U.S. INTERVENTION BY UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE FOR

GLOBAL AFFAIRS

MR. FRANK LOY

GOOD AFTERNOON. I AM PLEASED TO BE HERE TO REPRESENT THE UNITED STATES
AT THIS HISTORIC CONFERENCE. I'D LIKE TO THANK THE GOVERNMENT OF ITALY
FOR THE SPLENDID JOB IT HAS DONE IN PREPARING THIS CONFERENCE. 150
COUNTRIES ARE HERE FOR THE SIGNING OF THE FIRST MULTILATERAL TREATY TO
COMBAT ORGANIZED CRIME. IT IS AN ACCOMPLISHMENT OF SOME MAGNITUDE \--
PERHAPS UNPRECEDENTED \-- FOR THIS MANY COUNTRIES TO ACHIEVE IN SUCH A
SHORT TIME, AND BY CONSENSUS, THREE INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS ON THREE
DISTINCT ISSUES OF CRITICAL IMPORTANCE TO THE WORLD TODAY.

IT HAS BEEN A GOOD WEEK FOR THE UNITED NATIONS AND FOR THE PEOPLE OF THE
WORLD. EARLIER THIS WEEK AGREEMENT WAS REACHED IN JOHANNESBURG ON A
TREATY THAT ADDRESSES THE PROBLEM OF CERTAIN TOXIC CHEMICALS, COMMONLY
CALLED PERSISTENT ORGANIC POLLUTANTS OR "POPS". ABOUT THE SAME NUMBER OF
COUNTRIES PARTICIPATED AS HERE, AND THE TEXT WAS ALSO ADOPTED BY
CONSENSUS.

AND EARLIER THIS YEAR THERE WAS ANOTHER SUCCESSFUL UN NEGOTIATION \--
THE BIOSAFETY PROTOCOL TO THE CONVENTION ON BIODIVERSITY, DEALING WITH
GENETICALLY MODIFIED AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS. THIS WAS ALSO ADOPTED BY
CONSENSUS BY A LARGE NUMBER OF COUNTRIES.

THE SUCCESSFUL CONCLUSION OF THESE THREE AGREEMENTS, ALL UNDER UNITED
NATIONS AUSPICES, ALL BY CONSENSUS, AND ALL INVOLVING A LARGE NUMBER OF
THE COUNTRIES OF THE WORLD, IS HEARTENING NEWS.

SUCH AGREEMENTS ARE HARD TO COME BY, AND THE ACHIEVEMENT WE ARE
CELEBRATING THIS WEEK IN PALERMO SHOULD NOT BE TAKEN FOR GRANTED.
SIMILAR AGREEMENTS ON OTHER ISSUES HAVE ELUDED US SO FAR,
NOTWITHSTANDING THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE ISSUES AND THE COMMITMENT OF THE
COUNTRIES PARTICIPATING IN THE NEGOTIATIONS.

ALL OF THESE INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS DEAL WITH THE CONSEQUENCES OF
DIFFERENT ASPECTS OF GLOBALIZATION. WHILE GLOBALIZATION HAS BROUGHT
PROGRESS AND EXPANDED ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIES TO THE WORLD, AN
UNFORTUNATE CONSEQUENCE OF GLOBALIZATION IS TRANSNATIONAL CRIME. AS
SECRETARY GENERAL KOFI ANNAN SAID YESTERDAY, THE OPENESS OF
GLOBALIZATION WORKS BOTH WAYS. WE MUST MATCH THE INCREASINGLY
SOPHISTICATED MEANS THAT ORGANIZED CRIMINAL GROUPS HAVE FOUND TO EXPLOIT
GLOBALIZATION IF WE ARE TO WIN THIS BATTLE. IN PARTICULAR IT TAKES
INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS THAT ARE GLOBAL TO FIGHT CRIME THAT IS GLOBAL.

