International Convention Against the Taking of Hostages
| Coming into Force | 03 June 1983 |
| Citation | UNTS v. 1316 (p.205) |
| Subject Terms | Penal matters,Terrorism |
| Registration Date | 03 June 1983 |
| Registration Number | 21931 |
| Date of Conclusion | 17 December 1979 |
| Type of Document | Multilateral |
| Depositary | Secretary-General of the United Nations |
| Participants | Antigua and Barbuda,Australia,Bahamas,Barbados,Bhutan,Brunei Darussalam,Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic,Central African Republic,Chad,Comoros,Côte d'Ivoire,Cyprus,Czech Republic,Czechoslovakia,Democratic People's Republic of Korea,Djibouti,Dominica,Equatorial Guinea,Estonia,Ethiopia,Federal Republic of Germany,Fiji,Gabon,Georgia,German Democratic Republic,Germany,Ghana,Greece,Grenada,Guinea,Guinea-Bissau,Guyana,Haiti,Iran (Islamic Republic of),Ireland,Jamaica,Jordan,Kazakhstan,Kenya,Kiribati,Kuwait,Kyrgyzstan,Lao People's Democratic Republic,Latvia,Lebanon,Lesotho,Liberia,Libyan Arab Jamahiriya,Liechtenstein,Lithuania,Luxembourg,Madagascar,Malawi,Malaysia,Mali,Malta,Marshall Islands,Mauritania,Mauritius,Micronesia (Federated States of),Monaco,Mongolia,Montenegro,Morocco,Mozambique,Myanmar,Namibia,Nauru,Nepal,New Zealand,Niger,Nigeria,Niue,None,Oman,Palau,Papua New Guinea,Philippines,Qatar,Republic of Korea,Republic of Moldova,Russian Federation,Rwanda,San Marino,Sao Tome and Principe,Saudi Arabia,Senegal,Seychelles,Sierra Leone,South Africa,Sri Lanka,St. Kitts and Nevis,St. Lucia,St. Vincent and the Grenadines,Sudan,Suriname,Swaziland,Tajikistan,Thailand,The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia,Togo,Tonga,Trinidad and Tobago,Tunisia,Turkmenistan,Uganda,Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic,Union of Soviet Socialist Republics,United Arab Emirates,United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland,United Republic of Tanzania,United States,Uzbekistan,Viet Nam,Yemen,Yugoslavia (Federal Republic of),Yugoslavia (Socialist Federal Republic of),Zaire,Zambia |
| Party Submitting the Application for Registration | ex officio |
No.
21931
MULTILATERAL
International
Convention
against
the
taking
of
hostages.
Adopted
by
the-
General
Assembly
of
the
United
Nations
on
17
December
1979
Authentic texts:
English,
French,
Arabic,
Chinese,
Russian
and
Spanish.
Registered
ex
officio
on
3
June
1983.
MULTILATERAL
Convention
internationale
contre
la
prise
d'otages.
Adopt~e
par
l'Assembl~e
generale
des
Nations
Unies
le
17
de-
cembre
1979
Textes
authentiques
:
anglais,
frangais,
arabe,
chinois,
russe
et
espagnol.
Enregistree
d'office
le
3
juin
1983.
Vol.
1316, 1-21931
206
United
Nations
-
Treaty
Series
e
Nations
Unies
-
Recueil
des
Traits
1983
INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION'
AGAINST
THE
TAKING
OF
HOSTAGES
The
States
Parties
to
this
Convention,
Having
in
mind
the
purposes
and
principles
of
the
Charter
of
the
United
Nations concerning
the
maintenance
of
international
peace and
security
and
the
promotion
of
friendly
relations
and
co-operation
among
States,
Recognizing
in
particular
that everyone
has
the right
to
life,
liberty
and
security
of
person,
as
set
out
in
the
Universal
Declaration
of
Human
Rights
2
and
the
International
Covenant
on
Civil
and
Political
Rights,'
Reaffirming
the
principle
of
equal
rights
and
self-determination
of
peoples
as
enshrined
in
the
Charter of
the United
Nations
and
the
Declaration
on
Prin-
ciples
of
International
Law
concerning Friendly
Relations
and
Co-operation
among
States
in
accordance
with
the
Charter of
the
United
Nations,
4
as well
as
in
other
relevant
resolutions
of
the General Assembly,
Considering
that
the
taking
of
hostages
is
an
offence
of
grave
concern
to
the
international community
and
that,
in
accordance
with
the
provisions
of
this Con-
vention,
any
person
committing
an
act
of
hostage
taking
shall
either
be
prosecuted
or
extradited,
Being
convinced
that
it
is
urgently
necessary
to
develop
international
co-
operation
between
States
in
devising
and
adopting
effective
measures
for
the
prevention,
prosecution
and
punishment
of
all
acts of
taking
of hostages
as
manifestations
of
international
terrorism,
'
Came
into
force
on
3
June
1983
in
respect
of
the
following
States,
i.e.,
on
the
thirtieth
day
following
the
date
of
deposit
of
the
twenty-second instrument
of
ratification
or
accession
with
the
Secretary-General
of
the
United
Nations,
in
accordance
with
article
18
(1):
Date
q'depasit
bate
oj'depasi
of
the
iltutme
o
rith,
i.m
twu
fWfat~¢iot
I
oJ
*r..ificati'm
StanI, '11
a'I{'"
...
ol (a)
State
orl{{l.3~l(a)
Bahamas
.................... 4
June
1981
a
Lesotho ..................... 5 November
1980
Barbados
....................
