Project Activities Newsletter AMERIPOL-EU nº 3 August

Transcription

Enhance
the capacity
for international
Proyecto AMERIPOL-UE “AMERIPOL: Enhance the“AMERIPOL:
capacity for
international
cooperation
of
Project law
Activities
enforcement, judicial and prosecuting cooperation
authorities”of law enforcement, judicial and
prosecuting authorities”
Newsletter AMERIPOL-EU nº 3
August 2014
“AMERIPOL: Enhance the capacity for international cooperation of
law enforcement, judicial and prosecuting authorities”
Introduction
Dear friends,
This third Newsletter of the AMERIPOL-EU project and
the first one in 2014 is a diffusion of the results of the
project achieved through the various activities carried
out in the past months.
In addition, we continue with the novelties introduced in
the 2nd Newsletter and welcome a section titled
COMMENT AND DEBATE where experts relevant to
the project and people involved in the fight against drug
trafficking offer their views on different situations.
Among other things this month’s PROJECT
ACTIVITITES section includes the workshop titled
“Enhancing law enforcement and judicial cooperation to
fight drug trafficking between Latin America, Europe and
West Africa: Perspectives from the AMERIPOL-EU
project and beyond” which took place in Madrid 1 and 2
of April. Officials responsible of various international
bodies such as EUROPOL, INTERPOL, AMERIPOL,
WCO and MAOCN, among others, and Anti-Narcotics
Directors from countries affected by the problem of
drug trafficking in Europe, Latin America and Africa
attended. Through this activity the project continued
showing its commitment in relation to the exchange of
experiences related to international drug trafficking.
Summary

