Vienna Chapter
Mr. Chairman,
Allow me first to express on behalf of the Group of 77 and China our
congratulations to you and the other members of the Bureau on your
election, and to assure you of our full support toward the successful
conclusion of our work. I also would like to take this opportunity to
commend the Secretariat for its preparations for this session, and to
thank the Acting Executive Director for his informative report. On behalf
of the Group of 77 and China, I wish to congratulate Mr. Antonio Maria
Costa on his appointment as Director-General of UNOV and Executive
Director of ODCCP, and to convey to him our support of his assignment.
Mr. Chairman,
The Group has taken note of the significant developments in relation
to crime prevention and criminal justice since the adoption in April 2000
of the Vienna Declaration on Crime and Criminal Justice: Meeting the
Challenges of the Twenty-First Century by the 10th UN Congress on the
Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders. Some of these
achievements were the adoption of the Convention on Transnational
Organized Crime and 3 Protocols thereto, and the beginning of negotiation
on the draft Convention against Corruption. These positive steps were made
due to the commitment of the international community. However, in facing
the ever-increasing and continuous expansion of the modus operandi of
criminals in line with the advancement of technology, further efforts
should be pursued in order to address criminal cases, particularly those
of a transnational nature.
We have plans of action that can serve as guides to Member States in
formulating legislation, policies and programmes in the field of crime
prevention and criminal justice, but those plans can only be implemented
effectively if supported by capable human resources and appropriate
institutions. In this regard, programmes and activities in international
cooperation, technical assistance, mutual legal assistance, transfer of
know-how and technology as well as training, should continually be
enhanced and fully supported. The Group wishes to see more elements in the
plans of action for the above-mentioned activities to be embodied soon in
the ongoing work of the CICP.
Mr. Chairman,
Organized criminal and terrorist groups threaten human security on a
large scale throughout the world, targeting civilized society and the very
foundations of democracy and law, thereby jeopardizing efforts to promote
human prosperity. These activities also corrupt public officials, and the
international community should therefore urgently address this issue with
a view to finding lasting solutions.
On the issue of international cooperation in combating transnational
crime, the Group wishes to call upon Member States to provide the
necessary resources to the United Nations Crime Prevention and Criminal
Justice Fund, to enable the provision of technical assistance to
developing countries in ratifying and implementing the Convention and the
protocols thereto. The Group wishes to encourage all regional and
sub-regional activities aimed at addressing the problems covered by these
international legal instruments, and commends those who have completed or
initiated their ratification.
On the issue of terrorism, the Group supports efforts to strengthen
international cooperation in combating terrorism. It wishes to stress the
importance of finding a long-term and comprehensive strategy to prevent
and eradicate terrorism. The Group underscores the central role of the UN
in the fight against terrorism and supports the ongoing negotiation in New
York on the draft UN Comprehensive Convention on Terrorism, in conformity
with the UN Charter and relevant UN resolutions, in order to achieve
universal acceptance. In this connection, it is also pertinent to
strengthen the work of CICP, in particular the Terrorism Prevention
Branch, by formulating clear objectives and providing new and additional
resources that will enable it to fulfill its mandate in terms of technical
assistance and international cooperation, including the facilitation of
ratification and implementation of the existing United Nations Conventions
against terrorism.
Mr. Chairman,
With regard to the issue of corruption, the Group would like to
commend the work of the Secretariat in convening the first meeting of the
Ad-Hoc Committee on the Elaboration of a Convention against Corruption,
which was held in Vienna from 21st January to 1st February 2002. We
welcome the proposal made by the delegation of Peru to organize a seminar
to deal with the problems of repatriation of assets of illicit origin. The
seminar will be held in Vienna on 21st June, during the second session of
the Ad Hoc Committee, and will contribute to the work of the delegations
in this issue.
We are also encouraged by the constructive contributions made by
member countries to improve the draft text of the Convention. The Group
remains fully committed to the elaboration of an international legal
instrument against corruption, and reiterates its recommendation that this
instrument include effective and pragmatic measures to enable the
repatriation of assets, including funds of illicit origin to the countries
of origin. The Group would also like to highlight the importance of the
role played by technical cooperation in assisting developing countries to
combat corruption, such as the work of the Global Programme Against
Corruption.
Mr. Chairman,
The Group commends the valuable work of the Centre for International
Crime Prevention, which plays an important role in providing Member States
with technical cooperation, advisory services and other forms of
assistance in the field of crime prevention and criminal justice,
including the vital areas of prevention and control of transnational
organized crime and terrorism. In the interest of efficiency, the Group
emphasizes the need for better coordination between the CICP and UNDCP in
areas where the mandates of the two are overlaping. This is to ensure
coherence of action throughout the United Nations system in responding to
the needs of the international community in the face of transnational
criminality, and in assisting Member States achieve the goals of
preventing crime within and among States and improving the response to
crime. However, in strengthening its overall structure, necessary care
should be taken to avoid jeopardizing programmes that are essential to
assisting developing countries. The Group wishes to call for more
transparency in the management of programmes and budget of the
organization and requests the Secretariat to provide a detailed report.
The Group, while recognizing that transnational organized crime,
corruption and illicit trafficking are the priority areas for the
activities of the CICP, deems it imperative to continue addressing
criminal justice reform. In this context, we welcome the thematic debate
on the reform of criminal justice system, and hope that all its
conclusions would be implemented.
Mr. Chairman,
The Group welcomes the convening of the Eleventh Congress on Crime
Prevention and Criminal Justice in the year 2005 and fully endorses
Thailand as a venue of the Congress. We believe the Congress to be an
auspicious opportunity for the international community to establish an
interconnection of constructive cooperation in relation to, among others,
the implementation of the Convention against Transnational Organized Crime
and Convention against Corruption, which are expected to be adopted and to
enter into force in the foreseeable future. Political commitment and
international partnership could be highlighted in the discussion to combat
"crimes without frontiers." It is the Group's fervent hope that
the Eleventh Congress can translate the international obligations to the
Conventions into a strategic alliance that will effectively address the
peripheral aspects, as well as root causes, of transnational organized
crime and corruption.
Mr. Chairman,
On the subject of the growing problem of high-technology and
computer-related crime, contained in document (E/CN.15/2001/4), the Group
welcomes recent efforts to address this problem, including a study on
effective measures that could be taken at the national and international
levels to prevent and control computer-related crime. We appreciate the
contents of the report and the efforts of the Commission in the
preparation of a plan of action against high-technology and
computer-related crime. We also take note of the report of the
Secretary-General on effective measures to prevent and control
computer-related crime (E/CN.15/2002/8). Furthermore, the Group calls upon
advanced-technology countries to provide effective and appropriate
technical cooperation, assistance projects, and financial support in the
form of, among others, transfer of know-how and computer-based technology
to developing countries, in order to make them more resilient in
protecting themselves from high-technology and computer related crime, as
well as to increase their readiness in combating such crime.
Finally, the Group of 77 and China will continue to provide its
active support to achieve the goals of the Commission and will work
untiringly with all members and the Secretariat to that end.
Thank you.
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