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Strengthening Efforts to Combat Terrorism

18 March 2004

Kimberly Prost, Head of the Criminal Law Section of the Commonwealth Secretariat, delivered the keynote speech .
Representatives of international, regional and sub-regional organisations and United Nations bodies who attended an anti-terrorism meeting in Vienna, Austria, last week, pledged to work more closely together to combat the menace. 

Delegates at the Follow-up Meeting to the UN Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) Special Meeting (6 March 2004), adopted the Vienna Declaration on 12 March aimed at enhancing co-operation and information-sharing to fight terrorism. Efforts will also be made to strengthen co-ordination in technical assistance programmes on counter-terrorism.

The Declaration was made a day after the bombing of commuter trains in Madrid on 11 March, which killed more than 200 people. The delegates observed a minute's silence to pay their respects to the victims and offered their condolences to the Spanish people through the UNCTC chairman, Ambassador Innocento Arias. They reiterated their resolve to step up joint counter-terrorism activities among international organisations.

 The meeting in Austria, hosted by the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC), focused on terrorism threats and their impact on border control and civil aviation. Transnational threats involving terrorism, organised crime and drug-trafficking were also discussed in order to improve collaboration among international organisations. 

Kimberly Prost, Head of the Criminal Law Section of the Commonwealth Secretariat, delivered a keynote speech in which she urged the delegates to examine ways to improve co-operation and co-ordination in technical assistance to support the adoption and implementation of counter-terrorism legislation and related measures. Addressing a Working Group on 'Ratification and Implementation of the Twelve Universal Anti-Terrorism Instruments', Ms Prost stressed that enhanced co-ordination and information exchange on technical aid programmes are vital to ensure effective assistance and avoid duplication. She highlighted the role of the Secretariat in assisting member countries to prevent and counter terrorism. 

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