PROBLEMS OF DRUG CONTROL DESCRIBED BY THIRD COMMITTEE MEMBERS
Press Release
GA/SHC/3306
PROBLEMS OF DRUG CONTROL DESCRIBED BY THIRD COMMITTEE MEMBERS
19951018 The financial constraints on the United Nations International Drug Control Programme, coupled with increased prioritization by donors, jeopardized the implementation of long-term strategies to combat the drug problem, the Executive Director of the United Nations Drug Control Programme told the Third Committee (Social Humanitarian and Cultural) this morning, as it continued its consideration of crime and criminal justice and international drug control.Increasingly, there was a gap between the mandates received from legislative bodies and the resources available to implement them, Mr. Giacommeli said. While 62 governments contributed to the fund of the UNDCP, 90 per cent of its resources depended on the support of only seven Governments.
In addressing the world drug problem, the international community needed to lend its support through the multilateral development banks and the international Narcotics Control Board, the representative of the United States said. It was more important to spend money fighting the problem than talking about it.
The representative of Colombia expressed his disappointment to the diminished financial cooperation, both bilateral and multilateral, to fight the drug problem.
The representative of Bolivia said his country did not choose to provide the production base for coca, as it did not choose to produce tin or silver. The mistake of only calling for the eradication of production was promoting permanent and unfair pressure from other States against Bolivia.
Addressing the European Union's concern with the growth of transnational organized crime, the representative of Spain said the problem required close cooperation among States at investigative, prosecutorial and judicial levels of law enforcement. However, measures taken to address the problems must respect human rights and fundamental freedoms.
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Statements were also made by the representatives of Canada, Antigua and Barbuda, Brazil, Papua New Guinea and Indonesia.
The Committee will meet again at 10 a.m., tomorrow, 19 October, to continue its consideration of crime prevention and criminal justice, as well as international drug control.
Committee Work Programme
The Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) met this morning to continue its discussion on crime and criminal justice, as well as issues relating to international drug control.
Under crime and criminal justice, the Committee had before it reports of the Secretary-General on the African Institute for the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders; on progress made in the implementation of General Assembly resolution 49/158 on the strengthening of the United Nations crime prevention and criminal justice programme; on the implementation of the Naples Declaration and Global Action Plan against Organized Transnational Crime; and on the Ninth United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and Treatment of Offenders.
On international drug control, the Committee had before it the report by the Secretary-General on the implementation of resolution 48/12 on measures to strengthen international cooperation against illicit production, sale, demand, traffic and distribution of narcotics and psychotropic substances.
(For background information on reports before the Committee, see Press Release GA/SHC/3305 of 17 October.)
Statement by Executive Director of United Nations International Drug Control Programme
GIORGIO GIACOMELLI, Executive Director of the United Nations International Drug Control Programme (UNDCP), in an introductory statement on international drug control, said that drug trafficking and abuse constituted a peril to communities and homes. Illicit drugs were a concern for all as individuals and as members of civil society, hence the UNDCP's emphasis on forging a partnership with society at large and in developing strong ties with the non-governmental organization (NGO) community in particular.
In mobilizing civil society, the Programme had launched a campaign to use sports as a vehicle for reaching out to young people, particularly marginalized groups, such as street children. It had forged a new alliance with the International Olympic Committee by the conclusion of a cooperation agreement in February. The UNDCP was also promoting partnerships with the business world to enhance workplace programmes and business-community collaborative schemes for the prevention of drug abuse, often in conjunction with the International Labour Organization (ILO).
Mr. Giacomelli said that there was a growing contradiction between the recognition that increased priority should be given to the fight against illicit drugs and the corresponding allocation of resources to undertake and sustain activities necessary to make an impact. Increasingly, there was a gap
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between the mandates received from legislative bodies and the resources available to implement them. While 62 Governments contributed to the fund of UNDCP, the fund was dependent for more than 90 per cent of its resources on the support of seven Governments. The financial constraints on UNDCP, coupled with increased prioritization by donors, jeopardized the elaboration and implementation of long-term strategies and the sustainability of achievements.
