Appendix A.12: Agreement on the Procedure for Organizing and Conducting Joint Anti-Terrorist Exercises by Member States 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

Agreement on the Procedure for Organizing and Conducting Joint Anti-Terrorist Exercises by Member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization

The member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, hereinafter Parties,

guided by the Charter of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization of 7 June 2002, the Shanghai Convention on Combating Terrorism, Separatism, and Extremism of 15 June 2001, the Agreement Between Member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization on the Regional Terrorist Structure of 7 June 2002, and the Concept of Cooperation Between Member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Combating Terrorism, Separatism, and Extremism of 5 July 2005,

guided by their national legislation, by generally-recognized principles, and by norms of international law,

aspiring to create a legal basis for conducting joint anti-terrorist exercises on the Parties’ territories,

have agreed as follows:

Article 1

For the purposes of the present Agreement the concepts employed in it shall mean:

1. exercises – joint anti-terrorist exercises conducted by competent agencies of the Parties on the territory of one or several Parties;
2. exercise participants – the personnel of detachments of special anti-terrorist units, individuals included in the personnel of a command authority for exercises, and other individuals engaged in conducting exercises;
3. special anti-terrorist units – groups of specialists formed by each Party in accordance with its national legislation to conduct exercises;
4. special items and supplies – arms and military technology, weapons and ammunition, equipment, means of communication, munitions for special anti-terrorist units; technical, transport, and other special items and materials used during the course of conducting anti-terrorist exercises;
5. receiving Party – the Party receiving the exercise participants and the special items and supplies of the sending Parties on its territory for the period the exercises are conducted;
6. sending Party – the Party sending the exercise participants and the special items and supplies to the territory of the receiving Party for the conducting of exercises;
7. transit Party – the Party through whose territory the exercise participants and the special items and supplies of the sending Party are transported to the territory of the receiving Party and back;
8. third party – a state that is not a sending Party, a receiving Party, or a transit Party, its natural and/or legal persons, and international inter-governmental organizations;
9. performing official duties by exercise participants – presence at deployment sites and other places upon agreement with the receiving Party, proceeding (transit) to these regions (places) and back, including through the territory of a transit Party, and actions performed in the exercise area in fulfilling objectives related to the exercises, with the exception of:

   unauthorized departure from deployment sites or exercise areas,
   voluntary intoxication by narcotics, alcohol, or toxic substances;

10. damage – physical, moral, material, and other forms of damage, the responsibility for causing which is provided for by the national legislation of each of the Parties;
11. exercise area – local areas within the borders of the receiving Party’s territory designated for the conducting of exercises;
12. deployment site – territory designated by the receiving Party for accommodating the exercise participants of the Parties;
13. Council of SCO RATS – the Council of the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization;
14. Executive Committee of SCO RATS – the Executive Committee of the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization;
15. competent agency – a state body of a Party that combats terrorism in accordance with the Party’s legislation;

Article 2

The goal of conducting exercises is the preparation of special anti-terrorist units for joint activities of the Parties upon the commission or arising of a threat of commission of a terrorist act on their territories.

Article 3

The fundamental objectives of the exercises are:

1. increasing the level of cohesiveness of government agencies within the leadership by the use of special anti-terrorist units;
2. improving the practical capabilities of exercise participants and producing effective forms and methods of conducting joint anti-terrorist activities;
3. practical development of issues of coordinating the actions of special anti-terrorist units
4. development of new approaches and methods, and exchanging experience in conducting anti-terrorist activities.

Article 4

A resolution on conducting exercises shall be adopted by the Council of SCO RATS. The duration of conducting exercises shall be determined by the Council of SCO RATS, taking into account the opinion of the Parties whose participation in the forthcoming exercises is anticipated.

After adoption of a resolution on conducting exercises, the coordination of issues connected with their preparation shall take place in the course of consultations of the Parties. The results of the consultations shall be formulated as a protocol.

The Parties shall organize and conduct exercises on their territories according to the order of their names in the Russian alphabet.

