PREVENTING CRIME WORLDWIDE TO BE MAJOR FOCUS OF VIENNA MEETING FROM 27 APRIL TO 5 MAY
Press Release
SOC/CP/211
PREVENTING CRIME WORLDWIDE TO BE MAJOR FOCUS OF VIENNA MEETING FROM 27 APRIL TO 5 MAY
19990423 Background Release Crime Commission To Discuss Crime-Preventing Strategies, Global Treaty against Organized Crime, Key Topics of Tenth Crime Congress(Reissued as received.)
VIENNA, 23 April (UN Information Service) -- Global strategies to prevent numerous forms of crime worldwide will be the main topic of debate when the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice meets in Vienna from 27 April to 5 May.
Of key interest at the annual meeting of the 40-member Commission will be community strategies to thwart criminality, as well as innovative ways of combating violence against women, the illicit manufacture and trafficking in explosives and corruption, including its proceeds.
The Commission's emphasis will be on non-punitive ways of preventing crime, which a growing body of work has shown to be cheaper and more effective than traditional measures, such as lengthy prison sentences. These strategies tackle social problems pushing potential criminals to the brink or aim to eliminate the situations and rewards that tempt them.
A vital step forward in promoting non-punitive strategies has been the drawing up of a series of international standards in crime prevention, which seek to regulate such areas as the treatment of prisoners, the use of force and firearms, participation in community programmes and the protection of victims. The Commission will be reviewing the reactions of various governments to these standards at its current session.
Another major focus of the Commission will be the prevention of organized crime, which is receiving increased attention in many countries worldwide. Prevention strategies include downplaying the appeal of criminal groups, especially for youth, and eliminating opportunities for gain by introducing measures against corruption and money-laundering.
During the Commission, the ad hoc committee drawing up a new legal instrument -- the Convention against Transnational Organized Crime -- will hold its third meeting from 28 April to 3 May. The committee will focus on measures to fight money-laundering, as well as the seizure of criminal assets. Special attention will be paid to ploughing a percentage of the value of these assets back into the international community, with particular emphasis on supporting United Nations efforts against transnational crime.
An additional task facing the Commission will be to draw up a draft declaration to be presented at the Tenth Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders, which will be held in Vienna from 10 to 17 April 2000. Based on input from regional meetings held over the past few months in Asia and the Pacific, Western Asia, Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean, this declaration will be aimed at promoting the rule of law, international cooperation in combatting organized crime, crime prevention and fair justice for all.
Delegates at these regional meetings also made recommendations for a workshop to be held at the Tenth Congress on women in the criminal justice system, which will focus on their role in organized crime as offenders and victims, as well as officers and prosecutors. The meetings also discussed three additional workshops to be held at the Congress, on combatting corruption, computer crimes and community involvement in crime prevention.
The Commission will also review activities carried out by the Centre for International Crime Prevention over the past year, which have included work on the treaty against transnational organized crime, technical cooperation projects worth a total of $4 million and three global crime prevention programmes directed against trafficking in human beings, corruption and organized crime.
Voluntary contributions to the Centre's work to support its technical assistance programmes rose to $2.73 million for 1998, but funding is still insufficient for future projects. The Commission will discuss the Centre's upcoming programme and funding needs.
Non-Punitive Crime Prevention
A considerable rise in crime since the 1960s, despite costly investment in law enforcement, courts and prisons, has led to the increasing use of non-punitive strategies in preventing it.
Non-punitive strategies use two tactics in targeting the causes of crime, rather than focusing on punishment. One approach looks at the social or psychological problems leading to crime, such as ineffective parenting, social and cognitive disabilities of children, dropping out of school, social exclusion and youth unemployment. Prevention programmes may include
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nation-wide campaigns exposing the risks of drug abuse, pre-school enrichment programmes or large-scale job programmes for unemployed youth.
A second approach focuses on situations or potential victims, seeking to make crimes riskier, more difficult to commit or less rewarding. Prevention may include technical measures such as closed-circuit television or increased surveillance at crime hot spots. Victims may be aided in thwarting repeat crimes, such as domestic violence, or negotiations may be set up between them and the offenders.
Preventing Organized Crime
Crime prevention has become an increasingly popular method of combating organized crime. Efforts include undermining the appeal of criminal groups through schools or the media and boosting efforts to prevent juvenile delinquency.
