DECLARATION
STRENGTHENING CYBER-SECURITY IN THE AMERICAS
(Approved at the Fourth Plenary Session held on March 7, 2012)
THE MEMBER STATES OF THE INTER-AMERICAN COMMITTEE AGAINST
TERRORISM (CICTE) OF THE ORGANIZATION OF AMERICAN STATES (OAS), meeting at
the Twelfth Regular Session, in Washington, D.C., in the United States of America, on March 7,
2012,
REAFFIRMING the nature, principles and purposes of the Inter-American Committee
against Terrorism (CICTE) and reiterating their most vehement condemnation of terrorism in all its
forms and manifestations, whatever its origin or motivation in accordance with the principles of the
OAS Charter and with the Inter-American Convention against Terrorism, and with full respect for the
sovereignty of states, the rule of law, and international law, including international humanitarian law,
international human rights law, and international refugee law;
RECOGNIZING that the threat of terrorism is exacerbated when connections exist between
terrorism and illicit drug trafficking, illicit trafficking in arms, money laundering, and other forms of
transnational organized crime, and that such illicit activities may be used to support and finance
terrorist activities;
REAFIRMING all the Declarations adopted at the sessions of the Inter-American Committee
against Terrorism and Resolutions related to terrorism adopted by the General Assembly of the OAS;
ENDORSING the international counter-terrorism framework adopted by the United Nations
through resolutions of the General Assembly and of the Security Council and the Global CounterTerrorism Strategy;
EMPHASIZING the importance for the Member States of the OAS to sign, ratify, or accede
to, as the case may be, and implement in an effective way the Inter-American Convention against
Terrorism as well as the pertinent universal legal instruments, including the 18 related international
conventions, protocols and amendment, resolutions 1267 (1999), 1373 (2001), 1540 (2004) and 1624