Decisión Nº 587 de Comunidad Andina

• Jurisdicción: Comunidad Andina
• Número de decisión: 587
• Fecha de publicación: 10 Julio 2004
• Emisor: Comunidad Andina
• Año: 2004

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13^TH REGULAR MEETING OF THE ANDEAN

COUNCIL OF MINISTERS OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS

July 10, 2004

Quito - Ecuador

DECISION 587

Guidelines for the Common External Security Policy of the Andean Community

THE ANDEAN COUNCIL OF MINISTERS OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS,

HAVING REVIEWED: Articles 16 and 17 of the Cartagena Agreement, coded through Decision 563 and Decision 458 -Guidelines for the Common External Policy-, the Andean Presidential Council Declarations of Galápagos, Carabobo and Quirama, and the Lima Commitment -Andean Charter for Peace and Security, Limitation and Control of the External Defense Expenditures-; and

WHEREAS: The Heads of State of the Member Countries of the Andean Community have reaffirmed in several opportunities their commitment to strengthen peace, security and cooperation in the subregion, as an indispensable requirement to promote the integral development of the Andean peoples;

To that effect, they commissioned the Andean Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs to prepare, with the support of the General Secretariat, the guidelines for the Andean Common External Security Policy, giving consideration to the establishment of a peace zone in the Andean Community pursuant to the parameters of the Lima Commitment;

To comply with such commission, the General Secretariat carried out, among others, the activities contemplated in the Commitment of Lima, with the participation of government representatives, experts and broad sectors of the civil society of the Member Countries of the Andean Community;

Decision 458 contemplates as one of its areas of action the adoption of joint measures to promote a culture of peace and the pacific settlement of disputes, the promotion of confidence, specially in border areas, the limitation of armaments and the development of new regional democratic security conceptions;

The Andean Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs established that from an Andean perspective, security is seen as the situation in which the State and society are protected from threats or risks susceptible of affecting the integral development and welfare of their citizens, including also the free exercise of their rights and liberties in a fully democratic environment. In this respect, security is a concept of multidimensional and comprehensive character that involves political, economic, social and cultural matters reflected in the policies of so widely different topics, such as the strengthening of democratic institutions, the Rule of Law, defense, health, environment, economy, economic development and the prevention of natural disasters, among others;

The Declaration on the Security of the Americas adopted in October 2003, within the framework of the Organization of American States acknowledges the multidimensional character of security and the contribution that the subregional and regional integration processes are called to make for the stability of the Hemisphere:

The formulation of the Guidelines of an Andean Common External Security Policy reaffirms the commitment of the Member Countries to continue advancing in their efforts to intensify their political cooperation for the consolidation of the identity and cohesion of the Andean Community, and to strengthen the participation of the Member Countries in hemispheric and world security mechanisms; and

Taking into consideration the agreement adopted in the 2^nd Meeting of the High Level Group on matters of Security and Promotion of Confidence, the General Secretariat has submitted Proposal 124/Rev. 2 on the Guidelines for the Andean Common External Security Policy;

DECIDES:

Article 1.- To approve the following Guidelines for the Common External Security Policy:

I. Objectives

1. To confront any threats posed to the security of the Andean Community in a cooperative and coordinated manner.

2. To develop and consolidate the Andean Peace Zone, as an area free of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, promoting mechanisms that ensure the pacific settlement of disputes, the building of reciprocal confidence, and that contribute to overcome factors susceptible of generating disputes among the Member Countries.

3. To prevent, combat and eradicate the new threats to the security, and their interrelations, when appropriate, through cooperation and coordination efforts to confront the challenges that such threats represent for the Andean Community.

4. To contribute to the economic development and social welfare of the Andean Community population by reinforcing the security of the subregion.

5. To contribute to the consolidation and the enhancement of the Peace Zone and South American Cooperation within the framework of a South American integration area.

6. To promote the participation of the Member Countries in the definitions and procedures of the collective, hemispheric and world security.

II. Principles

The Andean Common External Security Policy will be based on the following principles.

1. Preservation of the Rule of Law and democracy as the system of government.

2. Promotion and protection of human rights.

3. Application of the humanitarian international law.

4. Abstention from using or the threat to make use of force within their reciprocal relations.

5. Pacific settlement of disputes.

6. Respect for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of each one of the Member Countries.

7. Nonintervention in internal affairs.

8. Respect for the international law and international obligations.

9. Observance of the collective security systems of the United Nations and the Organization of American States.

10. Development and security cooperation.

11. Strengthening of the integration process.

12. Ban on the development, manufacture, possession, display and use of any type of mass destruction weapons, and their transit through the Member Countries.

III. Foundations

1. Peace and security as public property that pursuant to the national legislation the State guarantees to its citizenship.

2. Andean identity and community interests.

3. Territorial continuity of the community area.

4. Solidarity and cooperation among the Member Countries.

IV. Criteria

The Andean Common External Security Policy will contemplate the following criteria:

1. Peace option: Its purpose is to prevent and fight against any threats to security within a democratic and non offensive conception of the External security and to promote the necessary conditions to ensure free and equal opportunities for its population and a favorable environment for its material and spiritual realization.

2. Multidimensional: Includes the threats to defense and to the establishment of democratic institutions and public security.

3. Integrated: The plans and programs to be developed within the framework of the Andean Common External Security Policy are supplemented and mutually reinforced with actions aimed at its economic and social sustainable development, the strengthening of democratic institutions, the promotion and protection of human rights and the achievement of the best competitive terms for the participation of the Member Countries in the world economy.

4. Complementariness: This is a community instrument to strengthen the application of national security policies and to favor, when appropriate, their convergence and harmonization.

5. Cooperative: Seeks to develop a system of relations to strengthen the capacity and effectiveness of each one of the Member Countries for the enhancement of confidence and the prevention of tensions or confrontations.

6. Flexible: Its application is adapted to the dynamics of the Andean, regional, hemispheric and world context, and the changes in the perceptions and conceptions on the matter, preserving the coherence of its objectives and actions.

7. Gradual: It allows a gradual progress in the priorities of the community, and the regional, hemispheric and world security agendas, in accordance with the common interests.

8. Preventive: Seeks to anticipate the development of threats to security through early warning and response mechanisms, and the pacific settlement of disputes.

9. Participatory: Acknowledges that security is a task of society as a whole without detriment to the fundamental responsibility of the State. Therefore, it should provide opportunities for the active participation of the several public and private bodies and agents in the decision making process concerning its design, execution, follow-up and verification.

V. Institutional mechanisms

1. The Andean Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs is the body responsible for the definition and coordination of the Andean Common External Security Policy. When deemed convenient, it will hold joint meetings with the Ministers of Defense, and when appropriate, with the competent authorities of the Member Countries for a further dialog and agreement on several aspects of such policy. The Council will contemplate at least once every year the aspects related to the execution of the common external...