Introduction
1

Project Activities
2

Agenda
11

Interviews
12

Comment and Debate
17

Back cover
19
As always, we hope this newsletter will be of interest.
Marcos Alvar
Team Leader, AMERIPOL-EU Project
AMERIPOL-EU
Newsletter nº 3 – August 2014
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ARE Brazil
Spain and Germany, 3-11 November 2013
During this Awareness Raising Event three officials
from Brazil (a federal prosecutor and two police
officers) travelled to Spain and Germany to
strengthen the relationship with the police and
judicial authorities in these countries in order to
facilitate and accelerate the extradition of two
Brazilian citizens, as well as confirm and share
information related with an international criminal
organization involved in drug trafficking and
organized crime.
the project. Some of the greatest achievements of
the project were emphasized such as the
coordination of joint operations, as well as the high
number of officials who benefited from the various
training activities carried out under the project, the
future pilot system for communication exchange,
the consolidation of doctrine instruments with the
publication "Situational analysis of drug trafficking: a
police point of view" and strengthening the
AMERIPOL Units.
As a result of this activity organized through the
AMERIPOL-EU project one of the drug traffickers
was detained and two others have been sentenced
to 7 years in prison and extradited.
News related to this activity here (In
Portuguese)
VI AMERIPOL Summit
The AMERIPOL President and Executive Secretary
AIAMP Ordinary General Assembly
San Jose, Costa Rica, 12-13 November 2013
The ordinary meeting of the AMERIPOL Directors’
council took place on 12 and 13 November in
Costa Rica. AMERIPOL Member police forces,
observers, as well as special invitees such as the
Minister of Governance, Police and Public Security
of Costa Rica, Mario Zamora Cordero, and the
President of Costa Rica, Laura Chinchilla, attended
the event. Marcos Alvar, Team Leader of the
AMERIPOL-EU Project also participated in the
Summit, held under the slogan “For a safer
America”.
During the first day of the Summit the main
meetings of the Heads of the AMERIPOL Units
were held, where a number of basic points for the
future and consolidation of these units were agreed,
highlighting the importance and the work done by
Quito, Ecuador, 18-19 November 2013
The Iberoamerican Association of Public Ministries
(AIAMP) held its General Assembly in Quito
(Ecuador). The president of AIAMP, Rodrigo Janot,
General Prosecutor of Brazil, inaugurated the event.
On the 20th November the Iberoamerican Seminar
titled “The crime of money laundering” also
organized by AIAMP.
AMERIPOL-EU Key Expert Ms. Esmeralda Rasillo, a
prosecutor from Spain presented the achievements
and advances of the project as well as the activities
planned for the future.
During the Assembly, Brazil and Costa Rica were
re-elected as Presidency and Secretary General of
AIAMP respectively.
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The Presidency stressed the ARE organized by the
project which allowed for a Brazilian prosecutor to
travel to Spain and Germany in order to activate
extradition orders of Brazilian nationals and
emphasized the importance of the project in
relation to international cooperation at prosecutor
level.
The General Secretary of AIAMP insisted on the
high quality of the activities organized by the
project, referring especially to the II Interinstitutional Seminar organized in Rome which he
attended.
Conference on air and maritime cocaine
trafficking in the Caribbean basin
towards Europe and West Africa
Fort de France, Martinique, 25-28 November 2013
Organized by EUROPOL and the French Police, this
conference could count on the participation of
different international organizations and partner
countries working in the field of drug trafficking.
Key Expert Mr. Pascal Benitez took part as a
representative of the AMERIPOL-EU project.
Colonel Yesid Romanos Linares, Key Expert of the
project, also attended the conference, in his
function of AMERIPOL President’s Delegate. The
presentations of both experts offered clarifications
with respect to their functions and especially the
importance of differentiating the project from the
institution.
CORMS Steering Committee
Brussels, Belgium, 27 November 2013.
The Team Leaders of the different projects part of
the Cocaine Route Programme, Financed by the
Instrument for Stability (current Instrument
contributing to Stability and Peace), met in Brussels
in order to update the information and results of
the different projects as well as look for possible
synergies for future activities.
The AMERIPOL-EU project was represented by
Team Leader Marcos Alvar.
Mr. Miguel de Domingo, Director of the Area
Justice and Home Affairs also participated in this
meeting in representation of FIIAPP.
Information Meeting of the Cocaine
Route Programme
Brussels, Belgium, 28 November 2013.
On 28 November 2013, the European Commission
organized an information meeting related to the
Cocaine
Route
Programme
including
representatives from Latin America, the Caribbean
and West Africa. The meeting was an opportunity
to debate and exchange experiences related to the
planned activities in these regions.
The AMERIPO-EU Team Leader Mr. Marcos Alvar
presented the experiences and activities of the
project related to improving and strengthening the
exchange of information and intelligence in the
region and the current development of the pilot
system by the project.
The documents of the meeting can be found
here
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Operation Yana Mayu, Bolivia
Bolivia, 5 December 2013.
AMERIPOL-EU Key Experts Team
Meeting
Madrid, Spain, 5 December 2013.
After various months of investigation and
intelligence exchange through the AMERIPOL Unit
Bolivia and the intelligence unit of the FELCN, the
anti-narcotics operation called Yana Mayu
coordinated by the AMERIPOL-EU project took
place on 5th December in the Province of Guarayos,
Department of Santa Cruz de la Sierra in Bolivia.
The operation against a drug trafficking criminal
organization made up of Colombian and Bolivian
nationals led to a Cocaine Crystallization laboratory
with great capacity for refinement. The inquiries
and the processed information indicated that the
cocaine was sent to neighbouring transit countries,
as Paraguay and Argentina, and afterwards to
Europe.
As each year the AMERIPOL-EU project Key
Experts and the rest of the team met in order to
analyze the project activities, achieved results and
pending objectives. During this meeting the
activities for 2014 were planned.
A map of the laboratory located during the operation
Yana Mayu in Bolivia
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Pasantía - “Institutional reinforcement
for judges and prosecutors on
international cooperation related to the
fight against drug trafficking, among
institutions in Latin America, Africa and
Europe”
São Paulo, Brazil, 9-11 December 2013.
Signature of the Letter of Intent between
Europol y Ameripol
The Hague, The Netherlands, 21 March 2014.
As an additional effort to improve international
police cooperation in the fight against organized
crime the Director of EUROPOL Rob Wainwright,
and the President of AMERIPOL, Commissioner
Juan Jose Andrade Morales met in March at the
EUROPOL Headquarters in order to sign the
Letter of Intent establishing a cooperation
framework between these institutions.
The establishment of a mutual framework for
collaboration will facilitate the mutual cooperation
between these institutions in areas of common
interest with the objective of improving
coordination and ensure greater complementarity.
Organized by the FIIAPP in collaboration with the
International Judicial Cooperation Secretariat of the
Federal Public Ministry of Brasil the event could
count on the participation of judges from Argentina,