Strategies to prevent organized crime may also focus on reducing opportunities for criminal gain, such as limiting illegal markets or increasing transparency in public offices to thwart corruption. Other tactics include reducing the demand for illicit drugs or sexual services, information campaigns directed at potential trafficking victims, increasing the risks of smuggling through international marking systems and tightening money-laundering laws.
The international community has also taken major steps to draw up a Convention against Transnational Organized Crime as well as its three protocols, which target trafficking in firearms, migrants, women and children. Work on this international instrument, which has been marked by broad political support, should be completed for submission to the Millennium General Assembly in the year 2000.
Activities of Centre for International Crime Prevention
Over the past year, the Centre for International Crime Prevention has become present in the field for the first time by opening offices or creating staff positions. It has become increasingly involved in fighting organized crime -- including work on the Convention against Transnational Organized Crime -- trafficking in human beings and corruption.
The Centre has been giving technical assistance over the past year to countries that are most affected by crime, including those emerging from conflicts or economies in transition, to help them set up more efficient and fair justice systems. Projects in 13 countries or regions were supported by a budget totalling over $4 million, of which $2.5 million came from the United Nations Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Fund, and $1.5 million from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
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Over the past year, the Centre has also been tightening its cooperation with the United Nations International Drug Control Programme (UNDCP) and forging stronger ties with other United Nations bodies, organizations and institutes, such as the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute, which now serves as its research arm. It has also developed relationships with the European Institute for Crime Prevention and Control, the African Institute for the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders, the Latin American Institute for the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders, and other bodies both within and outside the United Nations system.
Global Crime Prevention Programmes
The Centre for International Crime Prevention launched three global programmes in March 1999 -- directed against corruption, trafficking in human beings and organized crime.
The first project, the Global Programme against Corruption, prepared jointly with the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute, will include a global study of corruption and a technical cooperation component. A crucial outcome of the global study will be an international database -- available to all member states -- recording the study's results, best anti-corruption practices and international instruments against corruption. Technical cooperation will be aimed at helping nations to boost national measures against corruption, as well as training policy makers, law officials and members of the financial world. The programme should last about three years at an estimated cost of $6.5 million.
The Centre for International Crime Prevention and the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute will also undertake a Global Programme against Trafficking in Human Beings, which is expected to last three years and cost about $6.5 million. This project will focus on the growing links between organized criminal groups and human trafficking. It will also promote national and international "coalitions" among law enforcement agencies, immigration authorities, victim assistance groups and other specialized bodies in combating these practices.
The third programme, Global Studies on Organized Crime, will assess organized criminal groups worldwide and give member nations, as well as the international community, reliable data and analyses on emerging transnational criminal organizations. The findings of this project, expected to last about five years and cost $4.5 million, will allow the Centre to expand its technical cooperation activities and help countries draw up strategies to combat the problem. One of the outputs of the studies will be a biennial World Drug Report on Organized Crime.
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Tenth Crime Congress
The Centre for International Crime Prevention will be hosting the Tenth Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders under the theme -- Crime and justice, meeting the challenges of the twenty-first century -- in Vienna from 10 to 17 April 2000. Key topics will include promoting the rule of law and strengthening criminal justice systems, international cooperation in combatting transnational organized crime, keeping pace with crime prevention and fairness for offenders as well as victims.
Four workshops will be held on combatting corruption, crimes related to the computer network, community involvement in crime prevention and women in the criminal justice system.
The Congress will adopt a declaration based on the recommendations of member states, including input from regional meetings held over the past few months in Asia and the Pacific, Western Asia, Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean. The declaration will set out an international agenda in crime prevention and criminal justice at the beginning of the new millennium, laying down specific commitments for the future.
Background on Commission
The 40-member Commission was set up by the Economic and Social Council in 1992. It develops and reviews the United Nations Programme on crime prevention and mobilizes support for it among Member States. The Centre for International Crime Prevention acts as the secretariat of the Commission.
Commission Membership
For the upcoming session, the 40 members of the Commission will include Argentina, Austria, Benin, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Côte d'Ivoire, Ecuador, Egypt, Fiji, France, Gambia, Germany, India, Iran, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Lesotho, Malawi, Mexico, Netherlands, Pakistan, Philippines, Poland, Republic of Korea, Romania, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Swaziland, Sweden, Togo, Tunisia, Ukraine, United States, Zambia.
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