‘KHARTOUM DECLARATION ON TERRORISM AND TRANSNATIONAL ORGANIZED CRIME’ ADOPTED AT UNODC WORKSHOP IN SUDAN

‘KHARTOUM DECLARATION ON TERRORISM AND TRANSNATIONAL ORGANIZED CRIME’

ADOPTED AT UNODCWORKSHOP IN SUDAN

VIENNA, 23 January (UN InformationService) -- The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and theGovernment of the Sudan jointly organized a workshop on“International Cooperation on Counter-Terrorism and the Fight against Transnational Organized Crime”, held from 17 to 19 January 2004,in Khartoum, Sudan.

The workshop was attended by experts from Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan and Uganda, MemberStates of the Inter-governmentalAuthority on Development (IGAD), as well as by observers from Algeria and Egypt.  The following organizations and institutionsalso participated in the workshop:  theAfrican Union, the Commonwealth Secretariat, the Council of Arab Ministers ofInterior, the Counter-Terrorism Committee of the United Nations SecurityCouncil, the European Union, the IGAD secretariat, INTERPOL, the InternationalMonetary Fund, the Institute for Security Studies, the League of Arab States,the Naif University, the Organization of IslamicConferences, the United Nations African Institute for the Prevention of Crimeand the Treatment of Offenders, and the Office of the United Nations HighCommissioner for Human Rights.

On 19 January 2004, the workshop culminated in the“Khartoum Declaration on Terrorism and Transnational OrganizedCrime” in which IGAD Member States reaffirmed their commitment to the fightagainst terrorism and transnational organized crimeand expressed their serious concern about the menace these problems pose in theregion.  Among other issues, the“Khartoum Declaration” focused on technical assistance needs of IGAD MemberStates with regard to the ratification and implementation of 12 internationalconventions and protocols against terrorism and the United Nations Conventionagainst Transnational Organized Crime and itsProtocols.  As such, the representativesof six IGAD Member States envisaged to requesttechnical assistance concerning legislative implementation of these legalinstruments from the UNODC and other international, regional and subregional organizations in the course of 2004.

The “Khartoum Declaration” also called upon the UNODC and theOffice of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to develop joint technicalassistance programmes on counter-terrorism while fully respecting human rights,and encouraged the IGAD Member States to use the assistance of theInternational Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) to ensure an adequateexchange of information in the area of counter-terrorism and transnational organized crime.

In June 2003, IGAD Member States had adopted in Kampala, Uganda,a Plan of Action against Terrorism in which they pledged to swiftly ratify andimplement the 12 international conventions and protocols for the prevention andsuppression of terrorism.  The “KhartoumDeclaration” is expected to build on the achievements of the IGAD secretariatand its Member States towards the implementation ofthis Plan of Action against Terrorism.

The workshop, which was also attended by a wide spectrum ofrelevant international, regional, and subregionalorganizations and institutions, provided an opportunity, not only to share theexperiences in countering terrorism and transnationalorganized crime, but also to strengthen international cooperation, includingthe provision of technical assistance and the launching of joint initiatives.

For more information, please contact Walter Gehr,tel.:  +43 1 26060 4512 and/or Admirela Balic, tel.:  +43 1 26060 4130 at the UNODC, Vienna.

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