In UN in Vienna Belarus organised an international forum on challenges in international criminal cooperation and justice

On May 22, in the Vienna International Center was held a thematic forum “Current Challenges in International Criminal Cooperation and Justice”.  Belarus became the initiator of the forum. It was organized in partnership with Venezuela, Iran, Nicaragua and Russia.

The thematic forum was held on the sidelines of the 34th session of the United Nations Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (Vienna, Vienna, May 19-23). The event was attended by heads and representatives of diplomatic missions accredited to the UN Office in Vienna, heads and participants of national delegations to the Commission session, representatives of international and non-governmental organizations.

Andrei Dapkiunas, Permanent Representative of Belarus to the International Organisations in Vienna, addressed the participants of the meeting with a welcoming speech.

During the discussion, presentations were made by heads and representatives of law enforcement and legal departments and institutions of China, Venezuela, Russia and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.

The participants of the thematic briefing comprehensively considered the problems of developing international criminal cooperation. They noted the unprecedented politicisation of bilateral and multilateral cooperation in the field of mutual legal assistance and in providing assistance to law enforcement agencies, extradition and other aspects of combating transnational organised crime. The speakers drew attention to the increase in cases of denial of assistance in criminal cases for political reasons, even when it comes to ordinary violent crimes.

The forum participants stressed the need to prevent the politicization of international anti-criminal cooperation, including extradition and mutual legal assistance and the activities of relevant international organisations.

Special attention of the forum participants was attracted by the speech of the UN Special Rapporteur on the negative impact of unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rights, Alena Douhan (Belarus), as UCMs are one of the main obstacles to effective international cooperation in criminal matters and in combating transnational crime.

Following the results of the forum, the participants prepared a brief summary of the discussion with recommendations on strengthening international cooperation in combating crime.

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