Vienna Chapter
Mr. Chairman,
Permit me to express on behalf of the Group of 77 and China my
congratulations to you on your election, as well as to other members of
the Bureau to direct the proceedings of the 13th session of the Commission
on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice. The Group would like to take
this opportunity to express its deep sense of grief on the sad demise of
H.E. Ambassador Tirivafi John Kangai, PR of Zimbabwe who chaired the 11th
session of the Commission and wishes to convey its sympathy to the
bereaved family.
Mr. Chairman,
The 13th session of the Commission has important items on its agenda
and the Group would make its views known when these are discussed.
However, the Group is concerned about the delay in the issuance of working
documents.
The G-77 and China appreciates the relevance of the topic selected for
the thematic debate for this year's session of the Commission. Rule of law
and development are interconnected. New and traditional forms of crime,
transnational organized crime and terrorism undermine sustainable
development. On the other hand, lack of progress towards development
contributes to institutional degeneration and unrest in the civil society.
This situation undermines governments' capacity to effectively combat
various forms of crime.
Simultaneous progress towards rule of law and sustainable development
objectives necessitates a balanced approach, which focuses on both areas.
The G-77 and China remains committed to the rule of law. The strengthening
of rule of law, which includes the reform of criminal justice systems and
building of institutional capacities to prevent and combat crime, requires
international assistance. The Group is of the view that international
cooperation in extradition and mutual legal assistance are essential to
ensure the efficiency of rule of law. However, at the same time emphasis
must be placed on global efforts towards development. Only a balanced
approach will ensure the achievement of the objectives of the rule of law
and development.
Furthermore, the Group expresses special interest in the sub-themes
of the thematic debate related to the provision of technical cooperation
in the prevention of urban delinquency, particularly in the child-youth
groups and the best practices in restorative justice as adequate
mechanisms in the strengthening of criminal justice.
The G-77 and China commends the useful work of the UNODC, in providing
to Member States technical cooperation, advisory services and other forms
of assistance in the field of crime prevention and criminal justice,
including in the key areas of prevention and control of transnational
organized crime, corruption and terrorism. The Group expects that the
recent consolidation of drug and crime programmes at the UNODC would
further enhance its work and bring about cost-effectiveness and efficiency
in service delivery.
The Group attaches great importance to the commitments made in the
Vienna Declaration, which acknowledged that comprehensive crime prevention
strategies must address the root causes and risk factors related to crime,
and emphasizes that effective actions for criminal justice requires the
involvement of governments, national, inter-regional and international
institutions. The Group is concerned about the lack of follow-up to the
Action Plans for the implementation of the Vienna Declaration and requests
the Secretariat to take concrete steps towards its implementation. In
particular, the Group underlines the importance of improved mechanisms for
enhancing prevention, law enforcement and institutional capacities of
States against urban criminality, which is a high priority for the G-77
and China. The Group further stresses the need for adequate follow - up of
the Vienna Declaration and the allocation of adequate resources. The Group
requests that the follow-up of the Action Plans for the implementation of
the Vienna Declaration will be a separate agenda item in the future
sessions of the Commission.
The G-77 and China welcomes the entry into force of the TOC Convention
and two of its protocols, which has now made it possible for the first
Conference of the Parties to the Convention to be convened in June 2004.
It is in this context that the Group emphasizes that technical assistance
for the implementation of the Convention and its protocols should be
provided to the developing countries.
Similarly, the G-77 and China welcomes the signing in Merida, Mexico
of the United Nations Convention against corruption and underscores the
need for the speedy entry into force of this instrument as well as
initiation of the follow-up mechanism. In this regard, most members of the
Group require specialized assistance and advice in order to expedite
national legislative review and ratification process. The Group commends
the efforts of the UNODC for initiating regional workshops to promote the
entering into force of the Convention. There is a need to pursue technical
assistance activities in relation to the Convention against Corruption
with the same vigor which marked the ODC endeavors to promote the
ratification and implementation of the TOC Convention.
Mr. Chairman,
As regards kidnapping, the G-77 and China strongly condemns and
rejects this practice, in any circumstances and for any purpose, in all
its forms and manifestation. The Group urges all Member States to
implement ECOSOC resolution 2003/28 entitled "International
Cooperation in the prevention, combating and elimination of kidnapping and
in providing assistance to victims".
Mr. Chairman,
Concerning money laundering, the G-77 and China regards it as a
thread that runs through the whole fabric of criminal activity. Fighting
crime in all its forms entails action against proceeds derived from
criminal activities, which are used in expanding crime networks. In this
connection, the Group commends the activities of UNODC under the global
programme against money laundering and also stresses the need to further
develop an universal regime against money laundering, under the aegis of
the United Nations.
