G7/P8 MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE ON TERRORISM

The participants at the Lyon Summit voiced their determination to give absolute priority to the fight against terrorism. They decided to examine and implement, in cooperation with all States, all measures likely to strengthen the capacity of the international community to defeat terrorism. To that end, they called for a meeting of their Foreign Ministers and their Ministers responsible for security to be held without delay to recommend further actions.

In line with this decision, we met in Paris on July 30, 1996.

We undertook a thorough review of new trends in terrorism throughout the world. We noted with deep concern the use in 1996 of powerful explosive weapons by terrorists. We reiterate our fundamental view that there can be no excuse for terrorism. Our discussions underscored our agreement on the need to find solutions that take account of all the factors likely to ensure a lasting settlement of unresolved conflicts and on the need for attending to conditions which could nurture the development of terrorism.

We noted that there is a growing commitment within the international community to condemn terrorism in whatever shape or form, regardless of its motives; to make no concessions to terrorists; and to implement means, consistent with fundamental freedoms and the rule of law, to effectively fight terrorism. We are determined to work with all States, in full observance of the principles and standards of international law and human rights, in order to achieve the goal of eliminating terrorism, as affirmed in the Declaration adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in December 1994. To this end, we have, with the course laid down in our Ottawa Declaration of December 12, 1995 and the work that followed the Sharm-el-Sheikh Summit, framed a body of practical measures which we are resolved to implement among ourselves.

We also invite all States to adopt these measures so as to impart greater efficiency and coherence to the fight against terrorism. In order to harness our own capacities more tightly we decided to establish among our countries a directory of counter-terrorism competencies, skills, and expertise to facilitate practical cooperation.

I. Adopting Internal Measures to Prevent Terrorism:

1/ IMPROVING COUNTER-TERRORISM COOPERATION AND CAPABILITIES:

We call on all States to:

1.

strengthen internal cooperation among all government agencies and services concerned with different aspects of counter-terrorism.

2.

expand training of personnel connected with counter-terrorism to prevent all forms of terrorist action, including those utilizing radioactive, chemical, biological, or toxic substances.

3.

in line with the efforts carried out in the fields of air and maritime transportation and in view of widespread terrorist attacks on modes of mass ground transportation, such as railway, underground, and bus transport systems, recommend that transportation security officials of interested States urgently undertake consultations to improve the capability of governments to prevent, investigate, and respond to terrorist attacks on means of public transportation, and to cooperate with other governments in this respect. These consultations should include standardization of passenger and cargo manifests and adoption of standard means of identifying vehicles to aid investigations of terrorist bombings.

4.

accelerate research and development of methods of detection of explosives and other harmful substances that can cause death or injury, and undertake consultations on the development of standards for marking explosives in order to identify their origin in post-blast investigations, and promote cooperation where appropriate.

2/ DETERRENCE, PROSECUTION, AND PUNISHMENT OF TERRORISTS:

We call on all States to:

5.

when sufficient justification exists according to national laws, investigate the abuse of organizations, groups, or associations, including those with charitable, social, or cultural goals, by terrorist using them as a cover for their own activities.

6.

note the risk of terrorist using electronic or wire communications systems and networks to carry out criminal acts and the need to find means, consistent with national law, to prevent such criminality.

7.

adopt effective domestic laws and regulations including export controls to govern the manufacture, trading, transport, and export of firearms, explosives, or any device designed to cause violent injury, damage, or destruction in order to prevent their use for terrorists' acts.

8.

take steps within their power to immediately review and amend as necessary their domestic anti-terrorist legislation to ensure, inter alia, that terrorists' acts are established as serious criminal offences and that the seriousness of terrorists' acts is duly reflected in the sentence served.

9.

bring to justice any person accused of participation in the planning, preparation, or perpetration of terrorist acts or participation in supporting terrorist acts.

10.

refrain from providing any form of support, whether active or passive, to organizations or persons involved in terrorist activity.

11.

accelerate consultation, in appropriate bilateral or multilateral fora, on the use of encryption that allows, when necessary, lawful government access to data and communications in order, inter alia, to prevent or investigate acts of terrorism, while protecting the privacy of legitimate communications.

3/ ASYLUM, BORDERS, AND TRAVEL DOCUMENTS:

We call on all States to:

12.

take strong measures to prevent the movement of terrorist individuals or groups by strengthening border controls and controls on issuance of identity papers and travel documents, and through measures for preventing counterfeiting, forgery, or use of false papers.

