ILLEGAL DRUG TRAFFIC AN URGENT GLOBAL PROBLEM, SAY THIRD COMMITTEE SPEAKERS

Press Release
GA/SHC/3528

ILLEGAL DRUG TRAFFIC AN URGENT GLOBAL PROBLEM, SAY THIRD COMMITTEE SPEAKERS

Understanding that the problem of illicit drugs had both a consumer and supplier component, international cooperation was required to control it and other crimes associated with it, the representative of Algeria told the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) as it met this afternoon to continue its consideration of issues related to crime prevention, criminal justice and international drug control.

Drugs were transited from his country to major consumer countries, he continued. Africa had been increasing used as an illicit drug trade route. It was of paramount urgency that the United Nations International Drug Control Programme (UNDCP) make Africa a priority and that funds be made available for combating drugs in that continent.

The representative of Kazakhstan said that a matter of particular concern was the trafficking of illegal drugs. The illegal structures moved more quickly than legal structures and the problem could not be confined to any one part of the world. Shared responsibility for coping with illegal drugs at the world level was essential.

No single Government could successfully combat the problem of drugs by itself, the representative of Iran said. His country was used as a drug route from Afghanistan to the countries of the European Union. International cooperation was essential and multilateral mechanisms needed to be strengthened.

There was a dangerous connection between money laundering and illicit drugs, the representative of Senegal said. Control of illicit drugs was important for the stability of the rule of law as well as to fight the scourge of AIDS, violence and urban insecurity. The internationalization of the drug trade required global action.

The representative of Cuba agreed that illicit drug trafficking had received a major boost by the accelerated globalization process and by a guaranteed demand for it.

Drug trafficking sought to criminalize the peasants in their production process, the representative of Peru said. It allied itself with terrorism

Third Committee - 1a - Press Release GA/SHC/3528 14th Meeting (PM) 15 October 1999

and declared war on society as a whole. It involved the international financial system in laundering its profits.

Statements were also made by the representatives of Austria, Israel, India and Jordan.

Also, two draft resolutions were introduced this afternoon. The first, introduced by the representative of Mongolia concerned “A United Nations literacy decade: Education for All”. The second draft, introduced by the representative of Benin, concerned “ The Follow-up to the International Year of the Family”. Oral amendments were made to that draft.

The Committee will meet again at 3 p.m. on Monday, 18 October, to continue its consideration of issues related to crime prevention, criminal justice and international drug control.

Committee Work Programme

The Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural), met this afternoon to continue considering questions related to crime prevention, criminal justice and international drug control. (For background information, see press release GA/SHC/3527 of 15 October, 1999.)

Also this afternoon, the Committee was scheduled to hear the introduction of three draft resolutions related to social development.

By terms of a five-power draft on implementation of the World Programme of Action concerning Disabled Persons: towards a society for all in the twenty-first century (document A/C.3/54/L.9), the Assembly, among other things, would urge Governments to cooperate with the United Nations Statistics Division in the continued development of global statistics and indicators on disability, encouraging them to avail themselves of the Division’s technical assistance function to build national capacities for data collection. It would urge relevant bodies and organizations of the United Nations system to work closely with the United Nations programme on disabled persons in promoting the rights of persons with disabilities by sharing experiences, findings and recommendations. The Assembly would further urge Governments and the United Nations system to give special attention to the rights, needs and welfare of children with disabilities and their families in developing policies and programmes.

The draft is sponsored by Bangladesh, Canada, Japan, Monaco and the Philippines.

By terms of a 16-power draft on United Nations literacy decade: education for all (document A/C.3/54/L.10), the Assembly would appeal to all Governments to step up efforts to eradicate illiteracy and to direct education towards full development of the human personality and to strengthen respect for all human rights and fundamental freedoms. It would also appeal to them to set firm targets and timetables, including gender-specific education targets and programmes to combat illiteracy of women and girls by working in partnership with civil society to reach those targets. It would invite Member States and organizations of the United Nations system and relevant intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to further intensify efforts to effectively implement the World Declaration on Education for all, as well as other commitments and recommendations to promote literacy with a view to better coordinating activities and increasing their contribution to development. The Assembly would also urge national and international economic and financial institutions to lend greater financial and material support to efforts to increase literacy.

Finally, the Assembly would request the Secretary-General, in cooperation with the Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), to submit to the General Assembly at its fifty- fifth session, a proposal for a United Nations literacy decade, with a plan of action for such a decade. It would request him to base those documents on the outcome of the world education forum to be held in April 2000 and to prepare that with a view to proclaiming a United Nations literacy decade for the period 2001-2010.

The draft is sponsored by Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Costa Rica, Ecuador, India, Madagascar, Monaco, Mongolia, Morocco, Myanmar, Pakistan, Republic of Korea and Trinidad and Tobago.

