For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
November 13, 2002
Message to the Senate of the United States
TO THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES:
With a view to receiving the advice and consent of the Senate to
ratification, I transmit herewith, the Inter-American Convention
Against Terrorism, adopted at the Thirty-Second Regular Session of the
OAS General Assembly meeting in Bridgetown, Barbados, on June 3, 2002,
and opened for signature on that date. At that time it was signed by
30 of the 33 members attending the meeting, including the United
States. It has subsequently been signed by another two member states,
leaving only two states that have not yet signed. In addition, I
transmit herewith, for the information of the Senate, the report of the
Department of State.
The negotiation of the Inter-American Convention Against Terrorism
(the "Convention") was a direct response to the terrorist attacks on
the United States on September 11, 2001. At that time, the OAS was
meeting in Lima, Peru, to adopt a Democratic Charter uniting all 34
democracies in the hemisphere. The OAS member states expressed their
strong commitment to assist the United States in preventing such
incidents from occurring again anywhere in our hemisphere. Within 10
days, the foreign ministers of the OAS member states, meeting in
Washington, D.C., endorsed the idea of drafting a regional convention
against terrorism. Argentina, Peru, Chile, and Mexico played
particularly important roles in the development and negotiation of the
Convention.
The Convention will advance important United States Government
interests and enhance hemispheric security by improving regional
cooperation in the fight against terrorism. The forms of enhanced
cooperation include exchanges of information, exchanges of experience
and training, technical cooperation, and mutual legal assistance. The
Convention is consistent with, and builds upon, previous
counterterrorism instruments and U.N. Security Council Resolution 1373,
which mandates certain measures to combat terrorism.
The Convention provides for regional use of a variety of legal
tools that have proven effective against terrorism and transnational
organized crime in recent years. Since fighting terrorist financing
has been identified as an essential part of the fight against
terrorism, the Convention addresses crucial financial regulatory, as
well as criminal law, aspects. Existing Federal authority is
sufficient to discharge the obligations of the United States under this
Convention, and therefore no implementing legislation will be
required.
In particular, the Convention mandates the establishment of
financial intelligence units for the collection, analysis, and
dissemination of terrorist financing information and the establishment
and enhancement of channels of communication between law enforcement
authorities for secure and rapid exchange of information concerning all
aspects of terrorist offenses; the exchange of information to improve
border and customs control measures to detect and prevent movement of
terrorists and terrorist-related materials; and technical cooperation
and training programs.
The Convention also provides measures relating to the denial of
refugee or asylum status. In addition, the Convention provides that
terrorist acts may not be considered "political" offenses for which
extradition or mutual legal assistance requests can be denied, and
provides for other mechanisms to facilitate mutual legal assistance in
criminal matters.
In sum, the Convention is in the interests of the United States and
represents an important step in the fight against terrorism. I
therefore recommend that the Senate give prompt and favorable
consideration to the Convention, subject to the understandings that are
described in the accompanying report of the Department of State, and
give its advice and consent to ratification.
GEORGE W. BUSH
THE WHITE HOUSE,
November 12, 2002.
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