I. Introduction
The assassination of Serbian PM Djindjic in March
2003 showed the devastating role of organized crime in
South Eastern Europe (SEE). International analysis and
discussions with representatives from the region have
confirmed that one of the most serious problems within
the region is transnational organized crime. Terrorism's
link to organized crime has been confirmed and
condemned. The close connection of international
terrorism to illegal arms and drug-trafficking, and
money laundering needs an adequate response: enhanced
co-ordination of efforts on national, sub-regional,
regional and international levels in order to strengthen
a regional response to this threat. The lack of
coordinated action has enabled organized crime to reach
devastating levels, undermining democratization, human
rights, respect for the rule of law and trust in
investment and reform efforts. The overall stability and
sovereignty of SEE countries is endangered by organized
crime groups who have infiltrated high level political
positions, making their identification, arrest and
prosecution even more complicated.
II. History
of SPOC
The Special Coordinator of the Stability Pact for
South Eastern Europe (SCSP) determined that support and
assistance to SEE countries required coordination on
multiple levels simultaneously. In order for such action
to be undertaken as efficiently as possible, the
Stability Pact Initiative to fight Organized Crime
(SPOC) was created upon the decision of the Regional
Table of the Stability Pact for SEE and under the
framework of Working Table III.
The overall objective of the SPOC initiative is to
strengthen regional capacities to combat organized crime
in accordance with internationally recognized standards.
The Initiative focuses on the adoption of policies,
strategies and legislation, the development of
multi-disciplinary inter-agency co-ordination
mechanisms, encouraging the establishment of specialized
units and the enhancement of regional and international
co-operation.
For this purpose, a high-level
Regional Steering Group and an Advisory & Contact
Group were established. Governments of the region were
asked to nominate representatives responsible for the
implementation of the initiative in co-operation with
key law enforcement and judicial authorities using a
multi-disciplinary approach. Reviews of existing
information (for example, see the data base for various
bilateral and multilateral projects http://ssr.yciss.yorku.ca//)
on organized crime and meetings to discuss measures to
counter organized crime followed. The final aim was to
design needs assessments and country-specific
priorities, work plans, technical assistance programs
and measures to promote regional co-operation. This aim
was not achieved by the time of the London conference in
late 2002.
III. The London Conference on Defeating Organized
Crime in South Eastern Europe
The necessity to fight organized crime in the SEE
region was reaffirmed by the countries of the region at
the London Conference against Organized Crime by the
adoption of the London
Statement on Defeating Organized Crime in South Eastern
Europe which stated that the countries "will draw on
the wide range of regional initiatives, including the
Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe" (see also
Follow up to London Conference on Organized Crime).
The London Conference Statement priority action
includes:
- Legislative and institutional harmonization with
European standards;
- Adoption of laws which help crime-fighting
agencies to work more effectively;
- Assurance that law enforcement agencies have
proper technical means;
- Strengthening capacity for financial
investigations;
- Implementing anti-corruption strategies;
- Build public support for action against crime;
and
- Improvement of regional co-operation.
Recently, the London statement gained higher value
due to the conditionality between serious implementation
and further European integration.
IV. SPOC working structures
Shortly after the Conference, the Stability Pact
formulated concrete policies regarding the combat
against organized crime and opened the SPOC Secretariat
in Bucharest. In parallel, measures were initiated to
simplify the existing working structures by merging the
Regional Steering Group and the Advisory & Contact
Group into a SPOC Board. Mr. Christian Jechoutek, Head
of International Law Enforcement Cooperation Department,
Austrian Federal Ministry of the Interior, was elected
to chair the SPOC Board.
The SPOC Board
The board will normally meet twice a year, with the
next meetings scheduled for June and November 2003. The
chair will invite representatives of the SEE states,
principle International Organizations, the EU, major
donor countries and NGOs active in the research field
against organized crime. In general, the board is open
to all actors who intend to commit their efforts to
combat organized crime in SEE: representatives from the
law enforcement community, the legal community, the
academic world, regional expertise and the donor
community, and it is expected that the present
composition will be broadened.
