Member states urged to ratify conventions
April 30, 2008 -- The Seventh Meeting of Ministers of Justice or Ministers or Attorneys
General of the Americas (REMJA VII) opened April 29 in Washington,
with Organization of American States Secretary General José Miguel
Insulza and United States Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey calling
for stronger hemispheric cooperation mechanisms to combat transnational
organized crime.
According to the OAS Secretary General, one
specific and substantive way to activate crime-fighting mechanisms is
by signing and ratifying the pertinent international legal instruments.
Insulza
urged member states that have not yet done so to sign and ratify
inter-American conventions against corruption and on mutual legal
assistance in criminal matters, as well as United Nations conventions
against transnational organized crime and corruption. “This is
indispensable to getting our states to be more committed to tackling
these grave problems together,” Insulza declared.
“We ought to
also concentrate our efforts on encouraging our member states to adopt
laws and other measures needed to implement these conventions so as to
facilitate and ensure they are enforced, and to cooperate more
effectively and more efficiently on such matters as mutual assistance,
extradition and seizure or confiscation of funds,” Secretary General
Insulza remarked.
The OAS chief also urged the Ministers and
Attorneys General to enthusiastically engage their invaluable
experience and expertise as they consider the agenda items for this
REMJA VII. Insulza went on to state: “I am sure that we will thus be
able to strengthen hemispheric cooperation in areas that are vital to
consolidating our democracies and to the well-being of our citizens.”
The
U.S. attorney General, meanwhile, suggested six main topics for the
meeting to consider: transnational crime trends in the region;
challenges posed by money laundering as well as drug and arms
trafficking and methods employed to combat them; experience with
existing mechanisms for extradition and mutual legal assistance;
current legislation to grant extradition; and steps to modernize laws
covering money laundering and banking secrecy.
Mukasey said “one
of the most significant trends we have seen in the United States is the
rise of international organized crime. International organized crime
poses a greater challenge to law enforcement than did the traditional
Mafia, in many respects. And the geographical source of the threat is
not the only difference. The degree of sophistication is also markedly
different.”
The U.S. Attorney General noted that transnational
organized crime has proven to be remarkably adaptable to changing
conditions, the result being that challenges posed by the new breed of
organized criminals are quite different from the challenge a generation
or two ago. Mukasey explained: “They are more sophisticated, they are
richer, have greater influence over government and political
institutions worldwide, and they are savvier about using the latest
technology, first to perpetrate and then cover up their crimes.”
In
order to tackle these new challenges, Mukasey pointed out, a
high-priority list of people and organizations that pose the greatest
threat must be drawn up, and resources focused then on them. “We have
to develop aggressive strategies for dismantling entire criminal
organizations and removing their leadership,” he asserted, noting this
calls for closer and stronger collaboration at the hemispheric level.
The
Justice Ministers and Attorneys General wrap up their meeting at OAS
headquarters Wednesday afternoon, after adopting the “Washington
Document” on the REMJA process. They will also present the final
recommendations from their meeting.
Meetings of Ministers of
Justice of the Americas have become the premier hemispheric forum for
discussing issues related to justice as well as legal and judicial
cooperation. It is also the forum where support is provided for
processes related to justice reform, cooperation and other mechanisms
for information exchange, training, and technical assistance.