THE TRANSNATIONAL ORGANIZED CRIME CONVENTION AND ITS SUPPLEMENTARY
PROTOCOLS INCLUDE SEVERAL COMMON THEMES THAT CHARACTERIZE SUCCESSFUL
GLOBAL AGREEMENTS. PERHAPS MOST IMPORTANT, THEY ESTABLISH GLOBAL
STANDARDS THAT ALL COUNTRIES MUST MEET, AND THEN PROVIDE FOR FLEXIBILITY
IN THE MANNER IN WHICH THEY MEET THEM. FOR EXAMPLE, THE CONVENTION AND
PROTOCOLS DEFINE \-- FOR THE FIRST TIME IN BINDING INTERNATIONAL
INSTRUMENTS \-- ORGANIZED CRIME, MIGRANT SMUGGLING AND TRAFFICKING IN
PERSONS; AND THEY REQUIRE ALL PARTIES TO CRIMINALIZE THIS DEFINED
CONDUCT UNDER THEIR DOMESTIC LAW. BUT THEY PERMIT INDIVIDUAL COUNTRIES
TO TAILOR THE MANNER IN WHICH THEY IMPLEMENT THEIR OBLIGATIONS TO THE
PARTICULAR NEEDS OF THEIR SYSTEM. FOR EXAMPLE, THE CONVENTION RECOGNIZES
THAT DIFFERENT COUNTRIES HAVE DIFFERENT APPROACHES TO THE CRIME THAT WE
IN THE UNITED STATES LABEL AS CONSPIRACY.

THE INTERNATIONAL NORMS ESTABLISHED BY THIS CONVENTION AND ITS PROTOCOLS
LEAD TO ANOTHER COMMON THEME OF SUCCESSFUL GLOBAL TREATIES \-- NAMELY
THEY FACILITATE INCREASED COOPERATION AMONG GOVERNMENTS, IN THIS CASE
LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS. HAVING ACCEPTED DEFINITIONS OF ORGANIZED
CRIME, MIGRANT SMUGGLING AND TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS MAKES INTERNATIONAL
COLLABORATION ON THESE SUBJECTS EASIER. THE CONVENTION AND PROTOCOLS
BUILD ON THESE DEFINITIONS, BY INCLUDING NUMEROUS MECHANISMS FOR
COOPERATION. FOR EXAMPLE, RATHER THAN GOING THROUGH THE TIME-CONSUMING
AND EXPENSIVE PROCESS OF NEGOTIATING BILATERAL AGREEMENTS, COUNTRIES
WILL BE ABLE TO RELY ON THESE TREATIES FOR EXTRADITION AND MUTUAL LEGAL
ASSISTANCE.

FINALLY, THE CONVENTION AND PROTOCOLS RECOGNIZE THE FUNDAMENTAL
HUMANITARIAN ASPECTS INVOLVED IN FIGHTING ORGANIZED CRIME, PARTICULARLY
TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS AND MIGRANT SMUGGLING. THIS IS A CONSTRUCTIVE
DEVELOPMENT, WHICH PERHAPS HAS NOT BEEN A COMMON THEME IN GLOBAL LAW
ENFORCEMENT TREATIES, BUT WHICH SHOULD BE. THESE TREATIES DO NOT STOP
WITH PUNISHING THE CRIMINAL; THAT IS JUST THE BEGINNING. THEY ALSO
RECOGNIZE THAT A CORNERSTONE OF OUR WORK MUST BE THE PROTECTION OF THE
VICTIMS OF THESE CRIMES, AND THE PREVENTION OF THESE CRIMINAL ACTIVITIES
IN THE FIRST PLACE. FOR EXAMPLE, THE CONVENTION CONTAINS WITNESS
PROTECTION PROVISIONS; AND THE MIGRANT SMUGGLING PROTOCOL REAFFIRMS
STATESÆ OBLIGATIONS TOWARDS MIGRANTS UNDER INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN
LAW, AND EXPLICITLY STATES THAT MIGRANTS ARE NOT PUNISHABLE UNDER THE
PROTOCOL SIMPLY FOR BEING AN ILLEGAL MIGRANT. OF THE THREE AGREEMENTS,
THE TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS PROTOCOL INCLUDES, WITH GOOD REASON, THE MOST
FAR-REACHING PROVISIONS FOR SERVICES AND PROTECTIONS FOR VICTIMS \--
INCLUDING CALLING FOR STATES TO PROVIDE IN APPROPRIATE CASES SHELTER,
MEDICAL AND LEGAL ASSISTANCE, AND THE POSSIBILITY OF PERMANENT
RESIDENCE.

THE COMPLETION OF THIS NEGOTIATION IS CERTAINLY CAUSE FOR CELEBRATION,
AND I AGAIN CONGRATULATE ALL INVOLVED IN IT. HOWEVER, WE MUST RECOGNIZE
THAT THE FIGHT AGAINST INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZED CRIME IS FAR FROM OVER.