Contact:
Mr. Christian Jechoutek
Tel.:
+43-1-24836-85200
Email: christian.jechoutek@bmi.gv.at
SPOC Working Groups
Ideally, the SPOC Board members will form working
groups to cover selected technical and legal issues
related to the fight against organized crime. The chair,
in cooperation with the SPOC Secretariat and the SCSP's
Working Table III, will facilitate a dialogue between
SPOC board members who wish to commit themselves through
a working group. The chair will formulate common
interests, give advice for launching joint projects and
monitor implementation. His partners will be drawn from
member states and organisations of the Stability
Pact.
In addition, SPOC seeks to create synergies with
other Stability Pact initiatives such as Stability Pact
Working Table II's Investment Compact, Business Advisory
Council, and Stability Pact Anti-corruption Initiative
(SPAI), the Police Forum and The Task Force on
Trafficking in Human Beings. Complementarity and sharing
valuable experience between these activities will be
ensured. I.e. police training programmes could be of
high significance for capacity-building activities for
SEE law enforcement officers.
The SPOC Secretariat
The SPOC Secretariat has been operational since the
beginning of 2003. It is located in the premises of the
Regional Center for Combating Transborder Crime in
Bucharest. It consists of, but it is not limited to, a
Head of the Secretariat, a Judicial Expert and an
Assistant. The SPOC Secretariat acts as a support body
for the practical implementation of the objectives of
the SPOC Initiative. It supports and advises the SPOC
Board and the Special Co-coordinator of the Stability
Pact. In 2003, the Secretariat initiated a number of
activities with SPOC board members on enhancing
relations with aforementioned international, European,
regional and national actors, analyzing findings of the
first regional needs assessment project of Transcrime
University of Trento (Italy), processing and protection
on personal data, witness protection, and raising public
awareness.
Contact:
Ms. Gabriela Konevska, Head
Tel.:
+40-21-303 6003
GSM: +40-723-230 145 and +389-70-24
24 31
Email: gkonevska@spocsecretariat.org
Mr. Andrei Furdui, Legal Advisor
Tel.: +40-21-303
6003
Email: afurdui@spocsecretariat.org
Ms. Alexandra Goreska, Assistant
Tel. : +40-21-303
6003
Fax: +40-21-303 6075
Email : agoreska@spocsecretariat.org
The Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe,
Working Table III
Politically, SPOC is supported by the Office of the
Special Coordinator, which provides legal expertise as
part of Working Table III (Sub Table on Justice and Home
Affairs). The experts located in Brussels monitor the
progress achieved by SPOC and ensure political support
for the work of the Board in its dealings with countries
of SEE.
Contact:
Dr. Sebastian von Münchow
Tel.:
+32-2-401 87 26
GSM: +32-499-52 87 26
Fax:
+32-2-401 87 12
Email: sebastian.vonmuenchow@stabilitypact.org
VI. SPOC at work
SPOC actors discuss informally how best to tackle
organized crime. All partners agree that a multilevel
strategy should address, among other targets, the
educational component and awareness campaigns for the
civil society, the adoption of properly adjusted
legislative tools, the strengthening of institutional
capacities, the training of specialists, and the
development of a direct and fruitful co-operation, both
at the international and regional levels. Regular
monitoring should be conducted in order to assess the
impact of the anti-organized crime policy and to
identify further needs and priorities.
The initial priorities of the SPOC Initiative are
data exchange and protection, and witness protection.
The reason to concentrate on these issues is the
necessity to enhance communication between EU member
states and EU institutions such as Europol and the SEE
region, be it bilaterally or with regional law
enforcement community actors. Data exchange can take
place only under the condition that the SEE countries
provides a system on data protection in accordance with
European standards and best practices.
