UNITED NATIONS
General Assembly
Fifty-second session Agenda item 152
RESOLUTION ADOPTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY
[on the report of the Sixth Committee (A/52/653)] 52/164.
International Convention for the Suppression of Terrorist Bombings
The General Assembly,
Recalling its resolution 49/60
of 9 December 1994, by which it adopted the Declaration on Measures
to Eliminate International
Terrorism, and its resolution 51/210 of 17 December 1996,
Having considered the text
of the draft convention for the suppression of terrorist bombings
prepared by the Ad Hoc Committee
established by General Assembly resolution 51/210 of 17
December 1996 and the Working
Group of the Sixth Committee,
1. Adopts the International
Convention for the Suppression of Terrorist Bombings annexed to the
present resolution, and decides
to open it for signature at United Nations Headquarters in New York
from 12 January 1998 until
31 December 1999;
2. Urges all States to sign and ratify, accept or approve or accede to the Convention.
72nd plenary meeting 15 December 1997
ANNEX
International Convention for the Suppression of Terrorist Bombings
The States Parties to this Convention,
Having in mind the purposes
and principles of the Charter of the United Nations concerning the
maintenance of international
peace and security and the promotion of good-neighbourliness and
friendly relations and cooperation
among States,
Deeply concerned about the
worldwide escalation of acts of terrorism in all its forms and
manifestations,
Recalling the Declaration on
the Occasion of the Fiftieth Anniversary of the United Nations of 24
October 1995,
Recalling also the Declaration
on Measures to Eliminate International Terrorism, annexed to General
Assembly resolution 49/60
of 9 December 1994, in which, inter alia, "the States Members of the United
Nations solemnly reaffirm
their unequivocal condemnation of all acts, methods and practices of
terrorism as criminal and
unjustifiable, wherever and by whomever committed, including those which
jeopardize the friendly relations
among States and peoples and threaten the territorial integrity and
security of States",
Noting that the Declaration
also 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 is a comprehensive legal framework covering
all aspects of the matter",
Recalling General Assembly
resolution 51/210 of 17 December 1996 and the Declaration to
Supplement the 1994 Declaration
on Measures to Eliminate International Terrorism annexed thereto,
Noting that terrorist attacks
by means of explosives or other lethal devices have become increasingly
widespread,
Noting also that existing multilateral legal provisions do not adequately address these attacks,
Being convinced of the urgent
need to enhance international cooperation between States in devising
and adopting effective and
practical measures for the prevention of such acts of terrorism and for
the
prosecution and punishment
of their perpetrators,
Considering that the occurrence
of such acts is a matter of grave concern to the international
community as a whole,
Noting that the activities
of military forces of States are governed by rules of international law
outside
the framework of this Convention
and that the exclusion of certain actions from the coverage of this
Convention does not condone
or make lawful otherwise unlawful acts, or preclude prosecution under
other laws,
Have agreed as follows:
Article 1
For the purposes of this Convention:
1. "State or government facility"
includes any permanent or temporary facility or conveyance that is
used or occupied by representatives
of a State, members of Government, the legislature or the
judiciary or by officials
or employees of a State or any other public authority or entity or by employees
or officials of an intergovernmental
organization in connection with their official duties.
2. "Infrastructure facility"
means any publicly or privately owned facility providing or distributing
services for the benefit of
the public, such as water, sewage, energy, fuel or communications.
3. "Explosive or other lethal device" means:
(a) An explosive or incendiary
weapon or device that is designed, or has the capability, to cause death,
serious bodily injury or substantial
material damage; or
(b) A weapon or device that
is designed, or has the capability, to cause death, serious bodily injury
or
substantial material damage
through the release, dissemination or impact of toxic chemicals, biological
agents or toxins or similar
substances or radiation or radioactive material.
4. "Military forces of a State"
means the armed forces of a State which are organized, trained and
equipped under its internal
law for the primary purpose of national defence or security and persons
acting in support of those
armed forces who are under their formal command, control and
responsibility.