He said that UNDCP would continue to give increased attention to demand- reduction. An important step would be taken by the international community through adoption of a declaration on demand-reduction and through the endorsement in national strategies of programmes addressing prevention, treatment and rehabilitation of drug abusers.
He reminded States that the 1988 Convention on Illicit Drugs and Psychotropic Substances encouraged States to contribute some or all the value of property that they confiscated in the fight against drugs to inter- governmental bodies specializing in the fight against drug traffic. To date, no State had made such a contribution.
Statements
AURELIO FERNANDEZ (Spain), on behalf of the European Union, said that all societies needed to address the challenges of crime and delinquency and to try and prevent their expansion if they wanted to ensure sustainable development. Organized crime was a complex criminological phenomenon that depended to a large extent on the features of the society where it occurred and the international context which enabled it to cross borders.
He said that the European Union was concerned about the growth of transnational organized crime and the illicit use of proceeds of such crime to take control of legitimate business. Organized crime with its increasingly transnational ramifications posed one of the largest challenges to international cooperation today; close cooperation among States at investigative, prosecutorial and judicial levels of law enforcement was required. Measures taken to address the problems, however, must fully respect human rights and fundamental freedoms.
The international fight against organized crime also required concerted efforts to prevent the use of the proceeds of such crime, he went on. Those efforts rested, in the first instance, at the national level.
He called for coordination and cooperation between the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminals Justice and the Commission on Human Rights, the Commission on the Status of Women, the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, and the Committee on the Rights of the Child. There should also be cooperation between the Centre on Human Rights and the Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Branch. The European Union was
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concerned that the tasks assigned to the Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Branch and the increase of requests for technical assistance in the field of crime prevention and criminal justice exceeded the means at its disposal. It therefore supported the appeal to support the Programme.
ALEJANDRO BORDA (Colombia) said the actions taken by the international community to overcome the drug problem had not been sufficient. The business of illegal drugs produced close to $500 billion annually -- an amount 10 per cent higher than the international trade of goods and services. In addition, 70 per cent of profits produced by that illegal industry circulated through the world financial system; and that circulation of profits was currently shifting towards the less regulated sectors of the economy, such as the market for goods and services.
The supply of illegal drugs had not been reduced, as set out in existing international conventions. Furthermore, there had been an increase in the demand for drugs. New markets and production areas had developed in the last five years. He said that, according to statistics as of March 1995, a drug dealer in New York City could sell a kilogram of cocaine for over $60,000. Also, the number of deaths caused by drug abuse had tripled since 1988 and medical emergencies resulting from cocaine use increased 1000 per cent between 1978 and 1993.
It was inconceivable that only 54 per cent of the States in the world had ratified the 1988 Vienna Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances. That made it difficult to assess its effectiveness as an instrument for international cooperation. A national plan to face the world drug problem was being developed in his country; it sought to eradicate production and enforce interdiction activities. Also a national program for alternative development had been devised as a complement to interdiction actions so that small growers could find a legitimate and viable economic option.
His Government was dissatisfied with the actions of the United Nation's system in regard to the drug problem. He noted that financial cooperation -- both bilateral and multilateral -- to fight the drug problem had diminished. Also, even though programmes to eradicate coca and poppy crops were being implemented, a blind eye had been turned to the eradication of illicit crops of marijuana. In addition, the low level of drug confiscation in some of the consuming countries was worrisome. The responsibility of the drug problem was being given only to producing countries. It was wrong to address the production problem as international, while considering the consumption problem a matter of national policy, he emphasized.
JUDITH HUSKA (Canada) said the drug situation worldwide was worsening and a balanced approach to the problem was necessary. Such an approach would seek to reduce both the production of and demand for drugs, as well as their
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health, economic and social consequences. Her country had established a programme called "Drug Strategy" in which federal, provincial and municipal governments, as well as communities, worked to reduce the demand for drugs. This month, the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control of the Organization of American States (OAS) was meeting in Washington to discuss, among other issues, the strengthening of national drug commissions.