9
March
1981
a
Mauritius .................... 17 October
1980
Bhutan
...................... 31
August
1981
a
Norway
......................
2
July
1981
Chile*
. . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . .12
November
1981
Panama
.....................
19
August
1982
Egypt
....................... 2
October
1981
Philippines ................... 14 October
1980
El
Salvador
.................. 12 February
1981
Republic
of
Korea
............
4
May
1983
a
(Confirming
the
reservation
Suriname
.................... 5 November
1981
in respect
ofarticle
16(1)
made
Sweden
.....................
15
January
1981
upon
signature.)
Trinidad
and Tobago
..........
I
April
1981
a
Finland
...................... 14
April
1983
United Kingdom
of
Great
Britain
Germany.
Federal
Republic
and
Northern
Ireland
.......
22
December
1982
of*
.........
............
15
December
1980
(In
respect
of
the
United
King-
(With
a declaration
ofapplica-
dom
of
Great
Britain
and
tion to
Berlin
(West).)
Northern
Ireland
and
the
Guatemala
...................
II
March
1983
Territories
under
the
territorial
Honduras
.................... I
June
1981
sovereignty
of
the
United
Iceland
......................
6
July
1981
a
Kingdom.)
Kenya
...................... 8
December
1981
o
(With
a
reservation
in respect
of
article
16
(1).)
*
See p.
277
for
the
texts
of
the
declarations
made
upon
ratification.
United
Nations,
Treatv
Series.
vol.
213,
p. 222.
3
Ibid.,
vol.
999, p.
171.
'
United Nations,
Official
Records
ofthe
General
Assenibly,
Twventy-fifth
Session.
Supplement
No.
28
(A/8028)
p. 121.
Vol.
1316,
-21931
1983
United Nations
-
Treaty
Series
*
Nations
Unies
-
Recueil
des
Traites
207
Have agreed
as
follows:
Article
/. I.
Any
person
who
seizes or
detains
and
threatens
to
kill,
to
injure
or
to
continue
to
detain
another
person
(hereinafter
referred
to
as
the
"hostage")
in
order
to
compel
a
third
party,
namely,
a
State,
an
international
intergovernmental organization,
a
natural
orjuridical
person,
or
a
group
of
persons,
to
do
or
abstain
from
doing
any
act
as
an
explicit
or
implicit
condition
for
the
release
of
the
hostage
commits
the
offence
of
taking
of
hostages
("hostage-
taking")
within
the
meaning
of
this
Convention.
2.
Any
person
who:
(a)
Attempts
to
commit
an
act
of
hostage-taking,
or
(b)
Participates
as
an
accomplice
of anyone
who
commits
or
attempts
to
commit
an
act
of
hostage-taking
likewise
commits
an
offence for
the
purposes
of
this
Convention.
Article
2.
Each
State Party
shall
make
the
offences
set
forth
in
article
I
punishable
by
appropriate
penalties
which
take
into
account
the grave
nature
of
those
offences.
Article
3.
1.
The
State Party
in
the
territory
of
which
the
hostage
is
held
by
the
offender
shall
take
all
measures
it
considers
appropriate
to
ease
the
situa-
tion
of
the
hostage,
in
particular,
to
secure
his
release
and,
after
his
release,
to
facilitate,
when
relevant,
his
departure.
2.
If any
object
which
the
offender
has
obtained
as
a
result
of
the
taking
of
hostages
comes
into
the
custody
of
a
State
Party, that
State
Party
shall
return
it
as
soon
as
possible
to
the hostage
or
the third
party
referred
to
in
article
I,
as
the
case
may
be,
or
to
the
appropriate authorities
thereof.
Article
4.
States
Parties
shall
co-operate
in
the
prevention
of
the offences
set
forth
in
article
1,
particularly
by:
(a)
Taking
all
practicable
measures
to
prevent
preparations
in
their respective
territories
for
the
commission
of
those
offences
within
or
outside
their
territories,
including
measures
to
prohibit
in
their territories
illegal
activities
of
persons,
groups
and
organizations that
encourage,
instigate, organize
or
engage
in
the
perpetration
of
acts
of
taking
of
hostages;
(b)
Exchanging
information
and
co-ordinating
the taking
of
administrative
and
other
measures
as
appropriate
to
prevent
the commission
of
those
offences.
Article
5.
i.
Each
State Party
shall
take
such
measures
as may
be
neces-
sary
to
establish
its
jurisdiction
over
any
of
the
offences
set forth
in
article
I
which are
committed:
(a)
In
its
territory
or
on
board
a
ship
or
aircraft
registered
in
that
State;
(b)
By
any
of
its
nationals
or,
if
that
State
considers
it
appropriate,
by
those
stateless persons
who have
their
habitual
residence
in
its
territory;
(c)
In
order
to
compel
that
State
to do
or
abstain
from
doing
any
act;
or
(d)
With
respect
to
a
hostage
who
is
a
national
of
that
State,
if
that State
considers
it
appropriate.
2.
Each
State
Party
shall
likewise take such
measures
as
may
be
necessary
to
establish
its
jurisdiction
over
the offences
set
forth
in
article
I
in
cases
where
Vol. 1316. 1-21931
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