The Executive Committee of SCO RATS shall assist in their collaboration in preparing and conducting exercises at the request of the SCO member states concerned.

Each Party has the right to submit a request to the Council of SCO RATS that exercises be conducted on its territory out of sequence.

In the event a Party cannot or will not participate in exercises, the Party shall inform the Executive Committee of SCO RATS of this in written form no later than two months before the exercises begin with an explanation of the reasons preventing participation in the exercises.

Article 5

An exercise commander and his deputies shall be appointed for the preparation and conducting of the exercises and a command authority for exercises shall be created.

The exercise commander shall be appointed from the leaders (representatives) of the receiving Party’s competent agencies. His deputies shall be appointed from the representatives of the sending Party’s competent agencies.

The staff and structure of the command authority for exercises and the procedure for conducting exercises shall be determined by agreement of the receiving Party and the sending Party.

Article 6

The Parties, upon the agreement of the command authority for exercises, shall determine the degree of their participation, their staff, and the number of exercise participants;

With the consent of the Parties, representatives of third parties may be invited by the Executive Committee of SCO RATS to the exercises as observers.

Article 7

The receiving Party shall designate the exercise area and shall create the conditions for:

1. producing the plan of exercises, which shall be coordinated with the sending Party through the Executive Committee of SCO RATS and confirmed by agreement of the Parties;
2. preparation of summarizing documents and other documents connected with the exercises;
3. providing access to its territory and to that territory’s use in accordance with its national legislation;
4. the entrance, movement, and exit of exercise participants, their accommodations at the deployment site, the transport of special items and supplies through its territory, and the crossing of state borders (including clearing customs and border procedures);
5. taking necessary measures for the guarding and protection of the exercise participants and the special items and supplies, and for arranging the cordoning of the exercise area;
6. freeing the sending Party from payment of tax, customs, and insurance fees, and other obligatory payments.

Article 8

The sending Party:

1. shall respect the sovereignty and customs of the receiving Party and/or the transit Party;
2. shall observe the legislation of the receiving Party and/or the transit Party;
3. shall not interfere in the internal affairs of the receiving Party and/or the transit Party;
4. shall not participate in political activities on the territory of the receiving Party and/or the transit Party;
5. shall follow the border and customs procedures of the receiving Party and/or the transit Party;
6. shall follow the routes agreed upon with the receiving Party and/or transit Party for moving exercise participants and transporting special items and supplies;
7. shall assist the receiving Party and/or the transit Party in adopting necessary measures to protect and defend the exercise participants and the special items and supplies;
8. shall ensure the safety of the property utilized, the natural resources, and the cultural, historical, and other facilities of the receiving Party and/or the transit Party;
9. shall observe environmental safety standards on the territory of the receiving Party and/or transit Party.

Article 9

The transit Party:

1. shall grant permission and assist the entrance, travel, and exit of exercise participants, as well as the import, transport, and export of special items and supplies by the sending Party through its territory;
2. shall free the sending Party from payment of tax, customs, insurance fees, and other obligatory payments.

Article 10

No later than two months before exercises begin, the sending Party shall notify the receiving Party of the real property necessary for accommodating the exercise participants at the deployment site and of the necessary special items and supplies.

The receiving Party shall provide the sending Party’s exercise participants with real property, water, and electricity, and shall ensure medical service and create living conditions and daily life to the extent necessary for them to fulfill their assigned objectives. When necessary special items and supplies shall be provided by the receiving Party upon mutual agreement.

Transportation and other services shall be provided upon agreement between the Parties’ competent agencies.

Article 11

The receiving Party and/or the transit Party shall recognize as valid the national driver’s license of the sending Party’s exercise participants.

Article 12

Exercise participants shall cross the state border at crossing points agreed upon by the Parties in a visa-free procedure according to nominal rolls upon producing documents that verify their identity.

The form and procedure for compiling the nominal roll of the sending Party’s exercise participants and the list of special items and supplies shall be determined upon the agreement of the Parties;

The nominal roll of exercise participants must include information about the individuals and must indicate last names, first names, patronymic, gender, date of birth, the series and number of the document verifying identity, the purpose of the entrance, and the period of time that will be spent on the territory of the receiving Party.