5. "Place of public use" means
those parts of any building, land, street, waterway or other location
that are accessible or open
to members of the public, whether continuously, periodically or
occasionally, and encompasses
any commercial, business, cultural, historical, educational, religious,
governmental, entertainment,
recreational or similar place that is so accessible or open to the public.
6. "Public transportation system"
means all facilities, conveyances and instrumentalities, whether
publicly or privately owned,
that are used in or for publicly available services for the transportation
of
persons or cargo.
Article 2
1. Any person commits an offence
within the meaning of this Convention if that person unlawfully and
intentionally delivers, places,
discharges or detonates an explosive or other lethal device in, into or
against a place of public
use, a State or government facility, a public transportation system or
an
infrastructure facility:
(a) With the intent to cause death or serious bodily injury; or
(b) With the intent to cause
extensive destruction of such a place, facility or system, where such
destruction results in or
is likely to result in major economic loss.
2. Any person also commits
an offence if that person attempts to commit an offence as set forth in
paragraph 1 of the present
article. 3. Any person also commits an offence if that person:
(a) Participates as an accomplice
in an offence as set forth in paragraph 1 or 2 of the present article;
or
(b) Organizes or directs others
to commit an offence as set forth in paragraph 1 or 2 of the present
article; or
(c) In any other way contributes
to the commission of one or more offences as set forth in paragraph 1
or 2 of the present article
by a group of persons acting with a common purpose; such contribution
shall be intentional and either
be made with the aim of furthering the general criminal activity or
purpose of the group or be
made in the knowledge of the intention of the group to commit the offence
or offences concerned.
Article 3
This Convention shall not apply
where the offence is committed within a single State, the alleged
offender and the victims are
nationals of that State, the alleged offender is found in the territory
of
that State and no other State
has a basis under article 6, paragraph 1 or paragraph 2, of this
Convention to exercise jurisdiction,
except that the provisions of articles 10 to 15 shall, as appropriate,
apply in those cases.
Article 4
Each State Party shall adopt such measures as may be necessary:
(a) To establish as criminal
offences under its domestic law the offences set forth in article 2 of
this
Convention;
(b) To make those offences
punishable by appropriate penalties which take into account the grave
nature of those offences.
Article 5
Each State Party shall adopt
such measures as may be necessary, including, where appropriate,
domestic legislation, to ensure
that criminal acts within the scope of this Convention, in particular
where they are intended or
calculated to provoke a state of terror in the general public or in a group
of persons or particular persons,
are under no circumstances justifiable by considerations of a political,
philosophical, ideological,
racial, ethnic, religious or other similar nature and are punished by penalties
consistent with their grave
nature.
Article 6
1. Each State Party shall take
such measures as may be necessary to establish its jurisdiction over the
offences set forth in article
2 when:
(a) The offence is committed in the territory of that State; or
(b) The offence is committed
on board a vessel flying the flag of that State or an aircraft which is
registered under the laws
of that State at the time the offence is committed; or
(c) The offence is committed by a national of that State.
2. A State Party may also establish its jurisdiction over any such offence when:
(a) The offence is committed against a national of that State; or
(b) The offence is committed
against a State or government facility of that State abroad, including
an
embassy or other diplomatic
or consular premises of that State; or
(c) The offence is committed
by a stateless person who has his or her habitual residence in the
territory of that State; or
(d) The offence is committed in an attempt to compel that State to do or abstain from doing any act; or
(e) The offence is committed on board an aircraft which is operated by the Government of that State.
3. Upon ratifying, accepting,
approving or acceding to this Convention, each State Party shall notify
the
Secretary-General of the United
Nations of the jurisdiction it has established under its domestic law in
accordance with paragraph
2 of the present article. Should any change take place, the State Party
concerned shall immediately
notify the Secretary-General.
4. Each State Party shall likewise
take such measures as may be necessary to establish its jurisdiction
over the offences set forth
in article 2 in cases where the alleged offender is present in its territory
and it does not extradite
that person to any of the States Parties which have established their
jurisdiction in accordance
with paragraph 1 or 2 of the present article.
