VULNERABILITY OF DEVELOPING COUNTRIES TO ILLICIT DRUG TRADE HIGHLIGHTED IN THIRD COMMITTEE DEBATE

13 October 1998

Press Release
GA/SHC/3472

VULNERABILITY OF DEVELOPING COUNTRIES TO ILLICIT DRUG TRADE HIGHLIGHTED IN THIRD COMMITTEE DEBATE

19981013 Committee Concludes Discussion of Crime Prevention, Drug Control; Speakers Emphasize Difficulties of Combatting Global Crime with Few Resources

The vulnerability of developing countries and small island developing States to the problems of international crime and the illicit drug trade were highlighted in the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) this afternoon, as it met to conclude its discussion of issues related to crime prevention and criminal justice and international drug control.

The representative of the Maldives said marginalized developing countries were becoming breeding grounds for the drug trade. Small island developing States with open borders lacked the resources and institutional capacity to combat a crime that was global in nature, with well-developed, worldwide networks.

Speaking on behalf of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), the representative of Antigua and Barbuda said countries in her region had understood that globalization and open trade borders would lead to new economic alliances, but they were unprepared for the attendant expansion of organized crime. Similarly, she was also concerned about the practice of deporting to Caribbean countries individuals with a criminal history. Although born in the region, many such individuals had spent an insignificant amount of time in the countries of their birth, yet they were deposited within the region with no account taken of their collective impact.

On the same issue, the representative of Haiti said the increasing criminality of young people in Haiti was influenced by young undesirables who had been deported from host countries, particularly the United States. The police and law enforcement authorities of Haiti did not have the resources or experience to deal with them.

The success of regional cooperative efforts by countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States to combat transnational crime was also discussed during the meeting. The representative of the Russian Federation

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said individual efforts would be doomed to fail unless bolstered by coordinated efforts on the international plane. The successful arrangements between Commonwealth countries could be an extremely valuable example for other States.

The representative of Kazakhstan, who also spoke for Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Belarus, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Russian Federation and Turkmenistan, outlined several of the prominent regional agreements, including the development of a single data bank containing information on individuals involved in drug trafficking.

The representative the Dominican Republic introduced a draft resolution on the International Year of Older Persons, 1999, recommending that the Commission for Social Development mainstream the issue of older persons in its work, and in its preparatory work for the review session of the World Summit for Social Development in the year 2000.

Statements were also made by representatives of Thailand, Laos, Armenia, Madagascar, Cameroon, Bahrain and Togo. The representative of Armenia spoke in right of reply.

The Committee will meet again at 10 a.m. Wednesday, 14 October, to begin consideration of issues related to the advancement of women and implementation of the outcome of the Fourth World Conference on Women.

Committee Work Programme

The Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) met this afternoon to continue consideration of crime prevention and criminal justice and international drug control. It has before it the relevant sections of the report of the Economic and Social Council, reports of the Secretary-General, and three draft resolutions. (For background on those documents before the Committee, see Press Release GA/SHC/3467 of 8 October.)

The Committee is also expected to hear the introduction of a draft resolution on the International Year of Older Persons, 1999. By the terms of that 39-Power draft, the Assembly would note with satisfaction the successful launching of the International Year of Older Persons, with the theme of "A society for all ages", on 1 October 1998. It would encourage all States, the United Nations system and all other actors, to take advantage of the Year to increase awareness of the challenge of the demographic ageing of societies, the individual and social needs of older persons, their contributions to society, and the need for a change in attitudes towards them. It would also encourage States that have not yet done so to establish a national focal point or broad-based committee for the Year.

The Assembly would recommend that the Commission for Social Development mainstream the issue of older persons in its work, and in the preparatory work for the review session of the World Summit for Social Development in the year 2000, and would call upon States, United Nations agencies and bodies and institutions of civil society, to avoid age and gender bias in their treatment of older women. It would encourage States to embody in legislation the rights of older persons to equal access to, and the use of social services, without any discrimination.

The Assembly would further invite the Department of Public Information to continue its information campaign, intensifying its activities in January 1999, in support of countries which were unable to launch observances on 1 October 1998. It would request the United Nations programme on ageing to give priority attention to the research needs of developing countries.

Also by the text, the Assembly would encourage the media to present non-stereotyped images of older persons, and would invite institutions of civil society to focus their observance of the International Day of Older Persons (1 October) in 1999 on the theme "Late-life potentials and contributions in a new age". States would be requested to participate, at an appropriate global policy-making level, in the four Assembly plenary meetings which it decided, in resolution 52/80 of 12 December 1997, should be devoted at its fifty-fourth session to the Year and its follow-up.

