprocal cooperation in the fight against terrorism;
RECALLING the Inter-American Convention against Terrorism; resolution RC.23/RES. 1/01 rev. 1 corr. 1, “Strengthening Hemispheric Cooperation to Prevent, Combat, and Eliminate Terrorism,” adopted at the Twenty-third Meeting of Consultation of Ministers of Foreign Affairs, held in Washington, D.C., on September 21, 2001; and United Nations Security Council resolution 1373 (2001), adopted on September 28, 2001;
REITERATING the commitment undertaken in paragraph 23 of the Declaration on Security in the Americas, to the effect that “[i]n the legal framework referred to in the previous paragraph [paragraph 22], we shall foster, in the countries of the Hemisphere, the capacity to prevent, punish, and eliminate terrorism. We shall strengthen the Inter-American Committee against Terrorism and bilateral, subregional, and hemispheric cooperation, through information exchange and the broadest possible mutual legal assistance to prevent and suppress the financing of terrorism, prevent the international movement of terrorists, without prejudice to applicable international commitments in relation to the free movement of people and the facilitation of commerce, and ensure the prosecution, in accordance with domestic law, of those who participate in planning, preparing, or committing acts of terrorism, and those who directly or indirectly provide or collect funds with the intention that they should be used, or in the knowledge that they are to be used, in order to carry out terrorist acts. We undertake to identify and fight new terrorist threats, whatever their origin or motivation, such as threats to cyber security, biological terrorism, and threats to critical infrastructure”;
UNDERSCORING the importance of cooperation among law enforcement authorities and of international cooperation on criminal matters, including mutual legal assistance and extradition, in the fight against terrorism, as well as the importance of observing the international instruments adopted by member states, in particular the Inter-American Convention against Terrorism and the instruments referred to in its Article 2;
RECALLING that the Fifth Meeting of the Meeting of Ministers of Justice or of Ministers or Attorneys General of the Americas (REMJA-V) reaffirmed that “the damage caused and the threat posed by the different types of transnational organized crime and terrorism, to our citizens and to our democracies and the economic and social development of our states, make it necessary and urgent to continue to strengthen and enhance mutual legal and judicial cooperation at the hemispheric level, as well as to enact laws, procedures, and new mechanisms, if they have not done so, to enable them to combat these crimes effectively”;
REAFFIRMING that the fight against terrorism must be waged with full respect for the law, human rights, due process, and democratic institutions, so as to preserve the rule of law, freedoms, and democratic values in the Hemisphere; and
REAFFIRMING ALSO that all member states have a duty to ensure that all measures adopted to combat terrorism, including extradition, are in compliance with their obligations under international law, in particular international human rights law, international refugee law, and international humanitarian law,
RESOLVES:
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To urge all member states of the Organization of American States (OAS) to comply fully with their obligations as established in the relevant instruments adopted to combat terrorism to which they are party, in particular the applicable provisions regarding the provision of mutual legal assistance and the extradition of anyone participating in the planning, preparation, financing, or commission of terrorist acts or, where appropriate, the attempted commission of said offenses.
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To urge all member states to prosecute and, as appropriate, extradite, in accordance with their domestic laws and relevant treaties and conventions, anyone participating in the planning, preparation, commission, or financing of terrorist acts or, where appropriate, the attempted commission of said offenses.
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To exhort member states to adopt as applicable, in conformity with Articles 12 and 13 of the Inter-American Convention against Terrorism, appropriate measures in accordance with the pertinent provisions of domestic and international law to ensure that neither refugee status nor asylum is granted to persons in respect of whom there are reasonable grounds for considering that they have committed an offense established in the international instruments listed in Article 2 of the aforementioned Convention.
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Also to urge member states to deny, in accordance with United Nations Security Council resolution 1373 (2001), safe haven to those who finance, plan, support, or commit terrorists acts, or provide safe haven.
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In the implementation of this resolution, member states shall take into consideration Article 15.2 of the Inter-American Convention against Terrorism, which states: “Nothing in this Convention shall be interpreted as affecting other rights and obligations of states and individuals under international law, in particular the Charter of the United Nations, the Charter of the Organization of American States, international humanitarian law, international human rights law, and international refugee law.”
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To support the efforts and work of the member states and the organs, agencies, and entities of the OAS, carried out in accordance with the mechanisms established to combat terrorism.
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To ratify the recommendations of the Fifth Meeting of Ministers of Justice or of Ministers or Attorneys General of the Americas (REMJA-V) by continuing to consider actions to build up hemispheric legal cooperation in the matter of extradition, including temporary extradition when appropriate, in keeping with national legislation, and to proceed with the preparation of the sections on mutual legal and judicial cooperation of a hemispheric plan of action to fight transnational organized crime and terrorism, including measures for administration of cases by the requesting state so as not to overburden the requested state.
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To welcome the recommendations regarding extradition of the Second Meeting of Central Authorities and Other Experts on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters, held in Brasilia, Brazil, from September 1 to 3, 2005, which were endorsed by REMJA-VI, in particular the recommendation that cooperation in this field be effective, efficient, and diligent.
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To urge member states to ensure, in the framework of their international commitments, that no one who is extradited shall be subjected to human rights violations or to cruel, inhuman, or degrading punishment.
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