The list of special items and supplies must include the name, number, and make of special items and supplies.

The nominal roll of exercise participants and the list of special items and supplies shall be issued by the sending Party in the Chinese and Russian languages and shall be presented to the receiving Party and the transit Party no later than 30 days before the planned date of border crossing by the receiving Party and/or the transit Party.

Article 13

Items for personal use by individuals included in the personnel of the sending Party’s exercise participants, as well as currency valuables, shall be transported across the Parties’ borders in accordance with the legislation of the receiving Party and/or the transit Party.

The Parties shall effectuate customs processing and customs control over special items and materials transported across the customs borders of the Parties in accordance with the present Agreement, in a simplified procedure.

Each Party’s customs agency shall have the right, in the manner and under the conditions established by their national legislation, to conduct a personal examination and examination of the exercise participants’ luggage and to confiscate objects that are prohibited or whose import and export is restricted in accordance with their national legislation, with the exception of special items and supplies of the Parties that have been included in the relevant list.

The Parties’ packed official documents provided with appropriate means of identification are inviolable and not subject to customs inspection, opening, or detainment.

Article 14

The receiving Party, in accordance with its national legislation and upon agreement with the sending Party, shall have the right to arrange quarantine measures on its territory in regard to the sending Party’s exercise participants, their personal things, special items, and supplies.

Article 15

Transportation by air of exercise participants and their special items and supplies shall be conducted upon the agreement with the corresponding agencies of the parties that are responsible for issues of organizing international air transport.

Air traffic shall be conducted on routes and in zones (regions) established by the receiving Party and/or the transit Party. The navigational and airport technical support and the security of aircraft participating in exercises or transporting participants shall be conducted at military and civilian airports by agreement of the Parties.

Air traffic control on international lines shall be conducted by the air traffic control agencies of the Parties in accordance with flight information zones established by the Parties.

The security of aircraft flights performing international transportation for the purposes of implementing the present Agreement shall be effectuated in accordance with international treaties of which the Parties are members and the national legislation of the Party in whose airspace the flights are being conducted.

The Parties shall use joint groups (commissions) to monitor compliance with flight safety requirements and to investigate aviation accidents and incidents involving the aircraft of SCO member states in solving problems connected with the implementation of the present Agreement that involve the aviation personnel of several Parties. The procedure for creating joint groups (commissions) shall be determined by the command authority for exercises upon agreement of the Parties during the period of exercise preparation. The leader of the joint group (commission) shall be appointed from the representatives of the receiving Party.

In the event of emergency (natural disaster, weather conditions unfavorable to flight, malfunction aboard an aircraft), the air traffic control agencies of the Parties shall provide assistance to aircraft engaged in transport of exercise participants, including providing an alternate airfield for a forced landing.

Search and rescue support for aircraft flights shall be organized by the forces and facilitiesof the Parties on a gratuitous basis.

Article 16

The entry of the sending Party’s military (police) ships and auxiliary vessels into the territorial sea, internal sea waters, and inland waterways of the receiving Party shall be conducted in accordance with the national legislation of the receiving Party and the international treaties of which the Parties are members.

The provision by the receiving Party of pilotage, tugboats, and port services to the military (police) ships and auxiliary vessels of the sending Parties shall be conducted according to a separate agreement between the Parties.

Article 17

The legislation of the receiving Party that regulates registration and migration control and the presence and movement of foreign citizens shall not extend to the exercise participants.

The sending Party’s exercise participants shall not possess the right to permanent residence on the territory of the receiving Party.

Article 18

During the period exercises are conducted exercise participants must bear distinguishing marks agreed upon between the Parties.

During the period of exercises, military and other technology of the Parties’ special anti-terrorist units must have clearly visible registration numbers and distinguishing marks.

