AS DELIVERED
UNITED NATIONS
Office on Drugs and Crime
Regional Ministerial Conference
on the Convention against
Trans-national Organized Crime
and its Protocols
Opening Statement
by
Antonio Maria Costa
Executive Director
Algiers, Algeria
29-30 October 2002
Mr. President, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen.
I wish to express my gratitude to you, Mr. President and to the Government of Algeria for the extraordinary efforts it has undertaken to make this very important event possible. On behalf also of other participants, I would like to pay tribute especially to your hospitality and generosity.
I believe this meeting in Algiers is sending several important messages to public opinion. First, your participation in this Conference is yet another tangible demonstration of the importance you all are attributing to the fight in favour of order and stability inyour societies. Second, by joining forces with the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, you are confirming to public opinion the crucial role of the UN as a venue for, and the catalyst to, international cooperation.
This meeting is imparting a third message: things are indeed changing in regard to crime, drugs and terrorism. Even just a few years back, who would have thought that the moment would come when a very large number of Ministers, and an even greater number of senior officials and representatives of international organizations would meet in this countrys capital - a city that has suffered so much precisely because of indiscriminate killing of civilians who could have anticipated that so many delegates would meet here to address exactly the question of organized crime and the support is provides to international terrorism?
Crime, drugs and terrorism have links that go beyond any single country.
The context
The opening of markets and the internationalisation of economic activity are creating and spreading wealth and well-being. Globalisation of business can help lift millions of people out of poverty and deprivation. It can fortify development.
Yet the knocking down of frontiers and the elimination of state controls -- both needed to foster development -- can also provide an opportunity for the elements of "uncivil society" to act in ways which are a threat to peace and progress. Greater freedom to move andconduct business can indeed create an environment where "public evils" such as violence and trafficking, and not only "public goods", flow unimpeded within and across borders. At the United Nations, the symbol of international consensus, we have always thought that these criminal activities are neither controllable nor solvable by any one government acting alone. In some other quarters the realisation that collective action is needed has only come recently under the pressure of events.
Organized crime is today a global activity, with a global turnover greater than the national product of most nations. According to some estimates, illegal revenues may be as high as 3 to 4 percent of the total value of goods and services produced by the world economy, perhaps in excess of US $ 1 trillion. The power and destructive potential of these sums are hard to imagine. They become palpable only when, and after, something big something really terrifying happens.
September 11, and more recent events in Russia and Asia have painfully brought home this point. They have provided material evidence as to the lethal fusion of crime, extremism and technology a mixture that has prolonged humanitarian crises in the Balkans, in Africa, in South East Asia and in the Andean region. A mixture, I may add in reference to a recent statement by the Secretary General, that may threaten peace and security.
From the perspective of developing countries this protracting of un-civil behaviours is particularly important: it may render development unsustainable. As I stated when addressing world leaders meeting at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg in early September, the notion of sustainable development is complex. It means sharing the planets resources so as to offer everyone the dignity all human beings deserve. It also means good stewardship of resources, to pass on to future generations a world better than the one we have inherited. But sustainable development, in my view, is based upon the enhancement of human security, including a life in all societies without the fears resulting from criminal and violent behaviors. And I am very proud to say this today, emphatically, in Algiers.
The Convention
I remain optimistic -- optimistic that those who fight against violence and crime shall eventually overcome. Let me provide evidence of the progress we have made, as well as of the long distance we still need to travel before declaring that the war for civilization has been won.
I begin with the question of illicit drugs. Efforts by the international community to control and prevent the spreading of narcotics go back almost a century, to the League of Nations. Indeed it was after WWI that the International Narcotic Board was established. Following WWII and armed with strong determination, the international community rose to the challenge and embarked on a demanding endeavour: to equip the world with strong and effective international instruments to fight against narcotic production, trafficking and abuse (I have in mind the Conventions of 1961, 1971 and 1988). Since then international cooperation on illicit drugs matters has been excellent, with all countries willing to share information and cooperate on an equal footing.
Now I move to the question of organized crime. Here news is good, but not yet as good as it is for narcotics. It was indeed only recently, namely in the late nineties, that the international community found ways and means to assert itself against world mafias. Yes, the agreement on the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (and its three Protocols) was reached in a record time. Yet, it was almost as if in the year 2000 countries felt the need to catch up on earlier missed opportunities. Today we all recognize that the Convention -- and this meeting in Algiers is evidence of this conviction -- will strengthen countries capacity to counter organized crime. At this point, allow me to be provocative and ask: will all countries utilize the multilateral context generated by the Convention, to ensure that there are no safe havens for organized criminal groups? Will all provisions of the Convention be implemented by all nations, so that criminals cannot operate, flee, or hide to enjoy their ill-gotten gains? I hope these questions will be answered in the positive, as the Convention provides a cooperative context. Ratification is urgently needed because international cooperation (especially in law enforcement) is not as strong as we all would like. It is certainly less advanced that what countries have been able to accomplish in regard to narcotic issues.
