The UN General Assembly on April 13, 2005, adopted by consensus an International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism (“Nuclear Terrorism Convention”) addressing the unlawful possession or use of nuclear devices or materials by non-state actors.  The Nuclear Terrorism Convention calls for states to develop appropriate legal frameworks criminalizing nuclear terrorism-related offenses, investigate alleged offenses, and, as appropriate, arrest, prosecute, or extradite offenders.  It also calls for international cooperation with nuclear terrorism investigations and prosecutions, through information-sharing, extradition and the transfer of detainees to assist with foreign investigations and prosecutions.  With its focus on the investigation and prosecution of individuals, the Nuclear Terrorism Convention also addresses to a limited extent the treatment of detainees.  The text of the treaty may be viewed in PDF form at http://www.un.int/usa/a-59-766.pdf. 

While its initial Russian draft was proposed in 1997, the Nuclear Terrorism Convention is the first anti-terrorism convention adopted since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.  The treaty opens for signature Sept. 14, 2005 and enters into force thirty days after it is signed and ratified by at least 22 states. 

The United States has welcomed the treaty, which could dovetail with the Bush administration’s evolving neomultilateralism, characterized by international cooperation among sovereign states, manifested by parallel or joint action towards common goals on a domestic or international level, accompanied by corresponding developments in treaty-based and UN-based international law.  Consistent with past expressions of Bush policy, such as the promotion of the Proliferation Security Initiative, the Nuclear Terrorism Convention does not emphasize the role of international bureaucracies, in contrast to, for example, the International Criminal Court (“ICC”).  At the same time, the Nuclear Terrorism Convention does envision detainee reports in some instances being made to, or through, the UN Secretary General.

One question of significance will be how the experience with the Nuclear Terrorism Convention impacts the development of a Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism.  The United States, Russia and others, praising the adoption of the Nuclear Terrorism Convention, all have pointed to the need to continue forward towards bringing a Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism into being.

The Nuclear Terrorism Convention speaks to values and themes articulated to varying degrees in the past by the United States and its allies: 

• outlawing and condemning terrorist activities
   
• demonstrating global unity in opposition to terrorism
   
• treating terrorism as a matter subject to domestic and international law
   
• challenging states to use, and if necessary adapt, their domestic legal systems to combat terrorism
   
• looking to states to cooperate as sovereign partners in the fight against terrorism, doing so within the context of domestic legal actions, as well as through related international mechanisms such as sovereign-to-sovereign extradition (but, as mentioned above, not by utilizing a free-standing international bureaucracy like the ICC, differences over which have contributed to Transatlantic friction)
   
• nevertheless using the United Nations as an international forum to develop inter-state cooperation, as a gathering place for sovereign partners
   
• using international law as a basis and framework for action, and using the United Nations as a forum for developing international law
   
• doing so by means of sovereign states voluntarily entering into an agreed international legal framework, through formal treaty-making, voluntarily accepting obligations to take action as independent sovereign states, and manifesting compliance with their treaty-based obligations in parallel through domestic legislation
   
• including within this purview statements of the rights of detainees

As can be seen, these themes touch on values held, for example, by both Europe and the United States.  It gives security a high priority; grounds security in law, including international law; is UN-centered; and is sovereignty-based, calling for international cooperation among independent sovereigns joined in a common cause and acting together or in parallel as sovereign partners.

Offenses and National Legislation

The Nuclear Terrorism Convention’s definitions of offenses and the requirement to adapt national legislation are examined more extensively in an upcoming article; check back to read Nuclear Terrorism Conventions Offenses and Exclusions: International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism

Detainees and Extradition

In part because of the treaty’s focus on the use of legal mechanisms to fight nuclear terrorism, including detention, prosecution and extradition, this first anti-terrorist convention since Sept. 11, 2001, also addresses detainee policies.  It thereby helps contribute to the development of international law in the arguably murky realm in which alleged terrorists can fall, accused of actions which if true could make them both domestic law criminals and private perpetrators of acts of war.

The Nuclear Terrorism Convention’s focus on detainees and provisions relating to extradition are examined more extensively in another article: click here to read Nuclear Terrorism & Detainee Policies: International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism

Further reading:

Ambassador Richard Boucher, “International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism,” State Department press statement, April 13, 2005, http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2005/44603.htm

“Canada Welcomes new Convention on Nuclear Terrorism,” Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade News Release No. 65, April 13, 2005, http://webapps.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/MinPub/Publication.asp?
Language=E&publication_id=382416 

French Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson, “Adoption by the General Assembly of the United Nations Convention on the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism,” (excerpt), April 13, 2005, http://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/actu/article.gb.asp?ART=48766

Peter Heinlein, “UN Approves Nuclear Terrorism Treaty,” Voice of America, April 13, 2005, http://www.voanews.com/english/2005-04-13-voa50.cfm

“Statement by Ambassador Stuart Holliday, Alternate United States Representative to the UN for Special Political Affairs, on the Adoption of the International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism, in the General Assembly, April 13, 2005,” United States Mission to the United Nations press release #68 (05), April 13, 2005, http://www.usunnewyork.usmission.gov/05_068.htm 

International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism, UN General Assembly A/59/766, April 13, 2005, http://www.un.int/usa/a-59-766.pdf (UN General Assembly resolution with annex containing the text of the Nuclear Terrorism Convention) 

“New Convention Against Nuclear Terrorism Bolsters Global Framework,” International Atomic Energy Agency staff report, April 14, 2005, http://www.iaea.org/NewsCenter/News/2005/conv_nuclterror.html

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