Article 19

During their presence in the exercise area, the sending Party’s exercise participants shall have the right to keep, bear, employ, and use on the territory of the receiving Party, at the deployment site, and in other places upon agreement with the receiving Party, special items and supplies for the fulfillment of objectives envisioned by the exercise plan, for protective functions.

The use of special items and supplies while exercises are being conducted shall occur in accordance with the legislation of the receiving Party.

Article 20

The sending Party must inform the receiving Party and the transit Party without delay of the loss of special items and supplies and of the absence of exercise participants from the deployment site.

Where necessary at the request of the receiving Party each of the Parties shall provide the necessary assistance in searching for lost special items and supplies and in ascertaining the location of exercise participants.

A Party that finds lost special items and supplies or that ascertains the location of missing exercise participants shall take measures for their transfer to the corresponding Party.

Article 21

The Parties shall bear expenses connected with the fulfillment of the present Agreement independently in the absence of another agreed-upon procedure for each specific case.

The sending Party shall reimburse expenses connected with the use of all special items and supplies provided to the sending Party at its request on the basis of mutual agreement.

Article 22

Public disclosure regarding the progress and results of the exercises shall be made by the Parties and the Executive Committee of SCO RATS in an agreed form and extent.

Article 23

Dissemination of information is prohibited:

1. regarding exercise participants;
2. that reveals special technical approaches, tactics, and methods of conducting exercises;
3. regarding the characteristics of special items and supplies used in conducting exercises;
4. which is prohibited for dissemination upon agreement of the Parties.

Measures to protect the information referred to in the present article and the responsibility for its unauthorized dissemination shall be determined in accordance with the international agreements of which the Parties are members and the national legislation of each Party.

Article 24

The receiving Party shall send informational and analytical materials about the exercises conducted to the Parties and the Executive Committee of SCO RATS.

Article 25

The special items and supplies of each of the Parties are their own and may not be detained and/or alienated in any form.

Unused special items and supplies shall be removed from the territory of the receiving Party by the sending Party after the conclusion of the exercises.

If special circumstances make it impossible to remove the special items and supplies, the decision about their use or destruction shall be made on the basis of agreement between the sending Party and the receiving Party.

Article 26

The Parties shall be guided by the following principles regarding issues of jurisdiction with regard to the sending Party’s exercise participants:

1. In the event exercise participants from among the citizens of the sending Party commit offenses against their sending Party or against the exercise participants from among the citizens of their Party, or in the event they commit offenses while performing official duties, the jurisdiction of the sending Party shall be exercised;
2. in the event exercise participants commit offenses not classified as offenses referred to in paragraph 2 of this article, the jurisdiction of the receiving Party or the transit Party shall be exercised.

The sending Party may conduct a preliminary investigation in the event offenses are committed against the sending Party or the sending Party’s exercise participants by undetermined individuals at the deployment sites of the exercise participants. When the individual that has committed the offense has been ascertained, the procedure specified by the present Agreement shall be followed.

The competent agencies of the Parties that are empowered to conduct procedural actions shall collaborate among themselves directly and shall provide each other with assistance in conducting investigations, in collecting and providing evidence connected with the offenses, in ascertaining location (search), and in detaining and arresting (holding under guard) exercise participants suspected or charged with committing offenses.

The Parties’ exercise commanders also have the right to communicate directly within the limits of their competence.

The sending Party shall inform the receiving Party without delay of the detention of the receiving Party’s exercise participants and other individuals.

The receiving Party shall inform the sending Party without delay of the detention of the sending Party’s exercise participants.

The Parties shall be guided by the international treaties of which they are members and by national legislation upon the detention, arrest (taking under guard), and conducting of other procedural actions, and upon the transfer of exercise participants suspected of committing offenses, or upon the provision of legal assistance.

In each event when in relation to exercise participants the sending Party shall effect criminal investigation of/by the receiving Party, the sending Party has the right to the presence of its representative at the criminal and the investigated person has the right:

1. to prompt and speedy conducting of investigation and trial;
2. from the beginning of the criminal investigation to receive information regarding the specific charge against him;
3. to confront the witnesses of the government and the other participants of the criminal proceedings;
4. to call defense witnesses if they are within the jurisdiction of the receiving Party;
5. to the assistance of an attorney of his choice or to the assistance of an attorney without cost;
6. to the services of an interpreter;
7. to maintain communication with a representative of the sending Party.

