1995 ACT 195

(July 12)

Official Journal No. 41,928 of 12 July 1995

By means of which the Convention is approved to prevent and punish acts of terrorism configured in crimes against persons and related extortion when they have international significance, signed in New York February 2, 1971.

THE CONGRESS OF COLOMBIA,

Having regard to the text of the "Convention to Prevent and Punish the Acts of Terrorism Configured In Crimes Against Persons And Related Extortion when They Have International transcendence", signed in New York on 2 February 1971.

Convention to prevent and punish acts of terrorism configured in crimes against persons and related extortion when they have international significance.

Member States of the Organization of American States,

CONSIDERING:

That the defense of liberty and justice and respect for the fundamental rights of the human person, recognized by the American Declaration of Human Rights and Duties and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, are duties. States ' primary dials;

That the General Assembly of the Organization, in Resolution 4 of June 30, 1970, strongly condemned acts of terrorism and in particular the kidnapping of persons and the extortion connected with it, which it described as serious common crimes;

That criminal acts are often occurring against persons who deserve special protection in accordance with the rules of international law and that such acts are of international significance for the consequences that may result for relations between States;

That it is appropriate to adopt rules that progressively develop international law as regards international cooperation in the prevention and punishment of such acts;

That in the application of these rules the institution of asylum should be maintained and that the principle of non-intervention should also remain safe,

You have agreed to the following items:

ARTICLE 1o. Contracting States are obliged to cooperate with each other, taking all measures they deem effective in accordance with their respective legislations and in particular those established in the Convention, to prevent and punish acts of terrorism and in particular kidnapping, homicide and other attacks on the life and integrity of persons to whom the State has the duty to extend special protection under the law international, as well as the associated extortion with these crimes.

ARTICLE 2o. For the purposes of this Convention, common crimes of international importance are considered to be any of their motive, kidnapping, homicide, and other attacks on life and integrity. of persons to whom the State has the duty to extend special protection under international law, as well as the extortion associated with these crimes.

ARTICLE 3o. Persons prosecuted or sentenced for any of the offences provided for in Article 2o of this Convention shall be subject to extradition in accordance with the provisions of the (a) extradition in force between the parties or, in the case of States which do not condition extradition to the existence of a treaty, in accordance with their own laws.

It is in any case exclusively for the State under whose jurisdiction or protection such persons are to be classified as the nature of the facts and determine whether the rules of this Convention are applicable to them.

ARTICLE 4. Any person deprived of his or her freedom by application of this Convention shall enjoy due process judicial guarantees.

ARTICLE 5o. Where the requested extradition does not apply for any of the crimes specified in Article 2o because the person claimed is a national or mediates some other constitutional or legal impediment, the The requested State is required to submit the case to the competent authorities for the purposes of the processing, as if the fact had been committed on its territory. The decision taken by those authorities shall be communicated to the requesting State. The judgment shall be complied with with the obligation laid down in Article 4 (o).

ARTICLE 6o. None of the provisions of this Convention will be interpreted in the sense of undermining the right of asylum.

ARTICLE 7o. The Contracting States undertake to include the offences provided for in Article 2o. of this Convention between the punishable facts that give rise to extradition in every treaty on the matter that in the future they have with each other. Contracting States which do not make extradition subject to the existence of a treaty with the requesting State consider the offences referred to in Article 2. of this Convention as crimes that give rise to extradition, in accordance with the conditions established by the laws of the requested State.

ARTICLE 8o. In order to cooperate in the prevention and punishment of the offences provided for in Article 2o. of this Convention, the Contracting States accept the following obligations:

(a) Take the measures at their disposal, in harmony with their own laws, to prevent and prevent in their respective territories the preparation of the crimes mentioned in Article 2o. and to be executed in the territory of another Contracting State;

b) Exchange information and consider effective administrative measures for the protection of persons referred to in Article 2 of this Convention;

(c) Ensuring the broadest right of defence to any person deprived of liberty by application of this Convention;

d) Seek to include in their respective criminal laws the criminal facts of this Convention when they are not already provided for in those laws;

e) Complement in the most expeditious form the exhorts in relation to the criminal acts, provided for in this Convention.