5. This Convention does not
exclude the exercise of any criminal jurisdiction established by a State
Party in accordance with its
domestic law.
Article 7
1. Upon receiving information
that a person who has committed or who is alleged to have committed
an offence as set forth in
article 2 may be present in its territory, the State Party concerned shall
take
such measures as may be necessary
under its domestic law to investigate the facts contained in the
information.
2. Upon being satisfied that
the circumstances so warrant, the State Party in whose territory the
offender or alleged offender
is present shall take the appropriate measures under its domestic law so
as to ensure that person's
presence for the purpose of prosecution or extradition.
3. Any person regarding whom
the measures referred to in paragraph 2 of the present article are
being taken shall be entitled
to:
(a) Communicate without delay
with the nearest appropriate representative of the State of which that
person is a national or which
is otherwise entitled to protect that person's rights or, if that person
is a
stateless person, the State
in the territory of which that person habitually resides;
(b) Be visited by a representative of that State;
(c) Be informed of that person's rights under subparagraphs (a) and (b).
4. The rights referred to in
paragraph 3 of the present article shall be exercised in conformity with
the
laws and regulations of the
State in the territory of which the offender or alleged offender is present,
subject to the provision that
the said laws and regulations must enable full effect to be given to the
purposes for which the rights
accorded under paragraph 3 are intended.
5. The provisions of paragraphs
3 and 4 of the present article shall be without prejudice to the right
of
any State Party having a claim
to jurisdiction in accordance with article 6, subparagraph 1 (c) or 2 (c),
to invite the International
Committee of the Red Cross to communicate with and visit the alleged
offender.
6. When a State Party, pursuant
to the present article, has taken a person into custody, it shall
immediately notify, directly
or through the Secretary-General of the United Nations, the States Parties
which have established jurisdiction
in accordance with article 6, paragraphs 1 and 2, and, if it
considers it advisable, any
other interested States Parties, of the fact that that person is in custody
and of the circumstances which
warrant that person's detention. The State which makes the
investigation contemplated
in paragraph 1 of the present article shall promptly inform the said States
Parties of its findings and
shall indicate whether it intends to exercise jurisdiction.
Article 8
1. The State Party in the territory
of which the alleged offender is present shall, in cases to which
article 6 applies, if it does
not extradite that person, be obliged, without exception whatsoever and
whether or not the offence
was committed in its territory, to submit the case without undue delay
to
its competent authorities
for the purpose of prosecution, through proceedings in accordance with
the
laws of that State. Those
authorities shall take their decision in the same manner as in the case
of any
other offence of a grave nature
under the law of that State. 2. Whenever a State Party is permitted
under its domestic law to
extradite or otherwise surrender one of its nationals only upon the condition
that the person will be returned
to that State to serve the sentence imposed as a result of the trial or
proceeding for which the extradition
or surrender of the person was sought, and this State and the
State seeking the extradition
of the person agree with this option and other terms they may deem
appropriate, such a conditional
extradition or surrender shall be sufficient to discharge the obligation
set forth in paragraph 1 of
the present article.
Article 9
1. The offences set forth in
article 2 shall be deemed to be included as extraditable offences in any
extradition treaty existing
between any of the States Parties before the entry into force of this
Convention. States Parties
undertake to include such offences as extraditable offences in every
extradition treaty to be subsequently
concluded between them.
2. When a State Party which
makes extradition conditional on the existence of a treaty receives a
request for extradition from
another State Party with which it has no extradition treaty, the requested
State Party may, at its option,
consider this Convention as a legal basis for extradition in respect of
the offences set forth in
article 2. Extradition shall be subject to the other conditions provided
by the
law of the requested State.
3. States Parties which do
not make extradition conditional on the existence of a treaty shall recognize
the offences set forth in
article 2 as extraditable offences between themselves, subject to the
conditions provided by the
law of the requested State.
