Russia, Rio Group Experts' Consultations on Counter-Terrorism Cooperation
On February 17, consultations by experts of the Russian Federation and the Rio Group on counter-terrorism cooperation,
timed for the Fifth Regular Session of the Inter-American Committee Against Terrorism (CICTE), were held in
Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago.
During the consultations, various aspects of cooperation between the Russian Federation and the Rio Group countries at
this stage, characterized by a serious exacerbation of terrorist threats, were examined. Terrorism has acquired even
more dangerous features and is a violation of fundamental moral values as well as one of the main threats to
international peace and security, democracy and the supremacy of law.
The participants of the consultations resolutely condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. There were
expressed special condolences and solidarity to the representatives of the Russian Federation over the barbaric mass
murder of children hostages in Beslan.
The experts discussed possibilities for improving the national and international legal basis of the struggle against
terrorism. In this context the sides spoke in favor of the earliest possible adoption in the UN of a Comprehensive
Convention Against International Terrorism and an International Convention on the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear
Terrorism.
The experts underscored the priority importance of international antiterrorist efforts within the framework of the UN
and of leading regional organizations in accordance with international law, in particular, international human rights
standards, the rights of refugees and humanitarian law.
The sides shared the experience of antiterrorist measures being taken at the multilateral, bilateral and national
levels, and compared the priority tasks and lines of counteraction against terrorism.
The participants of the consultations discussed the possibility of strengthening anti-terror cooperation, including in
terms of rendering assistance in the building-up of antiterrorist potential.