By terms of a three-power draft on “Follow up to the International Year of the Family (document A/C.3/54-L.12), the Assembly would urge Governments to continue to take sustained action at all levels concerning families and to promote the role of families in development. It would invite Governments to develop concrete measures and approaches to address national priorities to deal with family issues. It would recommend all relevant actors to develop strategies and programmes aimed at strengthening the economic and sustainable livelihood of families. It would finally request the Secretary-General to prepare a fourth biennial progress report and to include draft guidelines to explore the appropriate ways and means to observe the tenth anniversary of the International Year of the Family in 2004.

The draft is sponsored by Benin, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Trinidad and Tobago.

Introduction of Draft Resolutions

The representative of Mongolia introduced the draft resolution entitled “A United Nations literacy decade: Education for All” (document A/C.3/54/L.10). The representative announced the following additional sponsors of that draft: Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, Brazil, Chile, Guayana, Israel, Malaysia, Malta, Namibia, the Russian Federation, Thailand, Turkey, the Former Republic of Macedonia, Senegal and the Sudan.

The representative of Benin introduced the draft resolution entitled “Follow up to the International Year of the Family” (document A/C.3/54/L.12). Additional sponsors of that draft were also announced: Cote d’Ivoire, the Philippines, Senegal, Nigeria, Liberia, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Burkina Fasso, Thailand, Ecuador, Ghana and Panama. The representative then introduced oral amendments to the draft resolution.

Operative paragraph three, requesting government action would add a request for studies and applied research on families and a request to give national priority to developing concrete measures and approaches to family issues. Also, in operative paragraph six it would request the Commission on Social Development when adopting its next multi-year programme of work to undertake a comprehensive review of the global situation of families in 2004. The final request, in operative paragraph seven was revised to ask the Secretary-General to report at the fifty- sixth General Assembly session through the Economic and Social Council on appropriate ways and means to observe the tenth anniversary of the family.

Statements

YERZHAN KAZYKHANOV (Kazakhstan) said illegal drugs were of great concern to the human community. Of particular concern was the trafficking of those drugs. The illegal structures moved more quickly than legal structures. The problem could not be confined to any one part of the world. The special session of the General Assembly had marked a new milestone in the international fight against drugs. Of particular importance was the emphasis on shared responsibility for coping with drugs at the world level.

Kazakhstan was tackling the problem at the national and regional levels, he said. At meetings of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), related issues, such as money laundering, were discussed. Interior ministers were involved. It had been very successful. Multilateral agreements had been reached and technical support had been increased by the United Nations International Drug Control Programme (UNDCP). Dozens of drug routes had been closed down.

IRENE FREUDENSCHUSS-REICHL (Austria), associating herself with the statement of Finland speaking on behalf of the European Union, said the special session had set a milestone in the area of drug control by adopting a Political Declaration and other instruments on issues related to illicit drug trafficking. The international community had worked since then at the expert level on concrete implementation of the objectives and targets set last year by elaborating guiding principles to measure implementation. The inter-sessional working group mandated by the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) had met twice this year in Vienna and had made progress in elaborating questionnaires for each of the action plans and measures. The results would be presented to the CND in December.

She said the World Social Summit review conference next year in June to assess the Copenhagen Plus Five process would be a good opportunity to study the linkages between drug control, crime prevention and social development. As an entry point in roads transporting illicit substances, Austria supported continued work on developing a draft convention on transnational organized crime, and it was supporting the participation of least developed countries. In April 2000, the Tenth United Nations Congress on crime prevention would take place in Vienna. It would be a prime occasion to make the Convention and its Protocols operational.

ABDALLAH BAALI (Algeria) said the problem of drugs had been finally understood as a worldwide problem that included both supply and demand. It was necessary to implement measures to cooperate in stopping the trafficking of drugs, in the control of precursors and in money laundering. Effective international cooperation was imperative.

Drugs were transited from his country to major consumer countries, he continued. The abuse of drugs by African young people had greatly increased. It was of paramount urgency that UNDCP made Africa one of its priorities and that more funds were available for combatting drugs in that continent. Africa had been increasingly utilized as a transit land for drugs. His country had taken steps to upset the negative impact of drugs by bringing together all the institutions involved. Also, there were national guidelines on preventive actions. In addition, the media had launched campaigns to make people more aware of the danger in using drugs.

MOHAMMAD HASSAN FADAIFARD (Iran) said that no Government could successfully combat the problem of drugs by itself. International cooperation was essential. Multilateral mechanisms needed to be strengthened. His country was being utilized for transit because it was the shortest land route from the East, mostly Afghanistan, to the European Union. He suggested that the next session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs consider the drug situation in Afghanistan.

There were increasing trends in the non-medical use of drugs through the Internet, mostly in Europe, he said. “Such activities could not be justified with pretenses like the freedom of expression when it conflicts with other essential values, rights and international obligations”, he added. The use of heroin or cannabis for medical use must be decided by science and not by public vote. The growing movements to allow the non-medical use of some drugs needed to end. It was impossible to pursue the global combating of drug abuse with two incompatible approaches.