VII. SPOC in the near future
The SEE region is not homogenous. Though cultural and
historical values may be common assets, the countries in
the region are at different stages of development and
each has particular problems and specific issues to
address especially in the fight against organized crime.
This heterogeneity needs to be seriously taken into
consideration when developing anti-organized crime
policies.
In order to ensure the success of the working groups,
joint efforts in the fight against organized crime
should be based on capacity-building and enhanced
international and regional cooperation. Within this
frame, the focus will be on legal harmonization,
effective enforcement, and partnership with the civil
society.
Legal Harmonization
The successful prosecution of one person in one
country is unlikely to impact continuing criminal
activities of a criminal group operating within the
region. No country in SEE provides sufficient
legislative tools or the institutional capacity to
successfully investigate and prosecute
multi-jurisdictional crimes. Without the requisite
criminal legislation allowing multi-jurisdictional
investigations and prosecutions, the creation of a
secure environment, the promotion of rule of law and the
promotion of economic and social well being in SEE
cannot be assured.
Legislation needs to address not
only the criminalization of various forms of organized
crime, but to also provide the necessary procedural
tools for their efficient investigation, prosecution and
trial in accordance with European standards.
The legislative tools necessary to investigate
prosecute and try multi-jurisdictional organized crime
cases include, but are not limited to, legislation
on:
- Protection and processing of Personal data;
- Witness protection, including aspects of
protection of victims, not only for the duration of
the criminal process, but beyond that point as
well;
- The use of special investigative techniques:
interception and monitoring of telecommunications,
including those conducted by computer networks, audio
and video surveillance of private and public premises,
covert search of private premises, controlled
delivery, use of tracking or positioning devices, use
of undercover investigators, disclosure of financial
data;
- Criminal liability of legal persons, because
various entities, such as associations or foundations,
can cover illicit operations;
- Effective disclosure of financial data and control
of money laundering operations and recognition of
electronic evidence as viable evidence in the
court;
- Confiscation or seizure of proceeds from
crime;
- Common standards on the collection, preservation
and use of evidence as to allow evidence collected in
one country to be used in the criminal proceedings in
another country; and
- The execution of penal sentences and letters
rogatory, extradition of suspects of organized crime
activities, mutual legal assistance and
multi-jurisdictional task forces.
Ensuring effective enforcement
Most SEE countries lack specialized bodies for the
investigation and prosecution of organized crime
activities, there is an absence of effective
inter-agency and inter-institutional cooperation,
insufficient logistical support and deficiencies in
training.
The solution lies in strengthening institutional
capacity to fight organized crime. Multi-disciplinary
national coordinating mechanisms need to be established
throughout the region, which should be primarily
responsible for ensuring the enforcement of the
anti-organized crime policy, especially of the
preventive component.
In-country co-operation between agencies involved in
measures for fighting against organized crime must be
improved. Joint teams or task forces - consisting of
representatives of the various agencies involved in this
process: police, customs, border police, prosecutors'
offices, judicial experts etc. - should be set up for
the investigation of the most serious forms of organized
crime.
Any attempt to structurally dismantle organized crime
groups and operations is bound to fail if insufficient
human and logistical resources are provided. This
constitutes one of the most serious problems for the
region, as both experienced specialists and proper
technical and financial resources are insufficient. SPOC
will mediate assistance requests from SEE countries,
based on concrete assistance projects and national
reform priorities. Training seminars and study visits
can be developed in the same manner.
Promoting the Partnership with the civil
society
Civil society is now a key player in any anti-crime
policy, especially in its preventive component.
Ultimately, state institutions work not only for the
society, but also with the society. NGOs, mass media,
the business community and the society as a whole must
be involved in all the stages of the process of fighting
organized crime. Partnership with the civil society
should be developed by promoting education campaigns,
mainly focused on vulnerable targets, such as children
and women; and informing the civil society of the
results of important investigations and actions in order
to promote transparency with respect to the work of the
public institutions.
