OSCE Chairman-in-Office calls for plan of action to fight terrorism

VIENNA, 21 September 2001 (OSCE) - The OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Romanian Foreign Minister Mircea Geoana, called today on all 55 OSCE participating States to work together to develop an OSCE-wide plan of action for the fight against terrorism. This action plan could be adopted at the forthcoming OSCE Ministerial Council on 3 and 4 December in Bucharest.

Speaking at a special session of the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna, Mr. Geoana strongly condemned the "barbaric attacks against freedom, against humanity and the security of the individual, which are contrary to all values we uphold in the OSCE". He told the OSCE participating States that: "the most effective response to this challenge is the formation of a strong and broad coalition".

Speaking about how the OSCE could contribute to the fight against terrorism and organized crime, Mr. Geoana pointed at three specific areas: showing political solidarity and commitment to joint action; addressing the root causes, by making use of all necessary partnerships and co-operative action; and bridging sub-regional and regional initiatives within the OSCE area."

Mr. Geoana urged all OSCE States to "strengthen their legislation, including provisions for a European-wide mandate for the detention and extradition of suspects. All OSCE States should also take action to identify and clamp down on the financing of terrorism.

"I call on all participating States to use their regional connections and bring a valuable contribution by sharing information and expertise related to terrorist and other criminal activities", the Chairman-in-Office said. In this context, Mr. Geoana emphasized the contributory role of drug trafficking and other organized crime activities, and called for "intensified inter-agency co-operation at national and regional levels throughout the OSCE space".

Proposing the adoption of particular measures regarding OSCE field activities, he said: "We should also mandate all our Missions to increase their border monitoring and policing activities in vulnerable regions.

"Multi-ethnic police training should henceforth be a standard task for our OSCE Missions. I also want all OSCE Missions to identify needs and channel assistance on standardizing counter-terrorism legislation and counter-terrorist training. OSCE police advisors could explore the potential for expanding training programmes to include counter-terrorist training, compatible with human rights", he added.

The Chairman-in-Office pointed out, however, that the participating States must firmly hold on to the Organization's values, norms and rules, to prevent any damage to the democratic achievements in any of the former crisis areas of the OSCE space.

"We should not use the fight against terrorism as an excuse for human rights abuses," he stressed.

Mr. Geoana recognized that social and economic marginalization can lead to isolation and abandonment, while the absence of a clear prospect of a decent future can be a very fertile breeding ground for exploitation by extremists.

"Sticking to our course of promoting tolerance of ethnic, cultural and religious diversity can eliminate causes of resentment", Mr. Geoana said. "We must avoid the vicious circle of intolerance and discrimination, where repression of basic freedoms feeds extremism instead of defeating it. We must avoid inventing a new form of racism. We should avoid the danger of clashing between cultures and ethnicity. Otherwise we fuel the ultimate goals of extremist polarization promoted by the forces of disintegration."

On OSCE regional activities to combat terrorism, the Chairman-in-Office strongly advocated the need for a comprehensive initiative to set common priorities and an action plan. He emphasized the need for an urgent follow-up to the joint OSCE/United Nations Tashkent conference on organized crime, drug trafficking and terrorism. He therefore welcomed the offer of Kyrgyzstan to host this follow-up meeting in Bishkek.

Mr. Geoana also called for the opening of a dialogue between the OSCE participating States and the Organization's Mediterranean Partners on the causes of terrorism and the most effective responses. "We have to develop an inclusive approach, based on strong partnerships with these countries in defending OSCE values".

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For further information, please contact Josue Anselmo, OSCE Spokesperson, mobile (+43) 664 325 3698, or the Press and Public Information Section of the OSCE Secretariat, tel.: (+ 43-1) 514 36 180, or e-mail: info@osce.org.