She suggested that a high level session of the Economic and Social Council be held next summer to assess compliance, strengthen cooperation and redefine strategies of drug control. National programmes were necessary to reduce the demand. In addition, it was necessary to establish an appropriate legal environment to reduce corruption and maintain the political will to combat drug trafficking. New solutions were not necessarily the answer, but the application of related conventions and already developed actions in areas such as money laundering.
EDGAR CAMACHO-OMISTE (Bolivia) said the fight against the problem of drugs needed to be re-evaluated. At the national level, the impact of drugs on the economies had restricted the capacity of Governments to act. At the international level, the strategy for control of drugs (initiated in 1987) and the Vienna Convention (1988) were not effective. A new strategy was necessary to fight the problem; it should include greater commitment from the major centres of consumption.
His country was one of the most important coca growers in the world. The developing countries had been vulnerable to the criminal activities of drug traffickers. Their actions had attracted a great number of people living in poor conditions. His country did not choose to provide the production base for coca, the same way it did not choose to produce tin or silver. The mistake of only calling for the eradication of production was promoting permanent and unfair pressure from other States against Bolivia. His country had made great efforts to combat the problem.
He urged strong international support on the problem. The demand for narcotics had increased in developed countries. Economic gain from the demand for coca leaves was very attractive to the poverty-stricken peasants who produced it. Unilateral commitments to the drug problem were inefficient.
AQEELAH AKHBAR (Antigua and Barbuda), on behalf of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), said that leaders of the Community recognized that the global increase in crime threatened the very basis of their development agendas. Any increase in criminal activity within or around the Community's coastlines could threaten their fragile economies and paralyse the ability of citizens to secure sustainable livelihoods.
At the 1990 Eighth United Nations Congress on Prevention of Crime and Treatment of Offenders, Antigua and Barbuda identified criminal terrorism and
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drug-trafficking as two types of crime that caused particular difficulty for the countries of the Caribbean. Five years later, those types of crime were still cause for significant concern. In recent years, the scourge of drugs had crept into and undermined the social fabric of societies. The small countries of CARICOM, although not the most affected, suffered the ravages associated with that evil.
The increasingly sophisticated nature of organized crime resulted in the ability of criminal organizations to expand their operations within other States of a regional bloc, she continued. To address transnational crime and security, eight Caribbean countries had formed a regional security system to provide a concerted response to challenges of territorial integrity and national security affecting one or all members. CARICOM member States supported the establishment of an inter-governmental working group to draft a code of conduct for combating transnational crime.
She called on the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Bretton Woods institutions and other international funding agencies to assist in strengthening the operational capacity of the United Nations Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Programme. The Secretary-General should also continue to provide related advisory services and training programmes.
ROBERT S. GELBARD (United States) said drug users were often lured into selling or transporting, becoming thus "servants of the organizations". Also, peasants often became drug users as they were killed if they tried to break free of their "employers". Most countries had not viewed drug-trafficking as a political, diplomatic, or pressing national security matter until the relatively recent rise of the transnational criminal Mafia.
In order to help other States fight the criminal problems of drugs, his country had, together with the Government of Hungary, created the international law enforcement academy in Budapest. The academy trained police officers and law enforcement officials from central Europe and the States of the former Soviet Union. His country had a particular obligation to deal with drug consumption. For that reason, President Clinton's administration had spent $12 billion on drug control, of which 91 per cent went to demand reduction, treatment and rehabilitation programmes.
It was increasingly clear that a reduction in drug use could not be possible without significant progress against supply. Also, the trade generated hundreds of billions of unregulated dollars annually, which caused great disruptions to economic planning and growth. In order to reduce narcotics crop production and weaken powerful trafficking organizations world- wide, the 1995 national drug control's strategy included activities to strengthen anti-narcotics institutions and expand its approach to the multinational organizations.
