NIGERIA WARNS CRIME COMMISSION OF WAVE OF FRAUD PERPETRATED BY CRIMINALS IN THAT COUNTRY
Press Release
SOC/CP/185
NIGERIA WARNS CRIME COMMISSION OF WAVE OF FRAUD PERPETRATED BY CRIMINALS IN THAT COUNTRY
19960528 Speakers Continue to Debate Idea of Treaty on Organized Crime(Reproduced as received from UN Information Service.)
VIENNA, 23 May -- Nigeria has alerted the world to a "crime wave" of international fraud emanating from that country.
Addressing the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice here this morning, the representative of Nigeria described a practice known as "advance fee fraud", whereby individuals in his country were faxing firms and individuals abroad, seeking help in getting large sums of money out of the country. The money was purportedly accumulated by over-invoicing of petroleum contracts by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company. The firms or individuals were asked to provide banking information, which allowed them to be defrauded.
He also drew attention to the problem of war crimes, and the "breeding ground for criminality" which violent wars created, and urged the Commission to pay greater attention to these problems not only in Europe but also in Africa, with particular reference to the situation in Liberia.
The questions of a proposed convention against transnational crime, and a possible central repository of legislative and other measures against such crime, continued to be debated. While Belarus, the Philippines and Yemen favoured a convention, Australia felt that it would be too difficult to negotiate.
The Head of the Crime Problems Division of the Council of Europe drew attention to several instruments negotiated under the Council's auspices, including the Convention on Laundering, Search, Seizure and Confiscation of the Proceeds from Crime, in force since 1993, two draft conventions on corruption, and a draft convention for the protection of the environment through criminal law.
The Philippines called urgently for the creation of a central repository of measures taken against organized crime, a move which Portugal also
supported. Australia, however, questioned whether there were adequate funds for it to be effective. The representative of the Financial Action Task Force, which had been set up by the "Group of Seven" major industrialized countries and the European Commission, warned that such a repository might duplicate the efforts of existing mechanisms.
In connection with organized transnational crime, the Commission has been reviewing measures taken by States in response to the 1994 Naples Political Declaration and Global Action Plan adopted by the World Ministerial Conference on Organized Transnational Crime and recommendations of the Ninth United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders, held last year in Cairo.
Also participating in the debate were representatives of Iran, Swaziland, Colombia, Lebanon, Cuba, Romania, Argentina and the Russian Federation.
Discussion
VALYANTSIN FISENKA (Belarus) said that transnational organized crime had created a serious threat to the societies, economies and even the security of many States, particularly in countries in transition, like Belarus. In Belarus, the relevant institutions lacked the experience to fight organized crime adequately.
Belarus supported the decision to develop a convention on the fight against organized transnational criminality. It would formulate strategies on a global, regional and national basis and would assist many countries by allowing them to learn from those States that were more experienced in this field, particularly in developing new legislation.
Of particular concern to Belarus was the smuggling of illegal migrants, he said. There were some 300,000 foreign citizens living as illegal immigrants in the country. Many of those people were looking for the opportunity to migrate to Europe. In order to support themselves in Belarus they had committed many illegal activities, flagrantly violating the laws of the country.
The territory of Belarus was increasingly being used as a transit zone for drugs from Asian countries to Europe. An analysis of data had shown that these negative trends in the area of organized crime in Belarus will continue in the coming years. The fight against crime, particularly the transnational aspects, could not be adequately addressed at the national level. There was an urgent need for a more specifically targeted exchange of information and coordination as provided for in the Naples Declaration and Action Plan.
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HANS-JUERGEN BARTSCH, Head of the Division of Crime Problems of the Council of Europe, stressed that the Council's failure to attend last year's Crime Congress had been due to a regrettable scheduling conflict. He wished to dispel any impression that the European Union was the only forum dealing with crime problems in the region.
He underscored the importance of the Convention on Laundering, Search, Seizure and Confiscation of the Proceeds from Crime, a Council initiative. At present, it had eight parties, including four members of the European Union and two States in Eastern Europe. It also had 18 signatories, including Australia. By providing for States outside the region to become parties, the instrument acknowledged the global nature of the problems it sought to address, and went beyond the usual scope of European conventions.