Now let us take the argument a step further and address the question of terrorism. Clearly the 12 international Conventions agreed upon at the United Nations are playing a key role in forging international consensus. Yet, in many respects the international community is still lagging: for example, the UN Comprehensive Convention is yet to be agreed upon. Furthermore international cooperation (especially in law enforcement) is still in its infancy, with countries preferring to go it alone, with the claim that it is in their national interest. Put otherwise, in the war against international terrorism I still do not see a generalized, forceful commitment to the sort of joint work so prominent (and longstanding) in the war against narcotics, and the sort of joint work now being undertaken in the war against organized crime.
The UN Office on Drugs and Crime
I spend a good deal of my time promoting international cooperation in different, though interrelated domains: narcotics, crime and terrorism. In the context of todays Conference I wish to pay tribute to the ongoing efforts to implement the TOC Convention and its Protocols. The Convention was negotiated in record time, as mentioned earlier. It has also met with overwhelming support: its signatories stand at 143, while 25 States have deposited their instrument of ratification. We have been already notified of half a dozen countries that have ratified the Convention, but not yet deposited the relevant instruments in New York.
This rapid progress gives us reason to believe that the Convention and the first two Protocols will enter into force early next year. It is a special privilege to salute the successful effort by the Government of Algeria to be among the first countries to ratify the Convention.
I wish also to pay tribute to the contribution of African countries to the development of the Convention and its Protocols. African countries participated actively in the negotiation process, bringing to it their invaluable experience and their genuine wish to work together with other countries to meet the common challenge. The commitment of African countries has continued through their signing and being among some of the first countries to ratify the Convention and its Protocols. Today I salute in particular Botswana, Burkina Faso, Mali, Morocco, Namibia and Nigeria for their ratification.
Your presence here, at a very high level, is proof of your continued interest and support for the Convention. I strongly encourage those of you that have not done so, to accelerate and complete the ratification process. Apart from being the culmination and natural conclusion of the process you set in motion with your signature, ratification is the ticket to full participation in the Conference of the Parties to the Convention, the body that is charged with reviewing and promoting the implementation of these instruments. I consider the participation of as many African countries as possible in the Conference of the Parties essential for future cooperation against organized crime in the framework of the new instruments.
The way forward
The entry into force of the Convention and its Protocols marks only the beginning of renewed efforts against transnational organized crime, as one form of uncivil behaviour.
In order to produce results, this common approach must be reflected in the policies developed by States to deal with the problems created by crime, drugs and terrorism, both domestically and internationally. This new emphasis on the fight against uncivil society is necessary to fortify economic development. It is also necessary in order to produce the desired results with a small common denominator of resources, by creating synergies and by keeping the broad picture always in sharp focus.
I wish to refer in particular to the situation of our host country, Algeria, that has experienced some of the most terrifying cases of crime and terrorism in Africas history. News seems to be good, as of late: despite occasional, continued cases of violence, the strong measures undertaken by the government with the support of its people have produced excellent results.
Yet we all know that terrorism is a cancer in society that may attack again. I would like to reassure the Algerian authorities, and especially you Mr. President, that you can count on the help of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime. In earlier meetings with members of your Cabinet we agreed that the lessons learned from similar situations in other countries could provide an additional contribution to domestic efforts. It is the very Charter of the United Nations, with the basic rights enshrined in it, that empowers us to join forces to preserve peace and prosperity there where un-civil society is trying to set in.
Success will hinge not only on the faithful and consistent implementation of internationally accepted best practices: There needs to be a conscious effort to address the problem in its root causes, eradicating terrorism and the conditions that make it flourish in full respect of human rights.
Repression and law enforcement are not the only answer. You are all aware of the maxim that speaks of the value attached to a kilo of prevention to avoid a ton of suffering later. This applies to medicine; it also applies to society at large. This notion indeed is especially valid when it comes to action against terrorism, organized crime and their like.
Through the balance between prevention and law enforcement, the Convention and its Protocols show the way forward for other policies in the field of action against crime, drugs and terrorism.
The challenge for the future remains complex and difficult. However, there are many reasons for optimism. Rarely has an idea matured and acquired the consensus of the international community so quickly, overcoming the scepticism about the tendency to reduce international instruments down to the lowest common denominator. The opportunity to make a quantum leap in the fight against transnational organized violence is now available.
In closing, let me stress that I consider this Convention and its Protocols to be the most significant achievement of the Office on Drugs and Crime in recent years. I will ensure that we continue to provide you with the support you need, nurturing the momentum you have generated, for their full implementation.
Thank you.