Organization of American States Summits of the Americas
 
Follow-up and Implementation: Mandates
 

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SECURITY: Organized Crime
MANDATES

  1. Take concrete actions, with the participation and collaboration of civil society, to improve the promotion and protection of human rights defenders, including those working on environmental matters, to include:

    • d. The conduct of investigations and criminal proceedings, where appropriate, regarding complaints and allegations of human rights violations or abuses. (Inter-American Action Plan on Democratic Governance, IX Summit of the Americas, Los Angeles, 2022).

  1. Integrate commitments emanating from the Summit of the Americas and from other relevant forums relating to the promotion of transparency and combating corruption into Open Government Partnership National Action Plans, as applicable, including: actions to strengthen fiscal transparency and prevent financial crimes, and strengthen openness of public information and data in open formats from the design stage. (Inter-American Action Plan on Democratic Governance, IX Summit of the Americas, Los Angeles, 2022).

  1. Adopt appropriate measures to address the political commitments in the UN General Assembly Resolution A/RES/S-32-1, which approved the political declaration “Our common commitment to effectively addressing challenges and implementing measures to prevent and combat corruption and strengthen international cooperation,” as well as continue to advance the outcomes achieved in the preparatory process for this special period of this General Assembly, including, as appropriate and according to domestic legislation, to:

    • b. Criminalize the solicitation and acceptance of bribes and the bribery of national public officials, foreign public officials, and officials of public international organizations;

    • d. Develop and implement measures consistent with the UN Convention against Corruption that establish criminal or, when applicable, civil administrative liability of legal persons that engage in acts of transnational bribery offenses; (Inter-American Action Plan on Democratic Governance, IX Summit of the Americas, Los Angeles, 2022).

  1. Strengthen the public procurement and acquisition policies at the national, regional, and international levels, to include:

    • d. Developing and implementing effective measures that address informality and job insecurity, and prevent and combat corruption and abuses, including forced labor and child labor in global supply chains, by developing transparent public procurement standards and compliance requirements or codes of conduct, related to the sustainable procurement of goods and services, as applicable and in keeping with domestic legislation and international obligations of States.

    • e. Developing and implementing, as appropriate and in accordance with domestic legislation, mechanisms to prevent, investigate, or, where necessary, punish corruption, including bribery, trading in influence, child labor and forced labor in the procurement of goods and services of the public and private sectors in collaboration with the authorities responsible for law enforcement and other actors. (Inter-American Action Plan on Democratic Governance, IX Summit of the Americas, Los Angeles, 2022).

  1. Promote the development of digital talent specialized in cybersecurity in the region with the goal of strengthening the different stakeholders’ cybersecurity risk management and identification capacities and of encouraging appropriate digital behaviors and practices by society at large. (Regional Agenda for Digital Transformation, IX Summit of the Americas, Los Angeles, 2022).

  1. Promote and strengthen international cooperation among States to effectively prevent, prosecute, investigate, and try cybercrimes, illicit use of data that belong to government, private institutions, and persons and other criminal activities furthered by the misuse of information and communication technologies, such as human trafficking, migrant smuggling, child sexual exploitation and other forms of sexual violence, and illicit drug and arms trafficking, as well as money laundering, inter alia, in a framework of respect for human rights and with a gender perspective. (Regional Agenda for Digital Transformation, IX Summit of the Americas, Los Angeles, 2022).

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  1. Calling upon the Joint Summit Working Group (JSWG) to support the implementation and strengthening of national human rights-based programs to develop the capacity of the police, public prosecutors’ offices, the judiciary, and domestic oversight agencies to combat acts of corruption, including those related to drug trafficking, trafficking in persons, trafficking in firearms and other weapons and the smuggling of goods and wildlife. (Lima Commitment. Peru, 2018)

  1. To strengthen and promote bilateral, subregional, regional, and international cooperation to prevent and combat violence, corruption, and transnational organized crime in all its forms and manifestations, and to promote institutional strengthening and, where applicable, rehabilitation and social reintegration, within the framework of the international conventions and instruments in force, with full respect for the rule of law, domestic and international law, and human rights, and, to that end, call upon all citizens to participate and lend their support. (Citizen Security and Transnational Organized Crime, Cartagena, 2012).

  1. To strengthen the system of hemispheric cooperation to prevent and combat transnational organized crime, taking into consideration the economic purpose associated with this phenomenon, through mechanisms that support the strengthening of the necessary national capacities, as appropriate, to confront these threats in a concerted manner, taking advantage of experiences and available resources from existing networks, bodies, and mechanisms, in accordance with international and domestic law. (Citizen Security and Transnational Organized Crime, Cartagena, 2012).

