“Measures to Secure Protection and Cooperation of Witnesses andWhistle-blowers”- After the 149th International Training Course
Prof. Fumihiko YANAKA

1.

Introduction
UNAFEI held the 149th International Training Course on the main topic“Measures to Secure Protection and Cooperation of Witnesses and Whistle-blowers”
from August 25 to September 30, 2011, with six participants from Japan as well as 10
overseas participants from eight foreign countries. The Japanese and overseas
participants come from various professional backgrounds: police officers, publicprosecutors, judges, drug control officers, or other professionals involved in criminal
justice practices.
In this paper, the author would like to describe the outline of the training
course from the viewpoint of the Programming Officer.
Subjective statements in this paper are my personal opinions.
2.

Purpose of Main Topic and Outline of the Training Course
To combat corruption and criminal organizations, it is vital to appropriately
investigate and prosecute those engaging in these crimes and punish themappropriately. As these offences are often committed using sophisticated techniquesthat leave little trace or physical evidence of the crime, witnesses and their testimony
play a crucial role in securing conviction. In addition, reports from whistle-blowers
also play an important role in revealing illegal acts, such as corruption.
However, out of fear for their safety, or the possibility of facing retaliation,
dismissal, or demotion, witnesses and whistle-blowers are often reluctant to comeforward and cooperate with criminal justice authorities. In particular, in cases oforganized crime or cases of corruption involving influential persons, the personalsafety of witnesses, as well as that of their family members, may be jeopardized byruthless criminal groups who wield widespread and intimidating power.
For this reason, it is extremely important to protect witnesses andwhistle-blowers and take effective actions for ensuring their cooperation in combating
corruption or organized crime.
This training course aims to make contributions to preventing crimes as wellas enhancing/promoting criminal justice schemes in member nations by examining
possible improvement/enhancement solutions for problems related with the protection
and cooperation of witnesses and internal whistle-blowers. The training course alsoaims to encourage mutual understanding among training participants and create a1

network to continuously exchange information for improving professional practices inmember nations.
The objective of this Programme was to give criminal justice officials fromthe Asia and Pacific region, and other regions, an opportunity to share experiences,
gain knowledge, and examine concrete measures against crime, especially measures tosecure protection and cooperation of witnesses and whistle-blowers. It is also hopedthat participants will create an international network of counterparts to build
participants’ knowledge of possible measures to improve existing situations.
In this training course, at first, participants identified, examined and sharedcurrent situations and challenges existing in their respective countries regarding
securing protection and cooperation of witnesses and whistle-blowers.
Then, participants attended a lecture about these problems delivered by Ms.
Karen Kramer, Senior Expert, Division for Treaty Affairs, UNODC. In addition, as thethese countries are working on innovative programmes, Mr. Robert E. Courtney, Legal
Attaché, Department of Justice, Embassy of the United States in the Philippines, andMr. Severino H. Gaña, Deputy Prosecutor General, National Prosecution Service,
Department of Justice, Republic of the Philippines, gave their lectures on effective
witness protection programmes in their respective nations.
Furthermore, from Japan, Professor Keisuke Senta, Graduate Schools for Law
and Politics, University of Tokyo, and Judge Motoo Noguchi, Extraordinary Chambersin the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) (Judge Noguchi also serves as a professor atUNAFEI), gave expert lectures on protecting witnesses in the investigation and trial ofterrorist offences and protecting witnesses in international tribunals.
After that, participants were divided into two groups. They discussed current
situations, problems, and effective measures with regard to the main topic of securing
protection and cooperation of witnesses and whistle-blowers. Then they summarized
the discussion, and made presentations on best practices and their proposals for
effective measures in the respective countries.
Group One made the following points:
1. Witness and whistle-blower protection laws should be enacted.
2. Laws to enable mitigation of punishment and grants of immunity for cooperating
witnesses should be enacted. Obstruction of justice should be properly criminalized.
3. In the absence of witness or whistle-blower protection laws, taking practicalmeasures to counter the problem should be considered.
4. Countries without necessary resources should start with establishing procedural
protection for witnesses, which is relatively cost effective.
5. Bi-lateral, regional, and international cooperation, better coordination among
relevant authorities and experts, and capacity building efforts are much needed.
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Group Two made the following points:
1. Basic police protection is essential.
2. Further, witness protection laws and organizational structure for implementation areneeded.
3. While comprehensive witness protection programmes may be effective, they areresource intensive and they place heavy burdens on witnesses. Policymakers
should carefully examine the necessity of such programmes. If such programmes areintroduced, necessary budgets must be secured.
4. Taking measures to avoid secondary victimization of witnesses should beconsidered.
3.

Conclusion
In this training course, participants gathered from a wide variety of countriesof differing region, size and economic scale: Barbados, El Salvador, India, Indonesia,Nepal, Panama, Saint Lucia, Tanzania, and Japan. To facilitate mutual understanding,we tried something new: we asked them to prepare and submit an overview of theirrespective criminal justice systems, which proved to be useful.
The participants very actively participated in the programme as its theme –issues in securing witness protection and cooperation – was something that theyroutinely encountered in every day work. Their interest and eagerness to learn wereevident in the various questions they asked following every single lecture.
They were particularly enthusiastic in group discussions. Participants actively
joined discussions and made serious efforts to identify problems in their respective
countries, learn from other countries’ legal systems to cope with such problems, andgain as much useful information and knowledge beneficial to their countries aspossible.
One participant observed: “I thought witness protection meant only the kind ofwitness protection programme operated in the United States and so on, and cost a lot.
However, I’ve come to understand that some current measures in our countries arealready helping to protect witnesses. I also understand that our countries are able toemploy some other measures which are implemented in other countries. I would like tomake use of the outcomes of this training course to create better criminal justicesystems in our countries”. This comment made me feel that the programme wasyielding positive outcomes.
Furthermore, all participants stayed together in the same dormitory for
approximately six weeks, and formed friendships, discussing a wide range of matters,socializing together, and sightseeing on weekends or holidays. Day by day, they3

became more like a family.
Such friendship will be a lifelong treasure for them. I am very pleased to havebeen involved in such a wonderful training course, and I would like to thank all theparticipants very much.
Finally, I would like to express my gratitude to the related organizations andindividuals that have assisted us in organizing this training programme. Without yourcooperation, the programme would not have achieved such an excellent outcome.
Thank you very much.

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