Meanwhile, the Council's multi-disciplinary group on corruption had adopted a draft plan of action, which was now being reviewed by the Council's steering committees on criminal law and private law. It had also begun work on two legal instruments on corruption -- a draft framework convention and a draft convention on penal aspects of the issue. Also under consideration in committee was a "draft convention for the protection of the environment through criminal law". It provided for criminalization of serious offences against the environment and included provisions on sanctions, reparations and corporate liability, as well as principles for international cooperation in this area.
ABBAS A. RAHIMI, Director-General of the Prevention of Crime Bureau (Iran), said that extensive use of violence against women stemmed primarily from ignorance, insufficient laws to prohibit violence, inadequate access to legal information, inadequate efforts by public authorities to enforce existing laws and lack of attention to vulnerable groups of women such as refugees or immigrant workers. Susceptibility of women to abuse and violence in conflict situation as well as in occupied areas was also an international concern, he said. According to statistics, some 20,000 Bosnian women were raped in the first stages of the war.
His country's actions to address this issue included the establishment of an office that provided legal advice and assistance to women, a media campaign which highlighted women's rights, prohibition of television shows that were contrary to the mental health of children, the provision of counselling services, and the imposition of harsh punishment for violators of women and children's rights.
He recommended that other nations adopt similar measures to those of his country. At the international level, increased cooperation was needed to enhance the conditions of homeless refugees and immigrant women. Stricter punishments should be imposed on the violators of women during armed
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conflicts. Financial and technical training and counselling by United Nations bodies and other agencies could be provided to Governments to integrate into their domestic programmes.
ELIAS MKHONTA (Swaziland) outlined some activities undertaken by his country in the area of combating crime. Laws that addressed corruption were being updated. A Crime Prevention Council had been established to mobilize communities to assist in the area of crime prevention. A rapid- response telephone system had been established for communities to consult the police in times of emergency. At a regional level, Swaziland had cooperated with South Africa and Mozambique through joint-security meetings between and among police forces to address cross-border drug trafficking, stock theft and money laundering.
JAIME CABRERA BEDOYA (Colombia) said his Government was relentless in its fight against organized crime. The criminal world was dynamic and constantly changing, so it was never possible for the authorities to rest on their laurels. As the Commission on Narcotic Drugs had noted, the demand for drugs had continued to increase, with dark clouds of new "designer drugs" lurking on the horizon. The only sure way to get ahead of criminal groups was through coordinated, flexible, strategic international cooperation.
It was essential that States' institutional capacities be developed to the level needed to address the common goals of the global fight against crime, he said. The internal policies of States must be coordinated; they must be proactive, not merely reactive.
He stressed the importance of sharing criminal data among all government institutions, of which the justice system was only one. Internal fragmentation hindered international cooperation. Colombia was designing a "data exchange platform" in which some 20 government agencies were participating. He would be circulating a prospectus to the Secretariat and interested Commission members.
SAMI AOUN (Lebanon) said that his country supported coordination and cooperation at the international level to fight organized transnational crime. Trafficking in children was not an issue for Lebanon. Violence against women was addressed first by an attempt at reconciliation, which was followed by a fine, before the issue was addressed in the courts. Divorce was discouraged because of the impact on the family.
Public officials must publish all financial dealings, a policy which greatly decreased corruption, he said. Money laundering was not yet a crime, but a draft law was being prepared that would prohibit it. Regarding the smuggling of illegal immigrants, the country had made considerable efforts to combat the forgery of passports and other official documents and to tighten border controls.
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Lebanon condemned all terrorist acts but also emphasized the difference between such acts and the legitimate resistance of those who wanted to liberate their occupied territory. Ten per cent of Lebanon was currently occupied, he said.
ZENAIDA OSORIO VIZCAINO, First Vice-Minister of Justice of Cuba, citing economic stresses imposed by the blockade against her country, said that in recent years, her Government had adopted policies that facilitated foreign investment. There had also been increased tourism. Her Government realized that these factors could create opportunities for money laundering. The penal code had no references to money laundering as such, but Cuba was currently developing a set of administrative norms for banking practices, and was training staff to enforce them.
Her country had some incidence of violent crime, but such crime was for the most part not drug- or firearm-related, she said. Concerning juvenile delinquency, Cuba's specialized institutions aimed at keeping youthful offenders out of the adult penal system, providing them with education and training, and preventing recidivism.
She said that women bore the brunt of violence in society, as well as facing economic obstacles and suffering sexual exploitation. Laws alone could not put an end to this, but there was still a need to enact further legislation in most countries. Cuba had been the first country to sign the 1979 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. It was in the process of developing a new family code that would address inequities experienced by women.
