ICPO-Interpol - General Assembly 53rd session - Luxembourg - 4th-11th September 1984

TAKING INTO ACCOUNT Article 3 of the Organization's Constitution,

TAKING INTO ACCOUNT the Resolutions already adopted by the General Assembly and entitled:

• Requests for international enquiries (Resolution No. 14, Lisbon, 1951)
• Unlawful acts against international civil aviation (Resolution No. 3, Brussels, 1970)
• Hostages and blackmail (Resolution No. 7, Frankfurt, 1972)
• Unlawful acts of international concern (Resolution No. 6, Vienna, 1973)
• Safeguarding of international civil aviation (Resolution No. 3, Cannes, 1974)
• Acts of violence committed by organized groups (Resolution No. 8, Nairobi, 1979),

CONSIDERING THAT:

(a) in many countries there are organized groups engaging in violent criminal activities designed, by spreading terror or fear, to enable them to attain allegedly political objectives,

(b) such activities are commonly covered by the term "terrorism,", that they constitute an international phenomenon and that they are connected with other forms of crime,

(c) the types of crime committed in the context of terrorism include, in particular, attacks on human life and physical integrity, kidnapping, hostage-taking, unlawful interference with civil aviation and serious attacks on public or private property,

AWARE THAT several international conventions covering such matters (the European Convention on the suppression of terrorism, the Organization of American States' Convention to prevent and punish acts of terrorism, the League of Arab States' Extradition Convention) do not admit exceptions for political reasons in extradition cases where certain serious crimes have been committed in the context of terrorism,

ACKNOWLEDGING THAT:

(a) by virtue of the principle of national sovereignty, the political character of any offence can only be determined by national legislation,

(b) it is nonetheless essential to combat this type of crime which causes considerable damage in Member States,

The ICPO-Interpol General Assembly, meeting in Luxembourg from 4th to 11th September 1984 at its 53rd session:

ASKS the NCBs, while respecting the provisions of Article 3 of the Organization's Constitution, to co-operate as fully as possible to combat terrorism as far as their national laws permit.