Aerial hijacking or interference with civil air travel

XXV. RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED ON THE REPORTS OF THE SIXTH COMMITTEE
2645. Aerial hijacking or interference with civil air travel

1. Condemns, without exception whatsoever, all acts of aerial hijacking or other interference with civil air travel, whether originally national or international, through the threat or use of force, and all acts of violence which may be directed against passengers, crew and aircraft engaged in, and air navigation facilities and aeronautical communications used by, civil air transport;

2. Calls upon States to take all appropriate measures to deter, prevent or suppress such acts within their jurisdiction, at every stage of the execution of those acts, and to provide for the prosecution and punishment of persons who perpetrate such acts, in a manner commensurate with the gravity of those crimes, or, without prejudice to the rights and obligations of States under existing international instruments relating to the matter, for the extradition of such persons for the purpose of their prosecution and punishment;

3. Declares that the exploitation of unlawful seizure of aircraft for the purpose of taking hostages is to be condemned;

4. Declares further that the unlawful detention of passengers and crew in transit or otherwise engaged in civil air travel is to be condemned as another form of wrongful interference with free and uninterrupted air travel;

5. Urges States to the territory of which a hijacked aircraft is diverted to provide for the care and safety of its passengers and crew and to enable them to continue their journey as soon as practicable, and to return the aircraft and its cargo to the persons lawfully entitled to possession;

6. Invites States to ratify or accede to the Convention on Offences and Certain Other Acts Committed on Board Aircraft, signed at Tokyo on 14 September 1963,[2]2in conformity with the Convention;

7. Requests concerted action on the part of States, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, towards suppressing all acts which jeopardize the safe and orderly development of international civil air transport;

8. Calls upon States to take joint and separate action, in accordance with the Charter, in co-operation with the United Nations and the International Civil Aviation Organization to ensure that passengers, crew and aircraft engaged in civil aviation are not used as a means of extorting advantage of any kind;

9. Urges full support for the current efforts of the International Civil Aviation Organization towards the development and co-ordination in accordance with its competence, of effective measures in respect of interference with civil air travel;

10. Calls upon States to make every possible effort to achieve a successful result at the diplomatic conference to convene at The Hague in December 1970 for the purpose of the adoption of a convention on the unlawful seizure of aircraft, so that an effective convention may be brought into force at an early date.