13.

while recognizing that political asylum and the admission of refugees are legitimate rights enshrined in international law, make sure that such a right should not be taken advantage of for terrorist purposes, and seek additional international means to address the subject of refugees and asylum seekers who plan, fund, or commit terrorist acts.

II. Strengthening International Cooperation to Fight Terrorism:

4/ EXPANDING INTERNATIONAL TREATIES AND OTHER ARRANGEMENTS:

We call on all States to:

14.

join international conventions and protocols designed to combat terrorism by the year 2000; enact domestic legislation necessary to implement them; affirm or extend the competence of their courts to bring to trial the authors of terrorist acts; and, if needed, provide support and assistance to other governments for these purposes.

15.

develop if necessary, especially by entering into bilateral and multilateral agreements and arrangements, mutual legal assistance procedures aimed at facilitating and speeding investigations and collecting evidence, as well as cooperation between law enforcement agencies in order to prevent and detect terrorist acts.

In cases where a terrorist activity occurs in several countries, States with jurisdiction should coordinate their prosecutions and the use of mutual assistance measures in a strategic manner so as to be more effective in the fight against terrorist groups.

16.

develop extradition agreements and arrangements, as necessary, in order to ensure that those responsible for terrorist acts are brought to justice; and consider the possibility of extradition even in the absence of a treaty.

17.

promote the consideration and development of an international convention on terrorist bombings or other terrorist acts creating collective danger for persons, to the extent that the existing multilateral counter-terrorism conventions do not provide for cooperation in these areas.

examine, also, the necessity and feasibility of supplementing existing international instruments and arrangements to address other terrorist threats and adopt new instruments as needed.

accelerate in the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) consultations to establish uniform and strict international standards for bomb detection and the on-going consultations to elaborate and adopt additional heightened security measures at airports, and urge early implementation of screening procedures and all other ICAO standards already agreed upon.

18.

We recommend to States Parties to the Biological Weapons Convention to confirm at the forthcoming Review Conference their commitment to ensure, through adoption of national measures, the effective fulfillment of their obligations under the convention to take any necessary measures to prohibit and prevent the development, production, stockpiling, acquisition, or retention of such weapons within their territory, under their jurisdiction, or under their control anywhere, in order, inter alia, to exclude use of those weapons for terrorist purposes.

5/ TERRORIST FUND RAISING:

We call on all States to:

19.

prevent and take steps to counteract, through appropriate domestic measures, the financing of terrorists and terrorist organizations, whether such financing is direct or indirect through organizations which also have, or claim to have, charitable, social, or cultural goals, or which are also engaged in unlawful activities such as illicit arms trafficking, drug dealing, and racketeering. These domestic measures may include, where appropriate, monitoring and control of cash transfers and bank disclosure procedures.

20.

intensify information exchange concerning international movements of funds sent from one country or received in another country and intended for persons, associations, or groups likely to carry out or support terrorist operations.

21.

consider, where appropriate, adopting regulatory measures in order to prevent movements of funds suspected to be intended for terrorist organizations, without impeding in any way the freedom of legitimate capital movements.

6/ IMPROVING INFORMATION EXCHANGE ON TERRORISM:

We call on all States to:

22.

facilitate exchange of information and the transmission of legal requests through establishing central authorities so organized as to provide speedy co-ordination of requests, it being understood that those central authorities would not be the sole channel for mutual assistance among States. Direct exchanges of information among competent agencies should be encouraged.

23.

intensify exchange of basic information concerning persons or organizations suspected of terrorist-linked activities, in particular on their structure, their modus operandi, and their communication systems in order to prevent terrorist actions.

24.

intensify exchange of operational information, especially as regards:

• the actions and movements of persons or groups suspected of belonging to or being connected with terrorist networks,
• travel documents suspected of being forgeries or falsified,
• traffic in arms, explosives, or sensitive materials,
• the use of communications technologies by terrorist groups,
• the threat of new types of terrorist activities including those using chemical, biological, or nuclear materials and toxic substances.

25.

find ways of accelerating these exchanges of information and making them more direct, while at the same time preserving their confidentiality in conformity with the laws and regulations of the State supplying the information.

We commit ourselves to ensure implementation of these measures without delay. To this end, we call upon our appropriate experts to hold the necessary meetings very rapidly.

We ask our experts on terrorism to meet before the end of the year to assess the progress of the work undertaken to implement these measures.

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