CONSTANTIN VIRGIL IVAN (Romania) noted that in many countries, cases of corruption of powerful individuals or entities that had been brought to justice had sparked much public reaction, which, in turn, had served as a catalyst or motivating force in the fight against corruption. This had been particularly important because of the almost inherent difficulties in anti-corruption efforts, due to the fact that those involved were not likely to complain. For her own country, the first step had been the adoption of adequate criminal, administrative, economic and financial regulations.
The lack of legislation in the financial field and the absence of the codes of ethical conduct or code of business principles encouraged corruption and fraud, because many illegal activities were not yet prohibited. The gaps in legislation favoured fraud, extortion and corruption and illegal privatization and undervaluation of the former State institutions had allowed unethical businessmen to become very rich.
PATRICK MOULETTE, Secretary of the Financial Action Task Force, said the analysis of legislative situations vis-a-vis money laundering was a
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delicate exercise, as certain States were in various stages of drafting and adopting texts. He warned that a central registry of legislative and regulatory measures would run the risk of duplicating the efforts of existing mechanisms, such as the compendium of anti-money-laundering measures created by the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) and the Commonwealth Secretariat. Technical assistance programmes were very important; in that context, projects involving staff training and the drafting of model legislation were most welcome.
He further stressed the importance of coordinating the efforts of international organizations, including the United Nations, the Council of Europe, Interpol, the Commonwealth Secretariat, the World Customs Union, the European Commission, the Interamerican Commission for the Control of Drug Abuse and the Organization of American States (OAS). The Task Force invited all those agencies, and relevant divisions of the Secretariat, to participate in its work.
ELIAS JASSAN (Argentina) noted that progress had been made at the international level on the issue of trafficking in minors. The Ninth Crime Congress had addressed this issue and the Buenos Aires Declaration on Prevention and Control of Organized Transnational Crime, adopted last November, set out specific activities to be undertaken by States. Those included the development of appropriate national laws that reflected the principles spelt out in the Interamerican Convention on International Trafficking in Minors. All persons involved in the trafficking of minors should be tried and prosecuted.
He called on the Commission to request a survey to establish the flow of minors from developing to developed countries. Argentina wanted countries to determine the number of minors leaving their countries and their destination, and to evaluate the process that had allowed them to leave. The Division should act as a clearinghouse for the information provided.
A convention on international trafficking and trade in children would not overlap with other international agreements, but would rather complement them, he said. Such a convention would establish a legal commitment and outline operational modalities in that area. He called for specific strategies in all areas of crime control both at the national and international level. Argentina would also sponsor a draft resolution aimed at assessing the collection of criminal data and investigation methods throughout the world. Data from various countries must be comparable in order for it to be used effectively in the development of strategies.
TERESA ALVES MARTINS (Portugal) said that the protection of minors from ill-treatment and violence and the welfare of abandoned minors were matters of priority concern for her Government. Portugal supported the work of the expert
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group on the prevention of the sexual exploitation of children through sex tourism, and looked forward to the adoption of an international instrument against illicit traffic in children. She urged that technical assistance and cooperation programmes continue to include juvenile justice elements.
To eliminate violence against women, it was important to take action to improve their status, she said. Technical cooperation, training and exchanges of information were crucial.
She described her Government's efforts to combat money laundering. It hoped to ratify very soon the Council of Europe's convention on that subject. She said that an international convention against transnational organized crime would have to be conceived as a set of common principles that could inform activities at the regional level. A central repository of legislative, regulatory and other measures taken against organized crime would be very useful; its effectiveness could be enhanced by technical cooperation.
I.N. KOSCHEWINKOWA (Russian Federation) said he was glad to see that the draft guidelines for control of urban crime stressed the need for preventive action, including social initiatives to deal with the root causes. He described initiatives being taken in the city of Moscow, and expressed thanks to the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI) for its assistance in research projects.
His Government favoured the development of applications of criminal law to environmental protection. The Secretariat should amass further information and expertise on this subject. A practical manual would be welcome. The proposal for an international court of the environment deserved further study.
In the context of efforts to combat violence against women, he supported the holding of seminars, studies and training programmes. The Russian Federation supported the idea of an international convention against the illicit traffic in children; it should provide not only for the punishment of the crime, but also for the detection and restoration of the smuggled children.