The draft resolution is sponsored by Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Côte d'Ivoire, Cuba, Dominican Republic,

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Ecuador, El Salvador, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Haiti, Hungary, Iceland, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Mongolia, Morocco, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Panama, Philippines, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Solomon Islands, Spain, Turkey, Turkmenistan, United Kingdom and Zambia.

Introduction of Draft Resolution

JULIA TAVARES DE ALVAREZ (Dominican Republic) introduced draft resolution A/C.3/53/L.6, entitled "The International Year of Older Persons, 1999". She said the following countries had joined as co-sponsors of the resolution: Algeria, Antigua, Armenia, Barbuda, Bolivia, China, Croatia, Denmark, Egypt, Guatemala, Ireland, Kazakhstan, Monaco, Norway, Pakistan, Paraguay, San Marino, South Africa, Sweden, Trinidad and Tobago, Ukraine, Uruguay and Venezuela.

AKMARAL ARYSTANBEKOVA (Kazakhstan) spoke also for Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Belarus, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Russian Federation and Turkmenistan. She said the drug epidemic could be countered only through coordinated and effective action by the international community as a whole. She welcomed the steps taken by the Secretary-General to strengthen the UNDCP and the anti-drug activities of the Programme's leadership, particularly in implementing activities for the worldwide eradication of drug-containing plants.

She said the countries she was speaking for were making efforts at the national and regional levels to ensure implementation of agreed measures and coordination of joint efforts to combat the drug threat, and she reviewed some of those. In May 1996, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) Council of Heads of States had approved an intergovernmental programme to combat organized crime in their territories to the year 2000. In October 1992, an agreement on cooperation in combating illegal trafficking of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances was signed. Commonwealth countries' law enforcement agencies utilized a single data bank containing information on individuals involved in drug trafficking.

Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and UNDCP had signed in 1996 a memorandum of understanding on combating illegal drug trafficking and abuse, to which the Russian Federation had later acceded, she said. In the context of implementing the memorandum, an international conference on drug problems was to be held in Almaty at the beginning of 1999. Commonwealth countries were setting up an interlinked network of bilateral intergovernmental treaties. Those joint efforts made it possible to assess and predict the development of the drug situation, and draw up a unified strategic policy for combating international drug crime, taking into account the situation in the CIS area.

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SAWANIT KONGSIRI (Thailand), speaking on behalf of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN), said that like any successful product, drugs had adapted to the changing global conditions and diversified into new markets worldwide. The illegal drug trade accounted for $400 million -- 8 per cent of total international trade, and more than enough to bail out the world's ailing economies. While the countries of South-East Asia had made progress in the suppression of drug-related crops, the area remained vulnerable. In addition to the problems of production and transit, drug consumption was a growing issue. Synthetic drugs were also fast becoming a serious menace to the region.

Governments of the region were attacking the problem on all fronts, he said. At the national level, among other strategies, a crop substitution programme had proven successful to the extent that the United Nations International Drug Control Programme (UNDCP), which sponsored the programme, was considering using the model as a blueprint for other countries outside the region. Governments were also working together at the regional level, and ASEAN had devised a number of mechanisms to attack the drug problem. Many of the projects outlined by ASEAN focused on demand reduction, he concluded.

The efforts of ASEAN and others in South-East Asia would amount to little if not supported by the international community, he said. ASEAN welcomed the special session of the General Assembly on the world drug problem, in particular its recognition that supply reduction should be complemented by equally vigorous efforts towards demand reduction. Nor could the fight against drugs be won without the participation of the private sector, the community and civil society.

Funding for drug control and rehabilitation programmes must continue, notwithstanding the present economic crisis, he said. Now that much of South-East Asia was mired in economic crisis and its resources were under strain, its resolve remained firm. The drug problem would not go away easily; as with the mythical hydra, when one head was chopped off, two sprang up to take its place. But the resolve shown and efforts being exerted at all levels gave cause for hope.

KHENTHONG NUANTHASING (Lao People's Democratic Republic) said the special session of the General Assembly on drug abuse marked the first time that the international community had been able to set time-frames and target dates to put an end to the world drug problem. The outcome of the session had also provided governments with an opportunity to renew their strong and unequivocal commitment to the issue of drug control.

In the early 1990s, his Government had decided to take radical steps to develop and implement a comprehensive drug control policy, he said. It had launched a national drug control master plan, and had become a party to the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs and the 1972 Protocol and the

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Convention on Psychotropic Substances of 1971. His country had made significant progress in combating drug trafficking and cultivation, despite lack of financial support, equipment and experience. He thanked the United States Government, the UNDCP, the UNDP and other international organizations for their cooperation and assistance in the field of drug control.

HUSSAIN SHIHAB (Maldives) said the Maldives was fully committed to international efforts countering drug trafficking and abuse. It had taken measures to build institutional capacity and strengthen the legal framework to improve the application of drug control laws. This year it had set up a Narcotics Control Board and had drawn up a National Action Plan in line with international instruments for action at national, regional and international levels. It had set up a Drug Rehabilitation Centre and a hotline to reform and rehabilitate drug offenders, and it had taken steps such as banning public advertising of tobacco products, recognizing that tobacco consumption was a precursor to stronger drug use.