  1. We will continue to fight all forms of transnational organised crime, illicit trafficking in drugs, illicit trafficking in arms, ammunition and explosives, illicit trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants, money laundering, corruption, terrorism, kidnapping, criminal gangs, and crimes associated with the use of technology, including cyber crime. We therefore reaffirm our will to implement the Commitment to Public Security in the Americas adopted by the First Meeting of Ministers Responsible for Public Security in the Americas in October 2008 in Mexico City, the commitments emanating from Meetings of Ministers of Justice or other Ministers or Attorneys General of the Americas (REMJA), as well as the 2006 Hemispheric Plan of Action Against Transnational Organised Crime. We thus invite the international community and international financial organisations to continue making financial contributions and other appropriate forms of assistance, within the scope of their respective competencies, to facilitate the achievement of the objectives of public security in the Americas. (Declaration of Port of Spain, 2009).

  1. We also emphasise our decision to address the criminal gang problem, its related aspects and its effects on the social environment, which challenge the progress made by our societies in the process to achieve stability, democratisation and sustainable development, taking a global approach that includes, inter alia, prevention, rehabilitation and reintegration of individuals affected by this phenomenon. To that end, we will encourage OAS efforts to prepare a comprehensive hemispheric strategy to promote inter-American cooperation in dealing with criminal gangs. (Declaration of Port of Spain, 2009).

  1. We emphasize our concern for the criminal gang problem and its related aspects, as well as its effect on the economic and social environments that challenge the progress made by our societies in the stability, democratization, and sustainable development process: a situation that requires additional urgent action to promote the prevention of criminal acts, prosecute those who commit them, rehabilitate and reinsert them, and create opportunities to facilitate access by youth to decent work (Declaration of Mar del Plata, 2005).

  1. We reiterate our commitment to combat new, multi-dimensional threats to the security of our societies. Foremost amongst these threats are the global drug problem and related crimes, the illicit traffic in and criminal use of firearms, the growing danger posed by organized crime and the general problem of violence in our societies. Acknowledging that corruption undermines core democratic values, challenges political stability and economic growth and thus threatens vital interests in our Hemisphere, we pledge to reinvigorate our fight against corruption. We also recognize the need to improve the conditions for human security in the Hemisphere (Declaration of Québec, 2001).

  1. Support measures to impede organized crime, money-laundering, the diversion of chemical precursors, the financing of armed groups, and other illicit activities resulting from drug and arms trafficking; (Plan of Action Québec, 2001).

  1. Encourage all countries in the Hemisphere to consider signing and ratifying, ratifying, or acceding to, as soon as possible and as the case may be, the UN Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime, its Protocol Against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air and its Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, as well as the Protocol Against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Their Parts and Components, and Ammunition, once that protocol is open for signature; (Plan of Action Québec, 2001).

  1. Promote, where necessary, and in accordance with national legislation, the adoption of investigation techniques, contained in the United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime, which are very important tools in the fight against organized crime; (Plan of Action Québec, 2001).

  1. Sensitize public opinion as to the serious effects of drug abuse and the activities of criminal organizations that deal with them, including at the wholesale and retail level; (Plan of Action Santiago, 1998).

  1. Recognizing the pernicious effects of organized crime and illegal narcotics on our economies, ethical values, public health, and the social fabric, we will join the battle against the consumption, production, trafficking and distribution of illegal drugs, as well as against money laundering and the illicit trafficking in arms and chemical precursors. We will also cooperate to create viable alternative development strategies in those countries in which illicit crops are grown. Cooperation should be extended to international and national programs aimed at curbing the production, use and trafficking of illicit drugs and the rehabilitation of addicts (Declaration of Principles Miami, 1994).

  • 6.1 The problems of illegal drug and related criminal activities pose grave threats to the societies, free market economies, and democratic institutions of the Hemisphere. Drug use imposes enormous social costs; drug money and income are net drains on economic growth; and drug lords and criminal organizations endanger the security of our people through corruption, intimidation, and violence. While drug trafficking continues to be a significant source of illegal funds, the money laundering industry increasingly deals with the proceeds of all types of criminal activity. An integrated and balanced approach that includes respect for national sovereignty is essential to confront all aspects of these problems. For these reasons, a broad coordinated hemispheric strategy to reduce drug use and production, including new enforcement methods that can disrupt drug trafficking and money laundering networks and prosecutes those engaged in such activities, is required. In this context, governments note the work of the 1992 San Antonio Summit, endorse the efforts of the Inter-American Commission on Drug Abuse Control, and agree to work together to formulate a counter-narcotics strategy for the 21st Century. (Plan of Action Miami, 1994).

  • 6.9 Strengthen efforts to control firearms, ammunition, and explosives to avoid their diversion to drug traffickers and criminal organizations (Plan of Action Miami, 1994).

 

 

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