Supplementary Act A/SA.3/02/13 Adopting the ECOWAS Strategy for Combating Terrorism, and its Implementation Plan

Jurisdiction
African Regional Bodies · Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)
Citation
Act 2-3 of 2013
Date
28 February 2013
Language
English
Type
Legislation
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Economic Community of West African States

Supplementary Act A/SA.3/02/13 Adopting the ECOWAS Strategy for Combating Terrorism, and its Implementation Plan

Act 2-3 of 2013

The High Contracting Parties,MINDFUL of Articles 7, 8 and 9 of the ECOWAS Treaty establishing the Authority of Heads of State and Government, and defining its composition and functions;MINDFUL of Article 58 of the said Treaty relating to Regional Security;MINDFUL of the 1999 Protocol, relating to the Mechanism for Conflict prevention, Management and Resolution, Peace and Security, emphasizing, among other things, the need to combat cross-border crimes such money laundering;CONSIDERING that terrorism poses a serious threat to international peace, security and stability and constitutes a criminal act that undermines efforts aimed at achieving democracy, good governance and development, as well as the full enjoyment of the human and peoples’ rights;CONSIDERING also that terrorist activities in the region during the last decade have demonstrated the gravity of the threat of terrorism in West Africa and the need to adopt strong and sustainable counter-measures to confront various acts, such as abductions and hostage-taking, hijacking, bomb attacks, etc, that many Member States experience;CONSIDERING that in the light of the magnitude of these scourges, no Member State on its own can address the complex challenges posed by terrorism;CONVINCED that the coordination and pooling of resources among the States are key to effectively eliminating the threat of terrorism, in particular the transnational or international ones involving several other countries;DESIROUS of adopting both an ECOWAS strategy to combat terrorism and its implementation plan with a view to coordinating and pooling efforts to fight terrorism in the ECOWAS region;ON THE RECOMMENDATION of the meeting of the Technical Committee on Political Affairs, Peace and Security held from 11 to 13 October 2011 in Bamako, Mali;AGREE AS FOLLOWS:

Article 1

This Supplementary Act hereby adopts the attached ECOWAS Strategy for combating terrorism, as well as its implementation plan.

Article 2

1.Member States shall ensure the establishment of an appropriate legislative framework for the effective implementation of the ECOWAS Strategy for combating terrorism, as well as its implementation plan.
2.Member States shall equally ensure not only closer cooperation in the fight against terrorism, but also build the capacities of the defence and security forces involved in the fight against terrorism.

Article 3

1.The ECOWAS Commission shall ensure the coordination of Member States’ activities actions in the fight against terrorism.
2.It shall also ensure the establishment of a robust and proactive institutional framework to assist Member States in their efforts to prevent and fight against terrorism.

Article 4

This Supplementary Act shall be published by the ECOWAS Commission in the Official Journal of the Community within thirty (30) days of its signature. It shall also be published by each Member State in its Official Gazette within thirty (30) days after its notification by the Commission.

Article 5

1.This Supplementary Act shall enter into force upon its publication. Consequently, Member States shall undertake to commence the implementation of its provisions upon its entry into force.
2.This Supplementary Act shall be annexed to the ECOWAS Treaty as an integral part.

Article 6

This Supplementary Act shall be deposited with the Commission which shall transmit certified true copies thereof to all Member States, and shall register it with the African Union, the United Nations and such other organisations cooperating with ECOWAS, as may be determined by Council, by virtue of Articles 83, 84 and 85 of the Revised Treaty.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF WE, the Heads of State and Government of the Economic Community of West African States, have signed this Supplementary Act.Done at Yamoussoukro, this 28th day of February 2013In a single original in the English, French and Portuguese languages, all three (3) texts being equally authentic.
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