An example of how ASEAN attempt to have peace

ASEAN Leaders, at their 7th Summit on 5 November 2001 in Brunei Darussalam, adopted the 2001 ASEAN Declaration on Joint Action to Counter Terrorism. The ASEAN Leaders viewed terrorism as a profound threat to international peace and security and "a direct challenge to the attainment of peace, progress and prosperity of ASEAN and the realization of ASEAN Vision 2020". They expressed commitment to combat terrorism in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, other international laws and relevant UN resolutions. They also underlined that "cooperative efforts in this regard should consider joint practical counter-terrorism measures in line with specific circumstances in the region and in each member country".
They also identified specific measures for ASEAN to implement the Declaration, namely:
•Review and strengthen national mechanisms to combat terrorism;

•Call for the early signing/ratification of or accession to all relevant anti-terrorist conventions including the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism;

•Deepen cooperation among ASEAN’s front-line law enforcement agencies in combating terrorism and sharing "best practices";

•Study relevant international conventions on terrorism with the view to integrating them with ASEAN mechanisms on combating international terrorism;

•Enhance information/intelligence exchange to facilitate the flow of information, in particular, on terrorists and terrorist organisations, their movement and funding, and any other information needed to protect lives, property and the security of all modes of travel;

•Strengthen existing cooperation and coordination between the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Transnational Crime (AMMTC) and other relevant ASEAN bodies in countering, preventing and suppressing all forms of terrorist acts. Particular attention would be paid to finding ways to combat terrorist organisations, support infrastructure and funding and bringing the perpetrators to justice;

•Develop regional capacity building programmes to enhance existing capabilities of ASEAN member countries to investigate, detect, monitor and report on terrorist acts;

•Discuss and explore practical ideas and initiatives to increase ASEAN's role in and involvement with the international community including extra-regional partners within existing frameworks such as the ASEAN + 3, the ASEAN Dialogue Partners and the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), to make the fight against terrorism a truly regional and global endeavour;

•Strengthen cooperation at the bilateral, regional and international levels in combating terrorism in a comprehensive manner and affirm that at the international level the United Nations should play a major role in this regard.

•The specific measures outlined in the Declaration have been incorporated in the Terrorism component of the Work Programme to Implement the ASEAN Plan of Action to Combat Transnational Crime adopted in May 2002. The Work Programme is based along 6 strategic thrust namely:
• information exchange;
• cooperation in legal matters;
• cooperation in law enforcement matters;
• institutional capacity building;
• training; and
• extra-regional cooperation.
ASEAN is also carrying out training programmes and projects in counter terrorism in 2003, including on psychological operation/psychological warfare courses for law enforcement authorities and on intelligence procuring. Courses on bomb/explosive detection, post-blast investigation, airport security and passport/document security and inspection are also planned.