On 7 June 2002, St Petersburg hosted a meeting of the SCO Heads of State Council, which resulted in the signing of the Agreement on Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure, defining it as a permanent body of the SCO.
Since its inception, the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (RATS) has made an important contribution to the SCO’s development and become its supporting pillar and coordinating centre in the fight against terrorism, separatism and extremism at the regional and global level.
The international prestige of RATS grows with each passing year, emerging as a prime example of multilateral cooperation in achieving meaningful successes in the area of security.
At its formative stage, RATS concentrated on developing the organisational and legal framework that defined the principles and focus areas of cooperation. It also focused on ensuring the proper functioning of the Council and the Executive Committee, its working bodies.
Subsequently, upgrading the relevant legal infrastructure has been an important condition for the competent authorities of the SCO member states to implement joint measures in the effort to counteract terrorism, extremism and separatism. This work is accompanied by concerted steps to implement the standards of related international law and SCO enactments in the national legislations of the SCO member states.
Within the framework of its legislative effort, RATS drafted the Convention of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation on Combating Terrorism and Extremism, which was approved by the SCO Heads of State Council, as well its decisions regulating practical cooperation between the competent agencies of the SCO member states. These decisions spell out the forms, mechanisms and tools of their direct collaboration in the fight against terrorism, separatism and extremism.
RATS, with the coordinating role of the Executive Committee, pursues dedicated work to enhance the anti-terrorist potential of the SCO member states by sponsoring and running joint practical events. Held since 2006, the annual Joint Anti-Terrorist Exercises are one of the more effective measures in this regard, with the SCO security agencies testing in practice their response and interaction mechanisms designed to neutralise various terrorist threats and attacks.
Each exercise scenario is based on a close approximation to real conditions of the operational situation in the SCO space, with due regard for terrorist tactics.
The RATS mechanism for interaction between the SCO security agencies’ border services is a separate focus area in efforts to protect the SCO member states against such types of terrorism-related transnational crimes as illegal migration and trafficking in drugs, weapons, and explosives.