CRIME CONTROL COMMISSION BEGINS TWO-WEEK SESSION

Press Release
SOC/CP/181

CRIME CONTROL COMMISSION BEGINS TWO-WEEK SESSION

(Reproduced as received from UN Information Service.)

VIENNA, 21 May -- The United States and Japan this morning announced contributions to United Nations crime control activities totalling some $520,000, as the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice began a two-week session here.

The United States' representative announced a $320,000 contribution to the United Nations Online Crime and Justice Clearinghouse, a system developed in concert with his country's own National Institute of Justice. He declared his Government's willingness to support United Nations anti-crime projects in instances where the United Nations was the organization "best suited of all available to do the job". While the United States must meet its responsibilities to the United Nations, so must the Organization, particularly the Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Division of the Secretariat, meet its responsibilities to Governments by carrying out basic reforms, he said, proposing that some of its mandates be dropped.

The representative of Japan informed the Commission that his Government was making a first-time contribution of $200,000 to the Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Fund. He stressed his Government's interest in developing, within the framework of the United Nations, new legal systems of mutual legal assistance and extradition.

As the Commission began its work, it elected Tadanori Inomata (Japan) as Chairman. Elected as Vice-Chairmen were Elias Jassan (Argentina), Dariusz Manczyk (Poland) and Mohamed El Fadhel Khalil (Tunisia). Matti Joutsen (Finland) was elected as Rapporteur.

Opening statements were made by Nandasiri Jasentuliyana, Deputy to the Director-General of the United Nations Office at Vienna, on behalf of Director-General Giorgio Giacomelli; and the new Chairman, Mr. Inomata. Eduardo Vetere, Chief of the Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Division, introduced the agenda item on the priority themes set by the Commission at its

first session in 1992. The meeting was opened by outgoing Chairman Ferdinand Mayrhofer-Gruenbuehel (Austria).

At its first session in 1992, the Commission set a number of priority themes, which were later approved by the Council: These include national and transnational crime, including organized crime; economic crime, including money laundering; the role of criminal law in the protection of the environment; crime prevention in urban areas, juvenile and violent criminality; improving the efficiency and fairness of criminal justice administrative systems.

Statements on priority themes were also made by representatives of the United States, Japan and Argentina.

(For background on the session, see Press Release SOC/CP/180, issued 21 May.)

Statement of Outgoing Chairman

In his opening statement, the outgoing Chairman, FERDINAND MAYRHOFER-GRUENBUEHEL (Austria), who spoke also as representative of the host country, said the programme was still in a critical phase. Much progress had been made, but there were still aspects that were not satisfactorily resolved. There was a need to build on past achievements and not to "reinvent the wheel"; there must be continuity in the work of the Commission.

Citing the strain on resources occasioned by the Organization's budget crisis and the demands of peace-keeping operations, he said it was remarkable that the Division had been able to grow in stature and professionalism.

He said that member States of the Commission must be available to the Division as interlocutors, with respect to regional groups and the United Nations' membership at large. He also announced that Austria would be introducing a draft resolution on strategic management.

Statement of New Chairman

TADANORI INOMATA (Japan) cited two findings of the Fourth United Nations Survey of Crime Trends and Operations of Criminal Justice Systems -- namely, that expenditures for criminal justice management had fallen from 1.5 per cent to 1.2 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) of Member States during the period 1986-1990, while reported crime rates had increased by some 5 per cent per year. The estimated profits of criminal syndicates outweighed the entire United Nations budget many times over. Meanwhile, the resources available to the programme were shrinking rather than increasing.

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Although the Branch had been upgraded to a Division, and was supposed to be strengthened by the addition of two professional posts, due to cost-saving measures, recruitment had had to be postponed until 1997, he noted. Further vacancies and cost reductions would be required to meet the level of savings called for by the General Assembly. As a result, some programme activities included in the current budget would have to be postponed, including the holding of expert meetings, issuance of publications and setting up of databases.

He suggested that the Commission consider ways to convey its views to the General Assembly, which had begun last week to review the Secretary-General's cost-saving proposals. Finally, in accordance with the plan for strategic management adopted last year, members should ensure that any new activity proposed in draft resolutions be clearly delineated as to its scope and the tasks it entailed, with resources identified.

Statement of Deputy to Director-General

NANDASIRI JASENTULIYANA, Deputy to the Director-General of the United Nations Office at Vienna, delivered a statement on behalf of the Director-General, Giorgio Giacomelli. He said that Mr. Giacomelli would be addressing the Commission later this week, focusing on technical cooperation, operational activities and the strategic management of the Programme.

He said that the 1990s had been a decade of major political and economic transformations. "Rebuilding and developing mechanisms of effective crime prevention and fair and humane criminal justice is ... one of the primary concerns facing nations emerging from war or civil strife, and countries in the process of transition from centrally-planned to market-oriented economies."

Reviewing the priority themes approved in 1992, he drew attention to the Secretariat's report on initiatives taken to prevent and control money-laundering. He drew attention also to the revised draft international code of conduct for public officials; once finalized, it would be an important tool for States to use to fight corruption. He also highlighted two draft plans of action which will be before the Commission during the session -- on the elimination of violence against women and on computerization of criminal justice systems.

He said that the Programme's advisory services had advanced beyond needs assessment to the formulation of projects aimed at improving or rebuilding countries' crimefighting capacities. In that context, the programme was involved in many of the Organization's peace-keeping operations -- in Angola, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Eastern Slavonia, Burundi, Haiti, Rwanda and Macedonia. He cited the Programme's role in the reconstruction of the prison system in Haiti.