The Parties may request each other to transfer or to accept jurisdiction over criminal cases concerning offenses committed by exercise participants. These requests shall be reviewed without delay.

The competent agencies of the Parties that are empowered to conduct procedural actions, in accordance with the international treaties of whom the Parties are members and with national legislation, shall apprise one another of the results of investigation and trial in all criminal matters in relation to which the Parties have competing jurisdiction.

Article 27

The Parties shall refrain from presenting claims concerning damage inflicted by exercise participants to other exercise participants during their performance of their official duties.

The procedure for compensating damage inflicted by exercise participants upon other exercise participants other than during their performance of their official duties shall be determined by separate agreements between the competent agencies of the relevant Parties. If an issue regarding compensation for damage is not resolved by agreement, the receiving Party has the right for it to be considered in accordance with its national legislation.

In the event the relevant parties bear responsibility in regard to the damage provided for by Paragraph 2 and Paragraph 3 of this Article, and the degree of responsibility cannot be determined, the Parties shall provide compensation for the damage in equal shares.

Damage inflicted by exercise participants upon a third party shall be compensated in accordance with the following provisions:

The legislation of the receiving Party shall be applied. A decision that has entered into legal force regarding the payment of compensation or the refusal of such compensation and that has been issued by a court of competent jurisdiction of the receiving Party shall be final;

the receiving Party may organize consultations with the participation of the parties concerned for the settlement of claims by a third party.

Payments for compensation of damage shall be made in the currency of the receiving Party.

The Parties shall cooperate for the purposes of receiving proof and arranging an impartial review of claims in accordance with this article. Upon the decision of the Parties a commission may be formed to investigate incidents that have given rise to the infliction of damage upon a third party.

Article 28

Benefits, guarantees, and compensation established by the sending Party’s national legislation shall be preserved to the full extent for exercise participants of the sending Party and their family members. This procedure shall be applied in the event the damage was inflicted during the period the sending Party’s exercise participants were present on the territory of the receiving Party, or during transit through the territory of another Party.

Article 29

The Parties shall determine the competent agencies responsible for implementing the present Agreement in accordance with their national legislation and shall inform the Depositary of it simultaneously with the notice that the internal procedures necessary for the entry into force of the present Agreement have been completed, and when there has been a change of the competent agencies and/or their names.

The Depositary shall inform the other Parties of this within 15 days from the date it receives the notification from a Party of the specific agency it has designated.

Article 30

The Parties shall resolve disputes that may arise between them in connection with the interpretation or application of the provisions of the present Agreement through consultations and negotiations.

Article 31

The present Agreement shall not affect the rights and obligations of the Parties arising under other international treaties of which they are members.

Article 32

In cooperating within the framework of the present Agreement the official and working languages shall be Chinese and Russian.

Article 33

With the consent of the Parties amendments and additions may be made to the present Agreement in the form of separate protocols.

Article 34

The present Agreement 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. For parties completing internal procedures at a later time, it shall enter into force on the date they submit written notification to the Depositary.

The present Agreement shall be concluded for an indefinite period.

The Depositary of the present Agreement shall be the Secretariat of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, who shall transmit to the Parties certified copies of the present Agreement within fifteen days from the date of its signing.

The present Agreement shall be 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 this Agreement shall enter into force on the thirtieth day from the date the Depositary receives the instrument of accession.

The present Agreement shall cease to be in force for any of the Parties if that Party ceases to be a member state of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

Article 35

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 other Parties of this intention within 30 days from the date it receives the notification of withdrawal.

Done in the city of Dushanbe on 28 August 2008 in one original copy in the Russian and Chinese languages, both texts having equal validity.

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

<- Appendix A.11: Regulations on the Status of Dialogue Partner of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation | Main | Appendix A.13: The Convention on Counter-Terrorism of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization ->