12 January 2000
(Supports international efforts to combat funding sources) (1,050) By Judy Aita Washington File United Nations Correspondent United Nations -- The United States is urging other nations to sign the newest convention in a series of international anti-terrorism instruments, the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism. The treaty, which was adopted by the UN General Assembly in December 1999, was opened for signature at UN headquarters on January 10, 2000. Ambassador James Cunningham, the U.S. deputy UN representative, signed the convention on behalf of the United States. "In signing this new convention on the day it first opened for signature, the United States is sending a strong message of support for international efforts to combat terrorism at one of its most critical points - raising and spending the money needed to finance terrorist activities," an announcement from the U.S. Mission to the United Nations said. The United States encourages all countries to further the global fight against terrorism by joining the new convention to suppress the financing of terrorism and all preceding counterterrorism conventions, the announcement said. The new convention is an approach that will add substantial strength and enforcement opportunities to the network of interlocking conventions created by the international community during the past 30 years. It recognizes that financing is at the heart of terrorist activity and paves the way for concerted actions and close cooperation between law enforcement and financial authorities. "What is important about the convention is the continuing effort of the international community to combat terrorism," a senior U.S. official said after the signing. "The process is continuing to work away at the problem." The treaty takes the existing acts that have been defined as terrorism in other treaties and says that anybody who provides or collects money for those acts is also guilty of the crime, the official explained. The international community historically has been unable to agree on an overall definition of terrorism because in certain cases some individuals may perceive terrorists as freedom fighters. Because of this problem, countries have taken an issue-by-issue approach, creating a network of conventions criminalizing specific acts, such as bombings, kidnappings, or hijacking airplanes, the U.S. official noted. Ambassador Philippe Kirsch of Canada, chairman of the committee that drafted the text, said the convention recognizes the fundamental importance of the problem of financing terrorism in an era when huge quantities of money can circle the globe electronically in seconds. The convention, Kirsch said at a press conference in December, establishes the act of financing terrorism as an independent crime. It does not require that an act of terrorism actually be committed. For the first time a convention specifically targets the financial sponsors of terrorist activity rather than only the actual perpetrators. Previously, financial backers of terrorist acts could be charged only with aiding or abetting that crime. The new convention criminalizes the act of providing or collecting funds with the intention or knowledge that those funds will be used to carry out a terrorist act, whether or not that act of terrorism takes place. If a significant number of countries become parties, the convention will provide powerful enforcement possibilities to governments that want to put an end to acts of terrorism, diplomats say. Every time terrorist monies pass through the territory of a party to the convention, an international crime will be committed which can be prosecuted. The convention defines a terrorist act as one that is intended to cause death or serious injury to a civilian with the purpose of intimidating a population or compelling a government or organization either to carry out or not to carry out a particular action. States parties will be required to adopt national laws paralleling the convention making such offenses punishable by appropriate penalties which take into account the gravity of the crimes. States parties also must make the offenses extraditable and include the offenses in any extradition treaties they conclude. They also will be required to cooperate and assist other states in investigations and preventive efforts. For example, they cannot refuse a request for legal assistance on the grounds of bank secrecy. Banks and another financial institutions must identify account holders, must pay special attention to unusual or suspicious transactions, and report any they suspect may stem from criminal activity. The convention also suggests a number of specific measures that banks might be required to undertake, such as requiring proof of incorporation or maintaining transaction records for at least five years. Seven countries -- Finland, France, Malta, the Netherlands, Sri Lanka, the United Kingdom, and the United States -- signed the treaty on the first day. States that sign a treaty demonstrate their intention to ratify. The convention will be open for signature until December 31, 2001, and must receive 22 instruments of ratification in order to enter into force. For the United States, the new convention, as with other treaties, will be subject to the ratification process of the United States Senate. The nine previously adopted anti-terrorism conventions, all of which have entered into force, are: Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Seizure of Aircraft (1970); Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Civil Aviation (1971); Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Crimes against Internationally Protected Persons including Diplomatic Agents (1973); International Convention against the Taking of Hostages (1979); Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material (1980); Protocol for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts of Violence at Airports Serving International Civil Aviation (1988); Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Maritime Navigation (1988); Protocol for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Fixed Platforms Located on the Continental Shelf (1988); and International Convention for the Suppression of Terrorist Bombings (1997). In addition, the General Assembly has adopted two non-binding declarations which uncategorically condemn terrorist acts: the Declaration on Measures to Eliminate International Terrorism in 1994 and a supplement to the 1994 declaration in 1996. In another resolution adopted in December 1999, the General Assembly decided that the ad hoc committee on international terrorism should continue to work on a draft convention for the suppression of acts of nuclear terrorism and discuss whether the UN should convene a high-level international conference on terrorism. (The Washington File is a product of the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State.)