Inter-American Committee Against Terrorism Increases Cooperation

The Inter-American Committee Against Terrorism has taken various measures to implement counter-terrorism cooperation. The Organization of American States (OSA) Permanent Council Resolution 837, condemning the February 7, 2003 bombings in Bogota, Columbia and recent bombing in Caracas. It has condemned the FARC and called for “pursuing, capturing, prosecuting, punishing, and when appropriate, expediting the extradition of the perpetrators, organizers, and sponsors of the act, in accordance with the internal legal framework of States and international treaties.” At its February plenary meeting the Financial Action Task Force granted CICTE observer status. One task will be whether the OAS system can effectively establish the regime through the hemisphere given the disparate economic, socio-political and legal differences among the countries and the absence of a comprehensive criminal justice and international enforcement cooperation regime in the area.