Media Center

Press Release

HEMISPHERE’S JUSTICE MINISTERS OPEN SEVENTH INTER-AMERICAN MEETING, CALLING FOR STRONGER COOPERATION TO COMBAT ORGANIZED CRIME

The Seventh Meeting of Ministers of Justice or Ministers or Attorneys General of the Americas (REMJA VII)opened this morning 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.

Reference: E-152/08