Ninth UN Congress focuses on practical solutions: new convention, code of conduct considered.

Eschewing vague generalities and focusing on specific priorities, the Ninth United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders (29 April-8 May, Cairo) adopted wide-ranging practical measures oriented to finding workable solutions to global crime problems, particularly in four major areas: preventing urban, juvenile and violent crimes: taking action against transnational and organized crime; promoting international cooperation to fight crime; and identifying the role of criminal law in environmental protection.

The gathering also featured an unprecedented two-part plenary debate on corruption, led by a panel of international experts.

"The time has come to move beyond declarations and statements of principle to action", UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali declared in a message delivered by Conference Secretary-General Giorgio Giacomelli to more than 1,700 Congress participants from 138 countries. "Rising crime is impairing the process of development and the general well-being of humanity."

Among 11 resolutions adopted by the Congress was an omnibus text on the four major areas of concern, as well as calls for consideration of a new international convention against organized transnational crimes, action to quell the proliferation of firearms, promote laws and procedures to deal with violence against women, and prohibit child pornography and abuse.

Addressing specifics

While previous Crime Congresses have been characterized by wide-ranging agendas oriented mainly towards technical aspects of improving the treatment of offenders, the General Assembly, in convening the Ninth Crime Congress, had asked that it be geared towards substantive topics identified by Governments as priorities in the field of crime control.

"Responding to a need for a more practical orientation, this Congress is expected to take a more practical and visible role: identifying new concerns and recommending practical measures to respond to those concerns", Mr. Giacomelli told participants on 29 April.

To reflect this focus, the Congress assumed a new format including the traditional plenary forum for debate, as well as technical workshops on specific issues.

Much of the work of the Congress was done in more informal workshops, where national strategies to combat specific kinds of crime were discussed, and recommendations made to improve international response. Workshops were held on: extradition and international cooperation; computerization of records; the mass media and its role in crime prevention; criminal law and environmental protection; urban policy; and the prevention of violence and violent crime.

The two main committees of the Congress also took a practical approach in their discussions of specific topics, such as reform and modernization of justice systems, prevention of urban and juvenile crime, and issues relating to victims.

In addition to discussing measures to combat corruption, plenary debate included general discussion of national and international experiences in crime prevention and criminal justice.

Background

UN Crime Congresses have been held every five years since 1955, continuing an international effort that can be traced back to the First Penal and Penitentiary Congress, held in Frankfurt, Germany, in 1846.

The eight previous Congresses took place at Geneva (1955 and 1975), London (1960), Stockholm (1965), Kyoto (1970), Caracas (1980), Milan (1985) and Havana (1990).

The Congresses have served as the primary global forum for developing criminal justice policies and coordinating international action. They have produced important international instruments, guidelines and standards on various crime prevention and criminal justice issues.

The Ninth Congress is the first such gathering since the 1991 review of the UN Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Programme by an intergovernmental ministerial summit, held in Versailles, and the subsequent establishment of the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice as a new functional body of the Economic and Social Council to mobilize the international community through a revitalized UN Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Programme.

The new Commission - an intergovernmental body composed of 40 Member States - was charged with the preparatory work for this and subsequent Congresses. Recommendations of the Congress were submitted to the Commission at its 1995 session in Vienna, held from 30 May to 9 June (see box).

Preparations for the Ninth Crime Congress - the first to be held on the African continent and in the Arab world - included regional meetings held in Bangkok, Kampala, Vienna, Amman and San Jose in 1994.

The Congress' effort to address the issues of organized crime benefited from the outcome of two 1994 meetings: the international Conference on Preventing and Controlling Money Laundering and the Use of the Proceeds of Crime, held in Courmayeur, Italy, from 17 to 21 June; and the World Ministerial Conference on Organized Transnational Crime, which took place in Naples, Italy, from 21 to 23 November.

Organized crime

The Ninth Crime Congress unequivocally condemned organized crime and terrorist crime, characterizing them as "crimes which may aim at the destruction of human rights, fundamental freedoms and democracy, threaten the territorial integrity and security of States, destabilize legally constituted Governments, undermine pluralist civil society and have adverse consequences on the economic and social development of States".

Expressing recognition of the similarities between terrorist crime and organized crime, as reflected in their transnational nature and illicit methods, with their use of physical force, plundering of property, extortion, kidnapping, forgery, illicit trafficking in arms and drugs, and money laundering, the Congress invited the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice to establish an open-ended inter-governmental working group to draft a code of conduct for combating transnational organized crime, keeping in mind the danger of its link to terrorism.

By another resolution, the Congress invited the Commission to request the views of Governments on elaboration of international instruments, such as a convention against organized transnational crime, thereby initiating the process called for by the 1994 World Ministerial Conference. Issues and elements that such a convention might cover, according to the Congress, could include problems and dangers posed by organized crime, international cooperation at the investigative, prosecutorial and judicial levels, and prevention and control of money laundering.