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Of increased concern was the growing heroin trade in the Eastern hemisphere. Multilateral support to confront the growing heroin problem in Asia was essential. Countries that were once on the periphery of the trade, such as Nigeria, were today playing important distribution roles. Also, the demand for heroin was expanding. Drug users in opium-producing countries were switching from opium to heroin, as in Pakistan and Laos. In addition, heroin addiction was spreading in transit countries, such as China and India.
He welcomed the coming high-level discussion at the Economic and Social Council to examine the status of international cooperation and give direction to the drug problem throughout the United Nations system. However, he believed it was more important to spend money to fight the problem than to talk about it. He called on the international community to lend support through the multilateral development banks to support the international Narcotics Control Board and to ratify, as well as implement, the 1988 United Nations Convention against trafficking.
EDGARD TELLES RIBEIRO (Brazil) said that his country had been taking measures to improve the internal situation in the area of crime prevention and criminal justice. The main element of that policy was an emphasis on preventing crime, rather than merely combating it. It gave special importance to the rehabilitation of condemned criminals and their reintegration into society. The most significant implication of that policy was the strengthening of legal assistance to the imprisoned, the search for sentences other than incarceration, measures against torture and ill-treatment, penitentiary decentralization and access to education and jobs.
Brazil also gave high priority to the fight against transnational crime, he continued. A fundamental aspect of transnational crime was the production, consumption and trafficking of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances. Brazil considered that the growing threat of drugs in the international community required a concerted effort. The proposal for the convening of an international conference on narcotic drugs had been approved by the Rio Group and should receive careful consideration during the current session of the General Assembly.
Brazil, a "transit country" for drugs, had been working actively towards the modernization of its institutions to create better conditions to address drug-related problems, he continued. Those reforms included the creation of a secretariat to increase the efficiency of governmental and non-governmental mechanisms against drug abuse, particularly in the area of prevention. Brazil had also taken steps in the legislative field; legislation on narcotics and drugs and psychotropic substances and percusors was in the final stages of approval by the Brazilian Congress. It covered more recent aspects of the problem, such as money laundering and access to financial and commercial information. Brazil had also expanded the list of countries with which it had cooperation agreements in the area of drug control. In addition to all South
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American countries and some European countries, Brazil last year signed agreements with Cuba and Russia. This year, it renegotiated its agreement on mutual cooperation with the United States and negotiated similar agreements with Italy, Denmark and South africa. It was also harmonizing legislation and coordinating anti-drug policies with Argentina.
MAX H. RAI (Papua New Guinea) said that like many other countries in the South Pacific, his country had in recent years become a major trans-shipment point for illicit drugs, providing drug traffickers with easy access for onward trans-shipment of their supplies to markets in Australia, Europe and North America. That problem was not likely to improve, because many of the illicit drugs, such as marijuana and cannabis, grew wild in Papua New Guinea. Those drugs were traditionally not used locally by the people for any purpose. However, in recent years, the local population had come to understand their commercial value, due to increasing numbers of external traffickers.
The problem continued to circumvent the authorities in Papua New Guinea and other Pacific island countries because of the unique geographic and topographic features, which were easily taken advantage of by drug traffickers, he continued.
He said that regular meetings of police and other law enforcement authorities, with the collaboration of the UNDCP, in recent years had been insufficient to redress the significant hold that the drug trade had on Papua New Guinea and its neighbours. Papua New Guinea and the other countries in the South Pacific would welcome any international assistance from the United Nations system and other bilateral and multilateral sources to combat the problem.
RIYADI ASIRDIN (Indonesia) said he welcomed all international efforts to fight the problem of drugs, including the programme to establish the working group on maritime cooperation. That programme sought to further international cooperation in combatting illicit drug traffic by sea. It was important to address demand-reduction and to take a balanced approach in the overall fight against drugs. Furthermore, the need for a coordinated system-wide approach was essential.
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