However, the so-called marginalized developing countries were most prone to the drug markets or to becoming breeding grounds for them, he said. Small island developing States with open borders such as the Maldives lacked the resources and institutional capacity to combat a crime that was global in nature and had well-developed worldwide networks. Further, to combat the drug menace, they had to reallocate limited resources already committed to mitigating the social impacts of globalization. Therefore, such States required full support from the international community in terms of resources, technical assistance and expertise.

ALEXANDRE ZMEEVSKI (Russian Federation) said individual efforts to combat transnational crime would be doomed to fail unless bolstered by coordinated efforts on the international sphere. His country was in favour of maximum input from the United Nations system in coordinating international crime prevention policies. He welcomed the practical approach taken by United Nations agencies, and praised the results of the seventh session of the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice. He also confirmed his country's readiness to continue cooperating with the drafting of an international convention on transnational organized crime. International cooperation in crime prevention must also be bolstered by measures taken at the regional level. There were several such arrangements within the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States, and their examples could be extremely valuable for other States.

With regard to drug control, the special session of the General Assembly stood as a landmark in the efforts of the international community in the fight against the drug problem, he said. The clarity of the goals and the target dates set at the special session must by followed through. The important task now lay in swiftly translating the commitments of the session into practical acts. He reaffirmed his country's support of the uncompromising position of

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Commission on Narcotic Drugs and the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) on the inadmissibility of the legalization of illicit drug use.

ANNA AGHADJANIAN (Armenia) said today almost every nation faced the ever-growing menace posed by illicit drug trafficking and no one nation or State could deal with the problem alone. As a nation undergoing transition, Armenia had found that many of its own people were vulnerable to the temptations of drugs. In the last five years, narcotic-related criminal activity had increased. The country was, however, currently in the process of formulating a comprehensive national drug control strategy, along the lines of the global strategy advanced by the UNDCP.

As was true for all countries with economies in transition, Armenia had suffered a sharp decline in living conditions, she said. The country suffered a devastating earthquake in 1988, which resulted to the loss of about 40 per cent of its industrial potential. Between 1988 and 1990, it had also experienced an influx of refugees from Azerbaijan, totalling almost 12 per cent of the country's population of 3.1 million. Those developments had made it difficult for the country to allocate the necessary financial and material resources to the struggle against illicit drug trafficking. It was a universal problem and the international community required an integrated approach involving participation by both the state and civil society to tackle it.

AQEELAH AKBAR (Antigua and Barbuda), speaking on behalf of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), said her region was becoming associated the with the new and emerging crime of corruption and the transnational crimes of drug trafficking and money laundering. Countries in the region had understood that the process of globalization would lead to new economic alliances; however, they were unprepared for the attendant expansion of the market for organized criminal activity resulting from the opening of trade borders.

The highly structured nature of such crime made it improbable for countries with small developing economies to resist the vast resources available to the criminal conglomerates, she said. The Caribbean Governments were pleased to receive support from their international partners, including the UNDCP. The transnational scope of criminal activity warranted an equally aggressive counter strategy. She welcomed the establishment of the open-ended intergovernmental ad hoc committee to elaborate a comprehensive international convention against organized transnational crime.

In the countries of the Caribbean, even a slight increase in criminal activity could create a major furore in comparison to the usual harmony that existed in most of the communities there, she said. Attention had recently been focused on a disturbing shift in extra-regional immigration policies. In many cases, individuals who had developed a criminal history were being deported to countries of the region. Although born in the region, many such

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individuals had spent an insignificant amount of time in the countries of their birth. Yet they were deposited within the region with no account taken of the collective impact of their presence on the communities with which they interacted.

HELENA RAJAONARIVELO (Madagascar) said that in spite of the advantages of globalization, there were many disadvantages, such as illicit drug crimes and money laundering. The international community could not simply mouth platitudes to combat the persistence of those threats, which could bring the world to its feet. Last June, the special session had arrived at concrete approaches to deal with demand, production, trafficking, and supply, as reflected in the Political Declaration. Constant improvements would be needed and only international initiatives would be able to deal with the drug problem, as well as with eliminating poverty.

Indeed, the guarantee of justice and the rule of law were needed to combat both poverty and the drug problems, she said. Madagascar had begun discussion with the Council of Europe in Strasbourg to initiate judicial cooperation relating to money laundering. There was a need for training programmes for law enforcement, customs, and postal workers. Her Government had enacted a law against psychotropic and precursors substances and illegal forms of cannabis. The success of all measures depended on international cooperation. There was a need for financial support and regional and subregional mechanisms, the help of the media, as well as technical support and technology transfer to combat those problems.