IBRA DEGUENE KA (Senegal) said there was a dangerous connection between money laundering and illicit drugs. The latter promoted the creation of underground terrorist groups. The traffic of illicit drugs endangered the export crops of many countries. It further undermined their territorial integrity. Drug control was important for the stability of the rule of law and to fight the scourge of AIDS and was related to violence and urban insecurity.

A drug control programme had been adopted in his country which included a legal framework for the use of illicit drugs for medical purposes, he said. In spite of national efforts to combat the problem of illicit drugs, the internationalization of the drug trade needed global action.

SHLOMO GAL (Israel) outlined the steps taken by his country to fight illicit drugs and money laundering. After 10 years of dealing with such problems, much had been learned. Israel’s was a multifaceted approach. In coordination with others, the anti-drug authority in Israel had defined a strategy with new goals focused on children and education. It also emphsized mechanisms for improving law enforcement and regional coordindation to fight activities associated with the illicit drug trade. In order to achieve the objective of reducing both demand and supply, it was necessary to cultivate an atmosphere that discouraged the use of drugs.

Maintaining a constant anti-drug awareness through the media was one way of achieving that, he said. Emphasizing an anti-drug atmosphere did not mean the addict was ignored, however. Treatment was a big part of Israel’s campaign against drugs. Law enforcement efforts and steps for prevention of drug use were most important. Israel cooperated with police forces the world over in their efforts. The Israeli constitution had been altered to enable such cooperation. Assistance in prevention was offered to specially targeted vulnerable groups. Nevertheless, international assistance was needed, including better technical means.

ESWARY BALANANDAN (India) said criminality and globalization were inextricably mixed. Globalized crime would require a completely new orientation in dealing with crime prevention, justice and treatment of offenders. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) was playing a catalytic role in helping countries devise strategies to reduce the illicit cultivation of the opium poppy, coca-bush and cannabis by 2000. That was done by establishing close cooperation with institutions and by judicial cooperation under international conventions and legal instruments.

In certain parts of India’s neighbourhood, there had been a meteoric rise in opium production, he said. According to the Annual Opium Poppy Survey for 1999 of the UNDCP, Afghanistan had contributed 4581 kilos of heroin during the previous year, 97 per cent of that under the control of the Taliban. The farmgate value had been estimated at $183 million; the end user value would be many multiples of that. Accepting reports estimating the cost of a single illicit automatic small arm to be $30, the amount at the farmgate created an arms holding of 6 million pieces of arms. While abuse of drugs was not a big problem in his country, coummunity-based programmes had been undertaken for such problems near India’s borders. Strict measures had been taken to make sure that India would not fall victim the way its neighbours had. Precursors were not allowed over the border, inland trade of psychotrophic chemicals was controlled and regulations had been instituted to track down and punish money laundering.

LUIS ALBERTO AMOROS NUNEZ (Cuba) said drug trade amounted to $400 billion, around 8 per cent of the world’s trade. Furthermore, there were 200 million drug consumers world wide, the highest figure ever. “This extraordinary strengthening of the illicit drug trafficking has received a major boost by the accelerated globalization process and by a guaranteed demand”, he said.

His Government reiterated its condemnation of unilateral actions carried out by “the world’s greatest consuming State which arrogates itself the role of the international referee of good conduct” when it had little results in addressing its share of the problem. The “certifications” not only made illicit drug cooperation more complex but also violated the most elemental norms of coexistence among States. His Government would continue cooperating with the fight against drug trafficking even if United States authorities were not interested in that type of cooperation.

FRANCISCO TUDELA (Peru) said drug trafficking sought to criminalize the peasants in their production process. It also violated safeguards and attacked international security. In addition, it sought to corrupt authorities, murder policemen, soldiers, judges and public officials. Furthermore, it allied itself with terrorism and declared war on society as a whole. Its influence was of such magnitude that it involved the international financial system to launder its profits without differentiating between ordinary or numbered accounts. Drug trafficking did not respect political, economic or security systems. It used the exchange value of drugs on the market to promote an expanded reproduction of capital that had no parallel with other merchandise.

There were 95,000 hectares of coca leaves in his country in 1985. By 1990, that figure had risen to around 125,000 hectares. “After overcoming terrorism and on the basis of a process of internal pacification, we have reduced that figure to around 50,000 hectares”, he said. The best way to end drug trafficking was to break one of the links of the productive chain by taking the peasant away from growing coca leaves and reintroducing him into “the path of legality”, he said.

EIHAB OMEISH (Jordan) said drugs constituted a problem with socio- economic implications. Jordan was not a drug producing or consuming country. Yet the problem still existed in the country, especially among the youth and other vulnerable groups. Jordan provided help for those people and set up treatment centres. Raising awareness was an important part of combating the problem.

In Jordan, the campaign against drugs was carried out primarily through information campaigns, he said. Jordan took part in regional cooperative activities. It would help the UNDCP in the global campaign to stamp out the problem.

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