Mr. Chairman,
The G-77 and China has always stressed the importance of
international cooperation in the fight against organized crime and
terrorism in the light of Security Council resolution 1373. The
International community also has a common agreement on a model treaty for
extradition and mutual legal assistance.
The Group would also like to recall that the General Assembly
resolution 58/135 of 22nd December 2003 had requested UNODC to undertake a
study on the functioning of extradition and mutual legal assistance
through existing mechanisms. This mandate has also been reflected in the
annotations to the provisional agenda item 5a of this session. However,
there is no mention of such a study in any of the documents circulated so
far by the Secretariat. The Group expects that such a study has been
undertaken and that the findings would be presented to the Commission
before the end of this session. As this study shall provide very useful
inputs in the discussions in the Commission on the agenda items related to
International Cooperation.
The G-77 and China is of the view that an open-ended Expert Group
should be established to examine the feasibility of an international
convention for facilitating international cooperation in these areas.
Mr. Chairman,
The G-77 and China condemns terrorism in all its forms and
manifestations. In this regard, the Group wishes to underscore the need
for enhanced international cooperation in combating terrorism, according
to Security Council Resolution 1373, as no single state could effectively
address this phenomenon on its own. The Group welcomes the increased
coordination between the United Nations Counter Terrorism Committee (CTC)
and UNODC Terrorism Prevention Branch under the Global Programme Against
Terrorism, as evidenced in the meeting that took place in Vienna from 11
to 12 March 2004, with the collaboration of OSCE. The Group believes that
a broad and sustained strategy to combat terrorism must include increased
Inter-Agency Cooperation and capacity building, both at the national,
regional and international levels. Sufficient training and other forms of
technical assistance, transfer of technology and also more adequate donor
assistance to developing countries are needed to facilitate implementation
of international instruments relating to terrorism. In this context, we
urge the Terrorism Prevention branch of the UNODC to continue to provide
all necessary assistance and provision of expertise needed to strengthen
the rule of law and to build national capacities to implement the
Conventions and Protocols relevant to terrorism.
The Group considers that the organization of a senior level
discussion during this Commission constitutes an opportunity to assess the
progress made with regard to criminal justice aspects of terrorism and
international cooperation and to the universal conventions and protocols
related to terrorism, exchange information on the nature of the links
between terrorism and other forms of crime, so as to increase the
synergies among International Organizations in the delivery of technical
cooperation.
The Group appreciates the work of UNODC in evolution of standards and
norms for different aspects of criminal justice system. However, we would
also like to point out that the application of standards and norms depends
on various factors related to socio-cultural background, legal systems,
and stages of development. It is necessary to provide Technical and
financial assistance for application of these standards and norms to
developing countries. The Group stresses the importance of the
participation of developing countries in the set up of standards and
norms.
The G-77 and China expresses its appreciation for the work undertaken
by the Intergovernmental Expert Group on United Nations Standards and
Norms in Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice. The Group also expresses
its appreciation to the Government of Canada for its financial support for
the organization of the meeting and which enabled the participation of
some members of the Group.
The Group welcomes the report of the Intergovernmental Expert Group.
We would also like to recall that in accordance to high priority attached
to International cooperation by the Group, ECOSOC resolution 2003/30 had
included standards and norms related to international cooperation in the
first two clusters on which a report to the commission was requested from
the Secretary-General. However, we note that the Expert Group convened by
the Secretariat only considered the information gathering instruments in
respect to standards and norms in the first cluster related to persons in
custody. We expect that similar exercise shall be carried out in respect
to standards and norms in the second cluster related to International
Cooperation.
The G-77 and China would like to express its gratitude to the Government of Thailand for the arrangements being put in place for the Eleventh United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice and for regularly briefing members of the Commission on these arrangements. The Group would also like to express its appreciation to the UNODC for the efficient manner it has arranged the regional preparatory meetings to examine the substantive items on the agenda and workshop topics of the Eleventh Congress. The Group expresses the hope that the outcomes of the regional preparatory meetings would serve as useful basis for deliberations and recommendations of the Eleventh Congress.
Mr. Chairman,
With the recent consolidation of drug and crime programmes at the
UNODC, the G-77 and China believes that there is a need for the alignment
of the works the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice with
that of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs. Similarly, the Group is of the
view that there is a need for streamlining the work of the Commission with
that of the Conference of the Parties to the TOC Convention in order to
avoid duplications. The Group expresses its support for the proposed
strategic framework for the biennium 2006-2007 programme on drugs and
crime.
On the functioning of the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal
Justice, the Group also believes that the Commission could function
efficiently with less number of days than it has for the present session.
In this regard, the Group is in favor of a shorter duration for the future
sessions of the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice and
recommends that this should start at its 14th session.
I thank you Mr. Chairman.
|
|
|
|
| First
Page
Vienna Chapter |
G-77 Homepage |