Appendix A.7: Agreement on the Database of the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization

Appendix A: Key Normative Documents of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization

• Declaration on the Establishment of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization – June 15, 2001
• The Shanghai Convention on Combating Terrorism, Separatism and Extremism – June 15, 2001
• Agreement between the Member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization on the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure – June 7, 2002
• Protocol on Amendments to the Agreement between Member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization on the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure – August 16, 2007
• Charter of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization – June 7, 2002
• The Regulations on Observer Status at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation – April 24, 2004
• Agreement on the Database of the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization – June 28, 2004
• Concept of Cooperation between SCO Member States in Combating Terrorism, Separatism, and Extremism – June 5, 2005
• Protocol on Establishment of the SCO-Afghanistan Contact Group between the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan – November 4, 2005
• Treaty on Long-Term Good-Neighborliness, Friendship and Cooperation between the Member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization – August 16, 2007
• Regulations on the Status of Dialogue Partner of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation – August 8, 2008
• Agreement on the Procedure for Organizing and Conducting Joint Anti-Terrorist Exercises by Member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization – August 28, 2008
• The Convention on Counter-Terrorism of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization – June 16, 2009

Decree of 24 July 2004 #310 On Signing the Agreement on the Database of the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization

The government of the Russian Federation decrees:

The draft “Agreement on the Database of the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization” (appended), which was presented by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, agreed upon by the General Procuracy of the Russian Federation and the interested federal executive agencies, and preliminarily developed with the Parties Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, is approved.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation is ordered to sign the present Agreement in the name of the Russian Federation, non-essential changes to the appended project having been made.

M. Fradkov

Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation

Agreement on the Database of the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization

The member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization that are members of the Shanghai Convention on Combating Terrorism, Separatism, and Extremism of 15 June 2001, hereinafter Parties, guided by the Agreement Between Member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization on the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure of 7 June 2002, aspiring to ensure appropriate conditions for the effective activity of the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (hereinafter Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure), have agreed as follows:

Article 1

The parties in the interests of ensuring and increasing information collaboration by the Parties’ competent agencies, as well as providing information to the Parties on issues related to the competence of the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure, shall create the database of the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (hereinafter database) within the Executive Committee of the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (hereinafter Executive Committee) and utilize the information contained within it.

The database shall function on the basis of an automated information system with the use of computer technology and by accumulating materials in hard paper form and other media.

Article 2

The Parties shall designate the competent agencies that shall collaborate on issues of the database’s functioning and shall inform the Executive Committee of it within 60 days after the completion of internal governmental procedures necessary for the present Agreement to enter into force.

In the event a competent agency is substituted, written notice of this shall be sent to the Executive Committee within 10 days after the substitution.

The information contained in the database is divided into classified and non-classified.

Access to classified information shall be provided only to parties that are members of the Agreement on Protection of Classified Information within the framework of the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization of 17 June 2004.

The structure of the database, the procedure for handling non-classified information, and access to that information shall be determined by the Council of the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure.

Issues regarding the technical protection of information contained within the database shall be regulated by a separate agreement.

Article 3

The database shall be formed on the basis of information related to the competence of the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure and that is received from the competent agencies of the Parties, from the agencies of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and from other sources, among which shall be the mass media (including print publications), telecommunications systems, and the Internet.

The database shall contain information on:

international terrorist, separatist, and extremist organizations, their structures, forms, and methods of action, their leaders, members, and other individuals affiliated with these organizations, as well as on the funding sources and channels of these organizations, including illegal trafficking in narcotic substances, psychotropic substances, and their precursors;

the status, dynamics, and trends in the spread of terrorism, separatism, and extremism;

organizations and individuals providing support to terrorist, separatist, and extremist organizations;

countermeasures to terrorism, separatism, and extremism;

the legislation of each of the Parties, including that regulating the activity of the competent agencies that collaborate with the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure;

terrorist acts committed, and their forms and methods of commission;

the use of explosive devices (components of explosive devices), weapons, ammunition, and poisonous and other substances in the commission of terrorist acts.

Article 4

For the purpose of obtaining information for the database, the Executive Committee may send requests to one or several competent agencies, both upon the initiative of any of them and upon its own initiative.

Upon corresponding requests by competent agencies, the Executive Committee shall provide the necessary information contained in the database within 30 days.

The Executive Committee shall send a register of data and materials contained in the database to the competent agencies on a quarterly basis.

The procedure for fulfilling requests for information by the Executive Committee shall be regulated by the legislation of the responding Party. Requests shall be fulfilled within 30 days.

Requests for information shall be made in the languages specified by Article 7 of the present Agreement.

The competent agencies shall submit information to the database as it is received, ensuring the information’s maximum possible completeness and reliability. The information provided shall be utilized by the competent agencies without harm to the interests of the Parties and of the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure.

Article 5

The Executive Committee shall provide organizational and technical support for the functioning of the database, including:

the administration and use of the database;

the development and execution of instructions on the procedure for access to the database, its use, the handling of storage media for the database, and the protection of information, which shall be approved by the Council of the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure;

the protection of information and monitoring of information exchange within the framework of the database.

Article 6

Expenses connected with the creation, operating support, and development of the database and with the implementation of measures to protect the information contained within it shall be covered by funds allocated from the budget of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization for the operation of the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure.

Article 7

The database may be formed in the Russian and Chinese languages.

Article 8

With the consent of the Parties, amendments may be made to the present Agreement in the form of Protocols, which shall constitute an integral part of this Agreement and shall enter into force according to the procedure established by Article 10 of the present Agreement.

Article 9

Any disputes concerning the interpretation or application of the present Agreement shall be settled through consultation and negotiation between the Parties concerned.

Article 10

The present Agreement shall be concluded for an indefinite period and shall enter into force on the thirtieth day from the date the Depositary receives the fourth written notification informing it of the completion of internal procedures necessary for the present Agreement to enter into force.

The Depositary for the present Agreement shall be the Secretariat of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

The present Agreement is open for accession by states that are members of the Shanghai Convention on Combating Terrorism, Separatism, and Extremism of 15 June 2001. For an acceding state, the present Agreement shall enter into force on the thirtieth day from the receipt by the Depositary of a document regarding its accession.

Any of the Parties may withdraw from this Agreement by notifying the Depositary in writing 12 months prior to the date of anticipated withdrawal. The Depositary shall inform the Parties of this intention within 30 days from the date it receives the notification of withdrawal.

Done at _________ on ___ _______ 200_ in one original copy in the Russian and Chinese languages, both texts having equal validity.

For the Republic of Kazakhstan
For the Kyrgyz Republic
For the People’s Republic of China
For the Russian Federation
For the Republic of Tajikistan
For the Republic of Uzbekistan
____________

Moscow
28 June 2004
N 1020

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