Russia, Rio Group: Counter-Terrorism Cooperation

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.

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