4. If necessary, the offences
set forth in article 2 shall be treated, for the purposes of extradition
between States Parties, as
if they had been committed not only in the place in which they occurred
but
also in the territory of the
States that have established jurisdiction in accordance with article 6,
paragraphs 1 and 2.
5. The provisions of all extradition
treaties and arrangements between States Parties with regard to
offences set forth in article
2 shall be deemed to be modified as between State Parties to the extent
that they are incompatible
with this Convention.
Article 10
1. States Parties shall afford
one another the greatest measure of assistance in connection with
investigations or criminal
or extradition proceedings brought in respect of the offences set forth
in
article 2, including assistance
in obtaining evidence at their disposal necessary for the proceedings.
2. States Parties shall carry
out their obligations under paragraph 1 of the present article in conformity
with any treaties or other
arrangements on mutual legal assistance that may exist between them. In
the absence of such treaties
or arrangements, States Parties shall afford one another assistance in
accordance with their domestic
law.
Article 11
None of the offences set forth
in article 2 shall be regarded, for the purposes of extradition or mutual
legal assistance, as a political
offence or as an offence connected with a political offence or as an
offence inspired by political
motives. Accordingly, a request for extradition or for mutual legal
assistance based on such an
offence may not be refused on the sole ground that it concerns a political
offence or an offence connected
with a political offence or an offence inspired by political motives.
Article 12
Nothing in this Convention
shall be interpreted as imposing an obligation to extradite or to afford
mutual legal assistance, if
the requested State Party has substantial grounds for believing that the
request for extradition for
offences set forth in article 2 or for mutual legal assistance with respect
to
such offences has been made
for the purpose of prosecuting or punishing a person on account of that
person's race, religion, nationality,
ethnic origin or political opinion or that compliance with the request
would cause prejudice to that
person's position for any of these reasons.
Article 13
1. A person who is being detained
or is serving a sentence in the territory of one State Party whose
presence in another State
Party is requested for purposes of testimony, identification or otherwise
providing assistance in obtaining
evidence for the investigation or prosecution of offences under this
Convention may be transferred
if the following conditions are met:
(a) The person freely gives his or her informed consent; and
(b) The competent authorities
of both States agree, subject to such conditions as those States may
deem appropriate.
2. For the purposes of the present article:
(a) The State to which the
person is transferred shall have the authority and obligation to keep the
person transferred in custody,
unless otherwise requested or authorized by the State from which the
person was transferred;
(b) The State to which the
person is transferred shall without delay implement its obligation to return
the person to the custody
of the State from which the person was transferred as agreed beforehand,
or as otherwise agreed, by
the competent authorities of both States;
(c) The State to which the
person is transferred shall not require the State from which the person
was
transferred to initiate extradition
proceedings for the return of the person;
(d) The person transferred
shall receive credit for service of the sentence being served in the State
from which he was transferred
for time spent in the custody of the State to which he was transferred.
3. Unless the State Party from
which a person is to be transferred in accordance with the present
article so agrees, that person,
whatever his or her nationality, shall not be prosecuted or detained or
subjected to any other restriction
of his or her personal liberty in the territory of the State to which
that person is transferred
in respect of acts or convictions anterior to his or her departure from
the
territory of the State from
which such person was transferred.
Article 14
Any person who is taken into
custody or regarding whom any other measures are taken or
proceedings are carried out
pursuant to this Convention shall be guaranteed fair treatment, including
enjoyment of all rights and
guarantees in conformity with the law of the State in the territory of
which
that person is present and
applicable provisions of international law, including international law
of
human rights.