Omnibus text

Action against transnational and organized crime was also among the recommendations contained in an omnibus resolution on four substantive topics of the Congress. By that text, Member States were urged to: facilitate transnational criminal investigations by extending legal assistance to each other; cooperate with one another regarding extradition, taking into account the rights of the accused and also the interests of victims; consider establishing multi-disciplinary units specializing in the investigation of economic crime and help identify major commercial networks influenced by transnational criminal organizations; and cooperate in identifying specific measures against corruption, bribery and the abuse of power.

Expressing awareness that crime has become a major problem with national and international dimensions, hampering political, economic, social and cultural development, the four-part omnibus resolution urges Member States, among other measures, to:

* Consider enacting environmental protection legislation, as well as penal provisions to protect the environment, endangered species and cultural property, and to consider creating special bodies to protect the environment, such as special prosecutors or investigative bodies. * Intensify efforts aimed at more consolidated cooperation and coordination in crime prevention and criminal justice, in order to establish integrated regional policies and plans; * Enhance the professional calibre of staff in all sectors concerned with crime prevention and criminal justice, and to consider adopting the community policing approach as a method of delivering police services, with a view to reducing the social distance between law enforcement officials and the public they serve; and * Develop education, social and other programmes based on mutual respect and tolerance, in order to lower the level of violence in society, with special emphasis on the importance of conflict prevention and management.

Furthermore, the Commission was asked to encourage the Secretary-General, as a way of strengthening the rule of law, to recommend upon request the inclusion of the re-establishment and reform of criminal justice systems in peace-keeping operations.

Victims, perpetrators

In a text on children as victims and perpetrators of crime, the Congress requested the views of States on an international convention on the illicit traffic in children, and urged States to adopt measures to prohibit child pornography and traditional practices prejudicial to children's health, such as female genital mutilation.

The Congress also recommended that States ensure that the administration of justice allow child offenders to take responsibility for their actions. States were called on to explore measures to comply with the principle that the deprivation of children's liberty should only be used as a last resort.

By a strong resolution that enjoyed considerable support among participants, the Congress urged States to adopt laws against acts of violence that may victimize women, and against rape, sexual abuse and all practices harmful to females, including genital mutilation.

States were urged to take special account of women's vulnerability to violence, including murder, torture, systematic rape and sexual slavery, in situations of armed conflict. Legal measures prohibiting harassment, intimidation or threats to women or their families were also recommended.

Regarding firearms regulation for increasing public safety, the Congress called for effective action against trafficking in firearms, through mutual cooperation, exchange of information and coordination of law enforcement activities. The Crime Prevention Commission was asked to consider urgent measures to regulate firearms, and States were asked to promote adequate regulation to protect public health and safety and reduce violent criminality.

The Congress also urged the Commission to consider convening an international expert group meeting to examine practical recommendations for the further development of mechanisms of international cooperation and model instruments on extradition and related forms of international cooperation in criminal matters.

The Congress called for further development of the UN Crime and justice information Network and welcomed Egypt's offer to establish in Cairo a regional centre for training and research in crime prevention and criminal justice for the Mediterranean States.

Forty-eight non-governmental organizations (NGOs) played an active role in the Congress. Among the 23 ancillary workshops coordinated by the Alliance of NGOs on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice was a comprehensive investigation of the relation between crime and migration, which detailed transnational crime syndicate involvement in trafficking illegal aliens and identified factors that tend to make legal and illegal migrants both victims and perpetrators of crime.

Crime Commission acts on

Congress proposals

Calling for the UN to begin work on two new legal instruments, the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice concluded its two-week session (30 May-9 June, Vienna) by urging implementation of a broad range of activities recommended by the Ninth UN Crime Congress.

Under one of eight resolutions approved by the Commission on 9 June, the Economic and Social Council would call for convening, at the Commission's 1996 session, a working group to consider ways to combat transnational organized crime, including the possibility of drafting of a code of conduct or a legally-binding treaty.

By another text, the UN Secretary-General would be asked to begin seeking Member States' views on the elaboration of an international convention against such practices as child pornography, prostitution, black market adoption and the procurement of children for illicit organ transplants.

The Commission urged the General Assembly to endorse all the resolutions adopted by the Congress and invite Governments to incorporate their provisions into laws and policies. it also recommended implementation of the final documents of the World Ministerial Conference on Organized Transnational Crime, held in Naples last November, and urged States to develop strategies to prevent and punish corruption in public officials.

Under a work plan on firearms, recommended for Council approval, the UN Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Branch would begin collecting information on such subjects as: the involvement of guns in crimes, accidents and suicides; the illicit traffic in firearms; and national, regional and interregional initiatives to regulate them.

In other action, the Commission called on States and funding agencies to strengthen their support for UN crime control advisory services and training programmes; recommended setting up a regional data base on international crime control training in Central and Eastern Europe; called for concerted action to combat the smuggling of illegal migrants across national borders; and adopted a set of management guidelines for urban crime prevention projects.

It would have the Council ask the Secretary-General to take steps to expand global knowledge and application of UN standards in the crime control field, and also seek more comments from States on a set of draft minimum rules for the administration of criminal justice.