STATEMENT OF THE G-77 AND CHINA AT THE SIXTEENTH SESSION OF
THE COMMISSION ON CRIME PREVENTION AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE, 23-27 APRIL 2007 DELIVERED
BY H.E. AMBASSADOR SAYED ELAMIN, PR OF SUDAN
Mr. Chairman,
I have the honour to speak on behalf of the Group of 77 and China. I am pleased
to convey to you our pleasure in seeing you presiding over the 16th Session
of the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice. The Group is confident
of your ability to successfully conduct the activities of this Commission and
I wish to assure you of the Group's support in the task ahead. Let me also extend
the Group's appreciation to the Secretariat for putting together the documents
for this session.
The G-77 and China would like to condemn the terrorist attacks perpetuated
in Algeria and Morocco and expresses its condolences to the governments and
people of both countries, extending the deepest sympathies to the victims and
families of the terrorist blasts. In the same line the Group wishes to express
its condolences to the families of the victims of the shootings at Virginia
Tech University in the USA and denounces this criminal act.
Item 3 Thematic discussions
The G-77 and China attaches great importance to the two topics selected for the
thematic debate for this session of the Commission that is urban crime and combating
sexual exploitation of children.
Since urban crime is universal and constitutes a threat to safety and social
stability, the need to find adequate responses, to develop and implement comprehensive
and integrated strategies is of utmost importance. The G-77 and China expresses
its concern about the increase of violent crimes in cities all over the world,
which has a negative impact on sustainable economic development and the quality
of life.
The Group considers that the prevention of urban crime has to be integrated
as a cross cutting issue into all social and economic policies, public health
and programmes including employment, education, housing and urban planning,
justice system and social services. The prevention of urban crime should play
a key role in the policies of local governments, guided and supported by strong
national government commitment and leadership. There is also a need to counter
the gang related activities and their ties with transnational organized crime.
Mr. Chairman,
The G-77 and China strongly condemns sexual exploitation of children and calls
upon the International community to criminalize and punish sexual exploitation
of children, wherever it occurs, and to fully comply and implement all relevant
international instruments.
The Group looks forward to active participation in the debates and to substantive
outcome of the discussions on the issues of concern to the Group.
Item 4: World crime trends: TOC, corruption and terrorism
Mr. Chairman,
The G-77 and China would like to express its satisfaction as regards to the
promotion and increased number of ratification to the Convention on Transnational
Organized Crime and its three protocols as they constitute a legal framework
for international cooperation in the fight against the scourge of transnational
organized crime.
The Group is of the view that a collective stand of the international community
is required to promote cooperation to combat transnational organized crime more
effectively through close and dynamic international cooperation including the
adoption of concrete measures for mutual legal assistance, extradition, law-enforcement,
technical assistance and training.
Mr. Chairman,
The Group of 77 and China welcomes the holding of the first session of the
Conference of the States Parties (COSP) to the Convention against Corruption,
which was hosted by the Government of Jordan from 10 to 14 December 2006. The
Group believes that this first session has successfully laid the foundations
for future work in the fight against corruption, particularly on the major issues
of technical assistance, asset recovery, and the review of implementation.
The Group looks forward to the outcome of the upcoming meetings of the open-ended
working groups established by the Conference of State Parties and requests the
UNODC to assist them in the performance of their respective functions, including
by providing required services and sharing relevant information.
The Group also looks forward to the second session of the COSP, to be held in
Bali, Indonesia in the beginning of 2008 and hopes that it will further promote
the effective implementation of the Convention.
Mr. Chairman,
The Group underscores the central role of the United Nations in the fight against
terrorism. In this context, the Group appreciates the activities of the Terrorism
Prevention Branch in providing legal expertise and technical assistance, upon
request, to Member States with a view to assist them to accede to the relevant
United Nations conventions and protocols against terrorism. The Group also welcomes
the information provided by the Secretariat on the activities of TPB as contained
in the document E/CN.15/2007/9 and looks forward to similar information for
the future sessions of the Commission as well.