NICOLE ROMULUS (Haiti) said never had such a phenomenon undermined the health and welfare, the economic structure and the security of the international system as the problem of drugs. It was also associated with all types of international crime, and the degradation of living standards. The increasing criminality of young people in Haiti was influenced by young undesirables who had been deported from host countries, particularly the United States. The influx of such undesirables was taking a major toll on Haiti, where the police and law enforcement authorities did not have the resources or experience to deal with them. The authorities were doing their best to deal with returning nationals, and trying to encourage their reintegration into society.

Young people were the future, and to alleviate the burden of drugs, international efforts should be pooled, she said. The most vulnerable and marginalized groups of society should be particularly supported. It was not enough to simply throw offenders into prisons. It was well known that prison was not a healthy place; drug habits were simply reinforced, and the risk of HIV/AIDS was also great. Because of its geographic location, Haiti was also a transit country for drugs, and its authorities were fighting in a determined way to deal with the illicit drug traffic. Haiti had set up a customs service in 1997, and civil servants and law enforcement agencies had benefited from

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training seminars organized by the UNDCP. They had been successful in several drug seizures. Haiti also took part in regional and bilateral cooperation efforts.

MARTIN BELINGA EBOUTOU (Cameroon) said that the two items on the agenda were of vital importance as the century ended. As pointed out by several delegates, crime prevention and criminal justice, as well as international drug control were challenges on a world scale. In a world marked by globalization, the ills wrought by drugs did not need to be demonstrated. Drug abuse and drug trafficking had disastrous effects on the young, the family, and on health, thus threatening the structure of society, its values and its future. It was no longer the business of one country or one region alone. The phenomena represented a serious threat to peace and security for all.

He called for active cooperation and coordination regionally and internationally, and in that regard, welcomed the twentieth special session on drug control. The session reflected a collective awareness to eradicate that ill. The recommendations adopted were guides for future action, whether they were taken by States or internationally. In that respect, Cameroon was pleased at the forthcoming establishment of a coordinating body for drug prevention in South Africa.

SALAH AL-MALKI (Bahrain) said the abuse of narcotic drugs and the trafficking therein constituted a major problem for all societies, and the international community must make efforts to eradicate the scourge of drugs. He commended the efforts of the United Nations system in that respect, and welcomed the results of the special session of the General Assembly on drugs.

Bahrain was keen to stave off the evil of drugs, with a view to uprooting it from society, he said. At the national level, every government ministry was involved in the fight against drugs. A special unit of the national psychiatric hospital had been singled out as the only place in the country for the treatment of drug addicts, and the ministry of health had a section for combating drugs. Relevant ministries held seminars for students educating them about the perils of drug use, with the view that prevention was better than treatment. Public information campaigns had been undertaken.

Bahrain's relevant organs were tightening control on borders to prevent the entry of drugs, and the country took part in regional and international cooperation agreements, he said. The efforts made by Bahrain in combating drugs constituted a safety net in the battle against drugs.

ABRA AFETSE TAY (Togo) said globalization offered immense possibilities of improving standards of living for vast populations, but it had also facilitated the transnational nature of "uncivil society". That comment by the Secretary-General underscored the inadequacy of efforts, which clearly had

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a harmful effect on all countries. There was a need for new strategies to deal with the supply and demand of drugs, and for the strengthening of international efforts. Concrete application was needed to eliminate that evil from society.

The debate had provided opportunity to renew efforts against drugs, she said, but a clearer redefinition was needed in the control of drugs and illicit substances, as well as in the strengthening of existing legislations. Her Government had enacted numerous legislations and was party to the three drug conventions and other subregional instruments for judicial cooperation in the area of criminal justice. Togo had also enacted laws for the treatment and rehabilitation of drug users. It had created a national anti-drug initiative and set up a laboratory for drug analysis through the help of UNDCP. Its law enforcement forces had been active in seizures and destruction of illegal cannabis farms. It had engaged in prevention and awareness activities with the non-governmental network.

The turmoil caused by the battle showed it was a huge long-term enterprise requiring human, financial and material resources, she said. Her Government had realized it could not strengthen the capacity of those measures, such as through training programmes, without resources. A world strategy to fight the battle was needed, to keep the flame burning, to get down to work as quick as possible.

Right of Reply

Ms. AGHADJANIAN (Armenia) said that the statement made by the representative of Azerbaijan during this morning's meeting, referring to Armenian armed aggression against Azerbaijan, had been misleading. The conflict was between the people of Nagorno Karabakh and the Government of Azerbaijan, not between Azerbaijan and Armenia. It was not the first time Azerbaijan had used the so-called Armenian aggression for whatever policies or statements it wished to justify.

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