ARTICLE 9o. This Convention shall be open for signature by the Member States of the Organization of American States, as well as by any Member State of the United Nations or any of the specialized agencies attached to it or which is a party to the Statute of the International Court of Justice, and of any other State that the General Assembly of the Organization of American States invites to subscribe to it.

ARTICLE 10. This Convention shall be ratified by the signatory States in accordance with their respective constitutional procedures.

ARTICLE 11. The original instrument, whose texts in Spanish, French, English, and Portuguese are equally authentic, shall be deposited with the General Secretariat of the Organization of American States, and Secretariat shall send certified copies to the signatory governments for the purposes of their ratification. The instruments of ratification shall be deposited with the General Secretariat of the Organization of American States, and the Secretariat shall notify the signatory governments of such deposit.

ARTICLE 12. This Convention shall enter into force between the States that ratify it, in the order in which they deposit the instruments of their respective ratifications.

ARTICLE 13. This Convention shall govern indefinitely, but any Contracting State may denounce it. The complaint shall be transmitted to the General Secretariat of the Organization of American States, and shall be communicated by the Secretariat to the other Contracting States. After one year after the complaint, the Convention shall cease to be effective for the State in question, remaining to the other Contracting States.

Panama Declaration

The Panamanian delegation notes that nothing in this Convention can be interpreted as meaning that the right of asylum implies that it can be requested from the authorities of the United States in the Panama Canal Zone, nor the recognition that the Government of the United States has the right to give asylum or political refuge in the territory of the Republic of Panama that constitutes the Panama Canal Zone.

In faith of which, the undersigned Plenipotentiaries, presented their full powers, who have been found in good and due form, sign this Convention, on behalf of their respective governments, in the city of Washington, the two (2) of February of a thousand nine hundred and seventy-one (1971).

The undersigned Head of the Legal Office

of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

NOTES:

That the present ... is faithful photocopy taken from the original of the "Convention to prevent and punish acts of terrorism configured in crimes against persons and related extortion when these have international transcendence", subscribed in Washington on two (2) February 1971.

Dada en Santafe de Bogota, a thirty (30) days of the month of June of a thousand nine hundred and ninety-three (1993).

MARTHA ESPERANZA RUEDA MERCHAN,

Chief Legal Officer.

Executive Branch of Public Power

Presidency of the Republic

Santafe de Bogota, D. C., June 1993.

Approved, subject to honorable consideration

National Congress for Constitutional Effects.

(Fdo.) CESAR GAVIRIA TRUJILLO

The Foreign Minister,

(Fdo.) NOEMI SANIN DE RUBIO.

DECRETA:

ARTICLE 1o. Approve the "Convention to Prevent and Punish Acts of Terrorism Configured In Crimes Against Persons And Related Extortion When These Have International Significance", signed in New York on 2 February 1971.

ARTICLE 2o. In accordance with the provisions of Article 1o. of Law 7a of 1944, the "Convention to Prevent and Punish the Acts of Terrorism Configured In Crimes Against Persons And Related Extortion When They Have International Significance", signed in New York on February 2, 1971, which by Article 1 (1). of this Law is approved, will force the country from the date on which the international link with respect to it is perfected.

ARTICLE 3o. This Law governs from the date of its publication.

The President of the honorable Senate of the Republic,

JUAN GUILLERMO ANGEL MEJIA.

The Secretary General of the honorable Senate of the Republic,

PEDRO PUMAREJO VEGA.

The President of the honorable House of Representatives,

ALVARO BENEDETTI VARGAS.

The Secretary General of the honorable House of Representatives,

DIEGO VIVAS TAFUR.

Republic of Colombia-National Government

Contact and post.

Execute previous Constitutional Court review

pursuant to article 241-10 of the Political Constitution.

Dada en Santafe de Bogota, D. C., 12 July 1995.

ERNESTO SAMPER PIZANO

The Foreign Minister,

RODRIGO PARDO GARCIA-PENA.

The Minister of Justice and Law,

NESTOR HUMBERTO MARTINEZ NEIRA.