Item 5: Standards and norms
Mr. Chairman,
The G-77 and China notes the report of the Secretary General on 'UN standards
and norms in crime prevention and criminal justice' and considers that there
are still major challenges in formulating effective crime prevention policies.
The Group of 77 welcomes the report of the Secretariat on Strengthening the
Ethical Conduct of Judges and the implementation of ECOSOC Resolution 2006_23 on the Bangalore Principles of Judicial Conduct. The Group urges UNODC
to finalize the work on the Commentary on the principles as soon as possible,
and publish and disseminate to Member States in all UN languages.
Item 6 and 7: UNODC Policy directives, strengthening of the Crime programme,
budgetary and administrative issues
Mr. Chairman,
On the issue of the functioning of the Commission and its revitalization, the
Group of 77 and China welcomes the adoption of General Assembly Resolution 61/252
that grants budgetary authority to the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal
Justice.
The Group of 77 and China also welcomes the Medium Term Strategy of the UNODC
for the period 2008-2011, and reiterates its appreciation to the Chairpersons
of the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice and the Commission
on Narcotic Drugs for the extensive consultations they held within the framework
of the open-ended informal Group of Friends. This strategy should be reflected
in the Strategic Framework and implemented through the two Consolidated biennial
budgets for the periods 2008/2009 and 2010/2011. These biennial budgets should
provide the core resources for the UNODC to carry out its functions and to enable
the implementation of the respective mandates and policies set by Member States.
The Group of 77 and China reaffirms its position that resources approved by
the CCPCJ should be commensurate with all the mandated programmes and activities
in order to ensure their full implementation. The Group reiterates that the
continued over-reliance on extra-budgetary resources and in particular earmarking
has led to highly fragmented, unpredictable, constrained funding patterns, and
encouraged duplication and inefficiency. This led to donor priorities rather
than multilateral mandates determining some of the actions of UNODC. In addition
to that, it limits the UNODC ability to make strategic decisions, and undermines
the principles of multilateralism and country ownership.
The Group considers that the inclusion of the phrase "within existing
resources" is in violation of current budgetary practices and procedures,
as well as of General Assembly resolutions 41/213 and 45/248B. Thus, the CCPCJ
should refrain from the inclusion of the phrase "within existing resources"
in its decisions/resolutions.
The Group underlines the importance of conducting Consultations with the host
and concerned Member States before considering the opening or closing of Field
Offices, and that the decision to close any field office should not be based
solely on financial consideration.
Item 8 Follow-up of the Eleventh United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention
and Criminal Justice and the Preparation for the Twelfth Congress
Mr. Chairman,
The Group of 77 and China takes note with satisfaction of the outcome of the
meeting of the Intergovernmental Group of Experts on Lessons Learned from the
United Nations Congresses on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, held in
Bangkok on 15 to 18 August 2006 pursuant to the ECOSOC resolution 2006/26. For
the first time the meeting provided Member States with an opportunity to analyze
the whole processes of organizing the UN Crime Congresses namely preparation,
conduct, and follow-up. The Group is of the view that the checklist for the
implementation of the Bangkok Declaration developed by the Government of Thailand
can be a useful tool for Member States in their reporting on the follow-up to
the Eleventh Congress.
With regard to the Twelfth Congress to be held in 2010, the Group urges UNODC
to intensify its consultations with the concerned Governments with a view to
finalizing the issues of host country and venue.
The Group stresses the importance of providing interpretation in the UN official
languages for all the intergovernmental experts working group meetings in order
to allow active and effective participation of interested Member States and
to facilitate the adoption and the implementation of the outcomes of those working
groups.
The G-77 and China welcomes the Global initiative to fight Human Trafficking,
recently launched by UNODC. However, the Group is concerned about the context
in which the terms "slavery" and "modern slavery" were used.
The Group is of the view that the Initiative should exclusively focus on Human
trafficking.
The Group of 77 and China regrets that while Executive Director conducted consultations
with the NGOs and the private sector on this Global Initiative, no consultations
were conducted with Member States prior to its launching, since the Group does
not consider briefings by the Executive Director as consultations. The Group
believes that the preparatory process of such an Initiative should be Member
States driven.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
