UN General Assembly Resolutions:
Resolution 55/158

(December 12, 2000)

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The General Assembly,

Guided by the purposes and principles of the Charter the United Nations,

Recalling all General Assembly and Security Council resolutions on measures to eliminate international terrorism,

Convinced of the importance of the consideration of measures to eliminate international terrorism by the General Assembly as the universal organ having competence to do so,

Recalling the Declaration on the Occasion of the Fiftieth Anniversary of the United Nations,

Recalling also the United Nations Millennium Declaration,

Deeply disturbed by the persistence of terrorist acts, which have been carried out worldwide,

Stressing the need to strengthen further international cooperation between States and between intonational organizations and agencies, regional organizations and arrangements and the United Nations in order to prevent, combat and eliminate terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, wherever and by whomsoever committed, in accordance with the principles of the Charter, international law and relevant international conventions,

Mindful of the need to enhance the role of the United Nations and the relevant specialized agencies in combating international terrorism, and of the proposals of the Secretary-General to enhance the role of the Organization in this respect,

Recalling the Declaration on Measures to Eliminate International Terrorism, contained in the annex to resolution 49/160 of 9 December 1994, where in the General Assembly encouraged States to review urgently the scope of the existing international legal provisions on the prevention, repression and elimination of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, with the aim of ensuring that there was a comprehensive legal framework covering all aspects of the matter,

Taking note of the final document of the Thirteenth Ministerial Conference of the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries, held at Cartagena, Colombia, on 8 and 9 April 2000, which reiterated the collective position of the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries on terrorism and reaffirmed the previous initiative of the Twelfth Conference of Heads of State or Government of Non-Aligned Countries, held at Durban, South Africa, from 29 August to 3 September 1998, calling for an international summit conference under the auspices of the United Nations to formulate a joint organized response of the international community to terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, and other relevant initiatives,

Recalling its decision in resolution 54/110 of 9 December 1999 that the Ad Hoc Committee established by General Assembly resolution 51/210 of 17 December 1996 should address the question of convening a high-level conference under the auspices of the United Nations to formulate a joint organized response of the international community to terrorism in all its forms and manifestations,

Noting regional efforts to prevent, combat and eliminate terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, wherever and by whomsoever committed, including through the elaboration of and adherence to regional conventions,

Having examined the report of the Secretary-Ganeral, the report of the Ad Hoc Committee. and the report of the Working Group of the Sixth Committee established pursuant to resolution 54/110,

1. Strongly condemns all acts, methods and practices of terrorism as criminal and unjustifiable, wherever and by whomsoever committed;

2. Reiterates that criminal acts intended or calculated to provoke a state of terror in the general public, a group of persons or particular persons for political purposes are in any circumstances unjustifiable, whatever the considerations of a political, philosophical, ideological, racial, ethnic, religious or other nature that may be invoked to justify them;

3. Reiterates its call upon all States to adopt further measures in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and the relevant provisions of international law, including international standards of human rights, to prevent terrorism and to strengthen international cooperation in combating terrorism and, to that end, to consider in particular the implementation of the measures set out in paragraphs 3 (a) to (f) of resolution 51/210;

4. Also reiterates its call upon all States, with the aim of enhancing the efficient implementation of relevant legal instruments, to intensify, as and where appropriate, the exchange of information on facts related to terrorism and, in so doing, to avoid the dissemination of inaccurate or unverified information;

5. Reiterates its call upon States to refrain from financing, encouraging, providing training for or otherwise supporting terrorist activities;

6. Reaffirms that international cooperation as well as actions by States to combat terrorism should be conducted in conformity with the principles of the Charter, international law and relevant international conventions;

7. Urges all States that have not yet done so to consider, as a matter of priority, becoming parties to relevant conventions and protocols as referred to in paragraph 6 of resolution 51/2l0, as well as the International Convention for the Suppression of Terrorist Bombings, and the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism, and calls upon all States to enact, as appropriate, domestic legislation necessary to implement the provisions of those conventions and protocols, to ensure that the jurisdiction of their courts enables them to bring to trial the perpetrators of terrorist acts, and to cooperate with and provide support and assistance to other States and relevant international and regional organizations to that end;

8. Notes with appreciation and satisfaction that, during the fifty-fourth session of the General Assembly and the Millennium Assembly, a number of States became parties to the relevant conventions and protocols referred to in paragraph 7 above, thereby realizing the objective of wider acceptance and implementation of those conventions;

9. Reaffirms the Declaration on Measures to Eliminate International Terrorism contained in the annex to resolution 49/60 and the Declaration to Supplement the 1994 Declaration on Measures to Eliminate International Terrorism contained in the annex to resolution 51/210, and calls upon all States to implement them;

10. Welcomes the efforts of the Terrorism Prevention Branch of the Centre for International Crime Prevention in Vienna, after reviewing existing possibilities within the United Nations system, to anhance, through its mandate, the capabilities of the United Nations in the prevention of terrorism;

11. Invites States that have not yet done so to submit to the Secretary-Genaal information on their national laws and regulations regarding the prevention and suppression of acts of international terrorism;

12. Invites regional intergovernmental organizations to submit to the Secretary-General information on the measures they have adopted at the regional level to eliminate international terrorism;

13. Decides that the Ad Hoc Committee established by General Assembly resolution 51/210 of 17 December 1996 shall continue to elaborate a comprehensive convention on international terrorism and shall continue its efforts to resolve the outstanding issues relating to the elaboration of a draft international convention for the suppression of acts of nuclear terrorism, as a means of further developing a comprehensive legal framework of conventions dealing with international terrorism, and that it shall keep on its agenda the question of convening a high-level conference under the auspices of the United Nations to formulate a joint organized response of the international community to terrorism in all its forms and manifestations;

14. Also decides that the Ad Hoc Committee shall meet from 12 to 23 February 2001 to continue the elaboration of a draft comprehensive convention on international terrorism, with appropriate time allocated to the continued consideration of outstanding issues relating to the elaboration of a draft international convention for the suppression of acts of nuclear terrorism, that it shall keep on its agenda the question of convening a high-level conference under the auspices of the United Nations to formulate a joint organized response of the international community to terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, and that the work shall continue during the fifty-sixth session of the General Assembly between 15 and 26 October 2001, within the framework of a working group of the Sixth Committee;

15. Requests the Secretary-General to continue to provide the Ad Hoc Committee with the necessary facilities for the performance of its work;

16. Requests the Ad Hoc Committee to report to the General Assembly at its fifty-fifth session in the event of the completion of the draft international convention for the suppression of acts of nuclear terrorism;

17. Also requests the Ad Hoc Committee to report to the General Assembly at its fifty-sixth session on progress made in the implementation of its mandate;

18. Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its fifty-sixth session the item entitled "Measures to eliminate international terrorism.".

Sources: The United Nations