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Turning to the issue of strategic management, he said it was not possible, within currently available resources, to do full justice to all the mandates given to the Programme by Member States. It was incumbent on the Commission to establish priorities and directions; it was likewise imperative that programme planning and budgeting be effectively guided by those priorities and directions.

EDUARDO VETERE, Officer-in-Charge of the Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Division, introduced the reports relating to the Commission's priority themes.

Under the first priority, namely national and transnational organized crime, the General Assembly had requested the Commission to review response to the Naples Political Declaration and Action Plan, which was adopted in 1994 by the World Ministerial Conference on Organized Transnational Crime. With respect to control of the proceeds of crime, gaps in national legislation needed to be examined and laws harmonized. Regarding the smuggling of illegal migrants, the Commission would consider proposals for devising national, regional and international security plans and would foster an ongoing dialogue and joint action among source, transit and recipient States.

Proposed action against corruption included the possible adoption of an international code of conduct for public office holders, preparation of model legislation and regulatory measures and compilation of "best practices" employed by Governments for preventing, detecting and controlling corrupt activities. Transnational organized crime and terrorist crimes represented a danger to the stability and security of States and to the rule of law. International cooperation was needed to create inter-State mechanisms for effective counter-measures.

With regard to the role of criminal law in the protection of the environment, the Commission would consider the provision of field assistance in cooperation with interested organizations and programmes, such as the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). A draft plan of action on the elimination of violence against women was aimed at prompting reform in the handling of such cases by criminal justice institutions. Many countries, he said, were in the process of computerizing their criminal justice administrations in an effort to promote efficiency, fairness and improvements in management of criminal justice systems.

Discussion of Priority Themes

J.H. MOHSIN (Pakistan), noting the current concern of the international community with combating terrorism, cited the "ethnic cleansing" in Bosnia as an "albatross" that would be around the necks of the community for many years

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to come. He urged the Commission to try to analyse the causes of terrorism wherever it occurred in the world.

JONATHAN M. WINER (United States) said that last October, President Clinton had announced the United States' first national security strategy against international crime. This had included the use of the President's war powers to freeze the assets of major Colombian-based cocaine traffickers and their front organizations. The President had also ordered that suspected criminals be denied visas. He had charged the United States Department of Justice with identifying new laws needed to enhance the capacity for collecting evidence against international criminals and prosecuting them. The Treasury Department had been ordered to determine in what countries major criminals were laundering and hiding their money, with a view to taking action to combat financial "safe havens".

He said his Government was committed to increase funding for training and assistance to friendly Governments in the fight against international organized crime. It was circulating a draft resolution containing a declaration on security against crime and an action plan to give substance to the principles therein.

Given the Division's limited budget, the Commission should consider permitting oral briefings rather than mandating written reports that were "neither well-read nor long remembered", he said. The Division needed to move quickly to solve longstanding management problems that had hindered its effectiveness, including questions of how it handled personnel contracts. "People uncertain of their status ... may not be in the best position to focus all of their current energies on their current work", he observed. It was likewise critical for the Division to define its mandate as being focused on technical assistance than on servicing the Commission. That might require it to drop some mandates.

"The United States has responsibilities to the United Nations, which it must be prepared to meet, and meet quickly", he said. "At the same time, the United Nations, and in particular the Crime Division, has responsibilities to the United States and other Commission members. If basic reforms are not soon in coming, the current stresses on the system will only deepen, and fundamental questions concerning the viability of these institutions will be raised by more and more people of good conscience. In the crime area, the United States will be prepared to support United Nations projects that involve the delivery of services and technical assistance that are effective in combating crime, where the United Nations organization is the one best suited of all available to do the job."

He announced a contribution of $320,000 for the United Nations Online Crime and Justice Clearinghouse (UNOJUST). Concluding, he expressed concern that some Member States had not yet ratified or implemented key provisions of

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the 1988 United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances, which contains anti-money-laundering requirements.

YUKI FURUTA, Assistant Vice-Minister of Justice of Japan, cited a need to harmonize the five-year programming interval between Crime Congresses with the biennial cycle of the regular United Nations budget. He also urged the Commission to restrict the number of issues designated as "priority" themes.

The most important issue for the Programme's attention was the promotion of effective strategies against transnational organized crime, he said. The Commission should be designated as the main forum for discussion of that issue. Due to the regional character of the phenomenon, he did not favour the elaboration of a detailed convention, but rather a basic framework document. One option would be to tackle the issues dealt with by the Financial Action Task Force in a broader United Nations framework.

Japan would be introducing a draft resolution on firearms regulation, he announced. He also stressed the importance of strengthening mutual legal assistance and extradition. Consideration should be given to a legal framework which would facilitate extradition in the absence of a treaty. He announced that Japan was contributing $200,000 to the Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Fund this year. Concluding, he urged the Commission to develop and implement the strategic management principles agreed at last year's session.

ELIAS JASSAN (Argentina) was particulary concerned about organized transnational crime and crime in urban areas. Argentina strongly supported the development of an international convention on transnational crime. Solutions to this global problem would require strategies at the international, regional, national and sectoral strategies.

Argentina had set up a joint commission to draw up recommendations for combating money laundering. New banking laws allowed the blocking for 24 hours of any suspicious transactions, in order to allow sufficient time to begin an investigation. Money laundering extended beyond drug related crimes and included traffic in women and children. An investigation in Argentina was under way into the adoption of children by foreigners. Using genuine international adoption agencies, children could be removed from the country with no way to monitor whether they were living with the adopted family. The investigation has so far produced approximately 120 cases where the adoption was suspicious and was most likely a cover for those trafficking in minors.

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