VICTORIA BATACLAN (Philippines) said the only way to address the common security threat posed to all nations by transnational organized crime was to build a global transnational network of coordinated measures. By their nature, those measures, in particular the drafting of conventions or declarations or bilateral agreements would take time to conclude, while organized transnational criminal organizations continued to operate with unprecedented mobility and modern technology. Therefore, there was an urgent need to take immediate action.
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The Philippines supported the elaboration of a convention on transnational organized crime, she said. Such a convention would greatly enhance international efforts to combat that type of criminality. Pending the formulation of a convention, bilateral and multilateral arrangements would provide for general cooperation in the areas of investigation, prosecution and extradition of offenders. There was a need for an expert group to address extradition matters.
She called for the urgent creation of a central repository of legislative and regulatory measures against organized transnational crime, stressing that "information is a major bullet in our arsenal". It would provide all States, particularly the developing countries and countries in transition, with easy access to the best practices in detection, investigation and adjudication in this area. Manuals and training guides would also provide practical tools. Her country fully supported the position of the "Group of 77" developing countries on the need to "put our money where our mouth is" regarding the work of the Division.
PETER SCOTT (Australia) stressed that confiscation of the proceeds of criminal activities was a strong weapon to be used against organized crime. Criminal groups wielded significant economic power and the seizure and confiscation of their proceeds inhibited the growth of such power.
Australia was concerned about the difficulties that could beset the negotiation of an international convention on transnational crime. These included the need for agreement on a universally acceptable definition of what constituted organized transnational crime. Another concern was the duplication of existing agreements in areas such as extradition and mutual assistance in criminal matters. There was also the risk that the need to achieve consensus on the content could result in a final text that was too general, which would seriously limit its effectiveness. In regards to the creation of a central repository, he pointed to the relationship between adequate funding and such a repository's ultimate usefulness.
On the issue of violence against women, his Government had promoted uniform strategies to combat domestic violence across the various jurisdictions in the country. Australia, he said, had encouraged intolerance of violence through community education, a strong criminal justice response to the perpetrators of violence and the provision of emergency accommodation to women who were subjected to violence.
MOHAMED RAJEH NAGED (Yemen) expressed his Government's abhorrence of terrorism, and described its efforts to stop drug trafficking. It saw children as the future of the country, and sought to educate them against the scourge of drug abuse. It also provided special programmes for juvenile offenders, to protect and rehabilitate them. Given the enormous responsibilities borne by
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women, Yemen took every opportunity to protect them. He asked for improved international cooperation to apprehend criminals in flight. The efforts of the international community must not be limited to discussions at conferences and seminars. Legal instruments were needed, such as a convention against transnational crime. His country had enacted laws against money laundering.
WILCOX ENYINNA EKENTA (Nigeria) said his Government had undertaken an intensified awareness campaign against drug-dealing and fraud. A serious crackdown had led to the arrest of eight notorious drug barons. Some 40 automobile dealerships suspected of money laundering had been shut down, pending further investigation.
He described a crime wave now sweeping his country in the form of "advance fee fraud". Individuals in Nigeria were sending fax messages to firms and individuals abroad, informing them that the callers had obtained large sums of money -- tens of millions of dollars -- due to over-invoicing of petroleum contracts by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company, and that they needed help to get the funds out of the country. On the promise of a funds transfer, the firms or individuals were then persuaded to provide banking information that resulted in their being defrauded.
He said his Government was taking steps to end this menace. It was withdrawing telephone and facsimile facilities from the business centres from which such fraud had been conducted, and publishing in daily newspapers the phone and fax numbers that had been used. He urged Member States to "advise their citizens that there are no free dollars waiting to be transferred out of Nigeria". Furthermore, he said, "while Nigeria blames its citizens for initiating this crime, their foreign accomplices who not only condone and encourage this act but also participate in the fraudulent arrangement only to be duped later, cannot escape blame for their rapacity. It takes two ... to tango."
Nigeria was having a grave problem with smugglers who were selling stolen cars to citizens of neighbouring States. He appealed to the Commission to explore ways of getting Interpol to assist more in the recovery of stolen vehicles. He also called for greater attention to the links between war and criminality, both in terms of war crimes and the creation of a climate for criminality. While applauding the efforts of the international community to deal with the situation in the former Yugoslavia, he called for greater attention to violent wars in Africa, notably Liberia.
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