Article 15
States Parties shall cooperate in the prevention of the offences set forth in article 2, particularly:
(a) By taking all practicable
measures, including, if necessary, adapting their domestic legislation,
to
prevent and counter preparations
in their respective territories for the commission of those offences
within or outside their territories,
including measures to prohibit in their territories illegal activities
of
persons, groups and organizations
that encourage, instigate, organize, knowingly finance or engage
in the perpetration of offences
as set forth in article 2;
(b) By exchanging accurate
and verified information in accordance with their national law, and
coordinating administrative
and other measures taken as appropriate to prevent the commission of
offences as set forth in article
2;
(c) Where appropriate, through
research and development regarding methods of detection of
explosives and other harmful
substances that can cause death or bodily injury, consultations on the
development of standards for
marking explosives in order to identify their origin in post-blast
investigations, exchange of
information on preventive measures, cooperation and transfer of
technology, equipment and
related materials.
Article 16
The State Party where the alleged
offender is prosecuted shall, in accordance with its domestic law or
applicable procedures, communicate
the final outcome of the proceedings to the Secretary-General of
the United Nations, who shall
transmit the information to the other States Parties.
Article 17
The States Parties shall carry
out their obligations under this Convention in a manner consistent with
the principles of sovereign
equality and territorial integrity of States and that of non-intervention
in the
domestic affairs of other
States.
Article 18
Nothing in this Convention
entitles a State Party to undertake in the territory of another State Party
the exercise of jurisdiction
and performance of functions which are exclusively reserved for the
authorities of that other
State Party by its domestic law.
Article 19
1. Nothing in this Convention
shall affect other rights, obligations and responsibilities of States and
individuals under international
law, in particular the purposes and principles of the Charter of the
United Nations and international
humanitarian law.
2. The activities of armed
forces during an armed conflict, as those terms are understood under
international humanitarian
law, which are governed by that law, are not governed by this Convention,
and the activities undertaken
by military forces of a State in the exercise of their official duties,
inasmuch as they are governed
by other rules of international law, are not governed by this
Convention.
Article 20
1. Any dispute between two
or more States Parties concerning the interpretation or application of
this
Convention which cannot be
settled through negotiation within a reasonable time shall, at the request
of one of them, be submitted
to arbitration. If, within six months from the date of the request for
arbitration, the parties are
unable to agree on the organization of the arbitration, any one of those
parties may refer the dispute
to the International Court of Justice, by application, in conformity with
the Statute of the Court.
2. Each State may at the time
of signature, ratification, acceptance or approval of this Convention or
accession thereto declare
that it does not consider itself bound by paragraph 1 of the present article.
The other States Parties shall
not be bound by paragraph 1 with respect to any State Party which has
made such a reservation.
3. Any State which has made
a reservation in accordance with paragraph 2 of the present article may
at any time withdraw that
reservation by notification to the Secretary-General of the United Nations.
Article 21
1. This Convention shall be
open for signature by all States from 12 January 1998 until 31 December
1999 at United Nations Headquarters
in New York.
2. This Convention is subject
to ratification, acceptance or approval. The instruments of ratification,
acceptance or approval shall
be deposited with the Secretary-General of the United Nations.
3. This Convention shall be
open to accession by any State. The instruments of accession shall be
deposited with the Secretary-General
of the United Nations.
Article 22
1. This Convention shall enter
into force on the thirtieth day following the date of the deposit of the
twenty-second instrument of
ratification, acceptance, approval or accession with the Secretary-General
of the United Nations.
2. For each State ratifying,
accepting, approving or acceding to the Convention after the deposit of
the
twenty-second instrument of
ratification, acceptance, approval or accession, the Convention shall
enter into force on the thirtieth
day after deposit by such State of its instrument of ratification,
acceptance, approval or accession.
Article 23
1. Any State Party may denounce
this Convention by written notification to the Secretary-General of
the United Nations.
2. Denunciation shall take
effect one year following the date on which notification is received by
the
Secretary-General of the United
Nations.
Article 24
The original of this Convention,
of which the Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish
texts are equally authentic,
shall be deposited with the Secretary-General of the United Nations, who
shall send certified copies
thereof to all States. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the undersigned, being duly
authorized thereto by their
respective Governments, have signed this Convention, opened for
signature at United Nations
Headquarters in New York on 12 January 1998.
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