THE UNITED STATES HAS BEEN AT THE FOREFRONT OF THIS FIGHT AND WE ARE
COMMITTED TO STAYING THERE. AMONG OTHER THINGS, WE PROVIDE LAW
ENFORCEMENT TRAINING AND EQUIPMENT TO SCORES OF GOVERNMENTS ALL AROUND
THE WORLD. THIS PAST YEAR ALONE THE U.S. ALLOCATED MORE THAN \$36
MILLION FOR SUCH TRAINING AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS.

IN COLLABORATION WITH HOST COUNTRIES, THE UNITED STATES HAS ESTABLISHED
AND CONTINUES TO SUPPORT TWO INTERNATIONAL LAW ENFORCEMENT ACADEMIES IN
BUDAPEST AND BANGKOK AND WE WILL OPEN TWO MORE - IN AFRICA AND LATIN
AMERICA - IN THE NEAR FUTURE. AT THESE FACILITIES, RANK-AND-FILE LAW
ENFORCEMENT PERSONNEL FROM THOSE COUNTRIES AND THEIR REGIONAL NEIGHBORS
LEARN HOW CRIME SYNDICATES OPERATE, HOW TO RECOGNIZE TRAFFICKING AND
SMUGGLING OPERATIONS AND MUCH MORE.

MANY COUNTRIES HAVE WORKED TOGETHER ON THIS FRONT. LET ME PAY SPECIAL
TRIBUTE TO OUR HOSTS. THE GOVERNMENT OF ITALY HAS SHOWN GREAT COURAGE
AND DETERMINATION IN ATTACKING ORGANIZED CRIME. COOPERATION BETWEEN OUR
TWO GOVERNMENTS HAS BROUGHT MANY SUCCESSES. FOR EXAMPLE, ITALIAN
AUTHORITIES UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF THE COURAGEOUS MAGISTRATE GIOVANNI
FALCONE WORKED WITH U.S. LAW ENFORCEMENT TO UNCOVER AND DISRUPT
INTERNATIONAL TRAFFICKING IN HEROIN IN THE 1980'S. THIS EFFORT ALSO
BENEFITED FROM THE COOPERATION OF THE GERMAN, SWISS, SPANISH, BRAZILIAN
AND TURKISH GOVERNMENTS, AND REMAINS TODAY A MODEL FOR MULTILATERAL LAW
ENFORCEMENT COOPERATION.

U.S. SUPPORT FOR SUCH COOPERATION WILL CONTINUE AND GROW. THIS
CONVENTION, THROUGH ITS COMPREHENSIVE FRAMEWORK FOR MULTILATERAL LAW
ENFORCEMENT COLLABORATION, WILL HELP MAKE THAT POSSIBLE.

I WANT TO EXPRESS MY GOVERNMENT'S HOPE - AND OPTIMISM - THAT
NEGOTIATIONS ON THE PROTOCOL TO SUPPRESS THE ILLICIT MANUFACTURE OF AND
TRAFFIC IN FIREARMS WILL SOON COME TO A SUCCESSFUL CONCLUSION, SO THAT
PARTIES TO THE CONVENTION WILL BE ABLE TO SIGN THAT, TOO, RATIFY IT AND
PUT IT TO WORK.

COMPLETION OF THE CONVENTION AND TWO PROTOCOLS IN SUCH A SHORT TIME TOOK
AN EXTRAORDINARY EFFORT. IT COULD NOT HAVE BEEN ACCOMPLISHED WITHOUT THE
TIRELESS DEDICATION AND EXPERTISE OF THE CRIME CENTER SECRETARIAT, THE
PIONEERING EFFORTS OF POLAND AND ARGENTINA, THE SKILL AND WISDOM OF
CHAIRMAN LUIGI LAURIOLA, ANOTHER PROUD SON OF ITALY, THE LEADERSHIP OF
THE BUREAU AND THE DETERMINATION AND FLEXIBILITY OF DELEGATIONS FROM
MORE THAN 120 COUNTRIES. THE UNITED STATES IS HONORED TO BE PART OF THIS
EFFORT AND ITS CULMINATION IN PALERMO TODAY. WE HAVE TAKEN THE FIRST
STEPS TOGETHER, AND NOW WE MUST BRING THESE INSTRUMENTS TO LIFE AS
MEANINGFUL TOOLS IN OUR FIGHT AGAINST TRANSNATIONAL ORGANIZED CRIME.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH.