3. POLICE-RELATED ACTIVITIES OF THEMATIC UNITS 3.1 The Action against Terrorism Unit Background The OSCE Action against Terrorism Unit (ATU), established in the OSCE Secretariat in 2002, serves as the focal point for anti-terrorism co-ordination and liaison within the OSCE. In this role, and by a decision of the 2003 Maastricht Ministerial Council, the ATU is mandated to co-ordinate and facilitate OSCE counter-terrorism activities, including capacitybuilding assistance programmes, training and contingency-preparedness workshops, with a view to effectively utilizing resources and avoiding unnecessary duplication. Recognizing that terrorism is a form of criminal activity and taking into account the important role that police can and should play in the fight against terrorism, the ATU contributes to the programme activities of the SPMU insofar as they are associated with law enforcement aspects of countering terrorism and as much as there exists a criminal-terrorist nexus, such as in the area of combating organized crime and drugs trafficking. The following ATU activities in 2010 touch upon or otherwise relate to police aspects of counter-terrorism work. Supporting and Promoting the International Legal Framework against Terrorism Adjusting national legislation to international obligations assumed by participating States under universal anti-terrorism conventions is a necessary pre-requisite of addressing terrorism as a crime, which it is, and therefore involvement of law enforcement agencies in countering it. The ATU, in close co-operation with the Terrorism Prevention Branch (TPB) of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), promotes the international legal regime against terrorism and facilitates its national legislative implementation through the organization of sub-regional and, at the request of interested participating States, national workshops. On 29-30 April, the ATU organized such a workshop on the “2005 Universal Legal Instruments against Terrorism and the Implementation of their Provisions in National Legislation”. It was attended by 140 participants from 53 OSCE participating States and Partners for Co-operation. The UNODC Model Legislative Provisions against Terrorism was distributed in English, French, and Russian, and will hopefully reach a broad audience of legislation drafters in the OSCE area and speed up adoption of relevant domestic laws, having direct implication for countering crime, including organized crime. Enhancing International Legal Co-operation in Criminal Matters Related to Terrorism On 26-27 May, the ATU organized a Sub-regional Workshop for the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) countries on “Criminal Law Aspects of Countering Maritime Terrorism in Light of Relevant Universal Instruments”. The event gathered about 50 judicial and law enforcement officials, involved in co-operation in criminal matters in countering terrorism, from 15 BSEC member and observer States. On 16-17 June, an ATU staff member made a presentation at the INTERPOL Project KALKAN meeting in Domodedovo, Russia. The meeting, supported financially by the ATU, was devoted to criminal investigations of terrorist cases and related law enforcement cooperation. 24