§ 27. Mr. MansTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what progress is being made towards achieving an international convention on terrorism.
§ Mr. MellorThere already exist a number of international conventions dealing with various aspects of terrorist crime, including the Tokyo convention on offences and certain other acts committed on board aircraft, the Hague convention for the suppression of unlawful seizure of aircraft, the Montreal convention for the suppression of unlawful acts against the safety of civil aviation and the New York international convention against the taking of hostages. Opportunities to supplement these conventions are taken in the light of developments in the continuing fight against terrorism. For example, a protocol to the Montreal convention, which extends the provisions of the convention to cover acts of violence at international airports as well as on board aircraft, was open for signature on 24 February 1988. I regret to say that by no means all countries have signed the conventions. We continue to press those which have not to do so.