Spain, Panama and Peru, and prosecutors from
Cabo Verde and Brasil. During the 3 days of the
pasantía the participants visited various institutions
of the Brazilian judicial system and shared
experiences from their countries of origin as well as
participated in several panel discussions with the
receiving institutions.
Both EUROPOL and AMERIPOL, recognized the
importance of cooperation and information sharing
in order to achieve greater efficiency in the fight
against common threats that countries in Europe
and America are faced with. This letter of intent
strengthens the relationships between police
communities on both sides of the Atlantic.
More information here
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Workshop “Enhancing law enforcement
and judicial cooperation to fight drug
trafficking between Latin America,
Europe and West Africa: Perspectives
from the AMERIPOL-EU project and
beyond”
Madrid, Spain, 1 and 2 April 2014.
Senior officials of the European Union, EUROPOL,
INTERPOL, AMERIPOL and MAOCN as well as
anti-narcotics experts and police directors from
different countries from Afrrica, Latin America and
Europe discussed their experiences during the
workshop titled “Enhancing law enforcement and
judicial cooperation to fight drug trafficking
between Latin America, Europe and West Africa:
Perspectives from the AMERIPOL-EU project and
beyond”, which took place on 1st and 2nd of April
at the headquarters of the Spanish National Police
in Madrid.
The workshop was inaugurated by the Secretary of
State for Security of the Ministry of Interior Mr.
Francisco Martínez, the Programme Manager of the
Instrument contributing to Stability and Peace at the
EC, Ms. Valérie Miranda, and the Director of the
Area Justice and Home Affairs at FIIAPP Mr. Miguel
de Domingo. The event was closed by the General
Director of the Spanish National Police Mr. Ignacio
Cosidó the representative from the European
External Action Service Mr. Philippe Percier and the
Director of FIIAPP Mr. Pedro Flores.
Organized by the FIIAPP and the Spanish National
Police, financed by the European Commission
through the AMERIPOL-EU project had the
following objectives:
- To present the main results achieved so far under
the AMERIPOL-EU project, including the
Information Exchange Pilot System;
- Encourage better coordination as well as
information and intelligence exchange between the
relevant stakeholders, at national, regional and
international level;
- To increase confidence among operators and
facilitate joint work in the medium term to open
new communication channels.
The topics discussed included the International
Police cooperation related to drug trafficking, the
information exchange in joint operations, and the
relationship between police and judicial cooperation
on the fight against drug-trafficking, among others.
News (in Spanish):
La voz libre
Ministerio del Interior
Ministerio del Interior
Venezuela Noticias
FIIAPP: here and here
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Magazine of the Spanish National Police:
Anticorruption Course “Understanding
the mechanisms of police corruption
related to drug trafficking to combat it
more effectively”
Nanterre, France, 20-22 May 2014.
This course, organized in collaboration with the
International Cooperation Directorate of the
French Ministry of Exterior welcomed the
participation of police officials specialists in internal
affairs and corruption related to drug trafficking
from Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama y
Peru.
In the conclusions of the course, it was established
that corruption cases which have occurred in each
of the countries are combated accordingly, using
legal and police instruments available. Another
common feature is that all involved nations are
developing a policy preventing police corruption;
influencing controls for entering the police force, as
well as regarding awareness of what should be the
professional ethics in the development of the police
activity.
Finally some concrete measures were proposed in
order to fight more effectively against corruption in
the police services. These measures focused on
improving the staff selection processes, statutes and
professional development, training, organization of
the internal security units, hierarchy, internal
control, complementary professional activities, and
control procedures by citizens.
The training was conducted by members of the
departments of Internal Affairs of the Gendarmerie
and the French Police as well as the Spanish
National Police and Civil Guard.
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Seminar “Fight against money laundering
and organized crime”
Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1-4 July 2014.
This activity was organized jointly by the
GAFISUD-UE and AMERIPOL-UE projects,
both part of the Cocaine Route Program, financed
by the Instrument contributing to Stability and
Peace of the European Commission.
It was a replica of the II Inter-institutional Seminar
for Police, Prosecutors and Judges: Fight against
Money-Laundering and Organized Crime organized
by the AMERIPOL-EU project in July 2013 in Rome.
countries such as Italy, Spain and the UK in the fight
against this crime, data bases, analysis tools and
georeferencing of information related to organized
crime.
This information was complemented by debate and
working groups focused on improving cooperation
and future efforts in the fight against money
laundering.
The presentations were given by expert trainers,
specialists in money laundering from the Guardia di
Finanza (Italy) one of the consortium partners of
the AMERIPOL-EU project.
Police and prosecutors from the following countries
participated in the seminar: Argentina, Bolivia,
Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador,
Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama,
Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay.
During the four seminar days the participants
received training related to the legal framework of
money laundering, pre-investigation analysis,
investigation techniques, practical cases, analysis and
anti-money laundering inspections, strategies of EU
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Drug trafficking workshop – IberoAmerican Network of Antinarcotics
Prosecutors
Montevideo, Uruguay, 1-4 July 2014.
In the context of the initiatives promoted by the
AIAMP in order to fight different crimes more
effectively the creation of the Ibero-American
Network of Antinarcotics Prosecutors was
proposed through a workshop that brought
together prosecutors from different countries in
Montevideo.
The Ibero-American Network of Antinarcotics
Prosecutors has the following objectives:
- Address different areas related to drug trafficking
in Latin America through the reality and experience
of each Prosecutor’s Office.
- Promote transnational investigations related to
drug trafficking.
- Identify investigations linked to drug trafficking
involving various countries in order to promote the
exchange of information and joint research
investigations.
- Promote the use of Best Practices Manual for
investigating drug trafficking and money laundering.
V international meeting and VIII national
meeting of the network of observatories
and crime investigation centres
“Perspectives in citizen security in the
world”
Medellin, Colombia, 17 and 18 July 2014.
The project Team Leader Mr. Marcos Alvar,
participated in this event organized by the
Colombian National Police, the Presidential Agency
for International Cooperation of Colombia, the
Ministry of Interior of this country, UNODC and
the Company for Urban Security (ESU).
The overall objective of the meeting was to
improve prevention mechanisms of coexistence and
citizen security, allowing to show the importance of
using information systems to combat crime,
generating awareness on the responsibility that
exists to address crime, guarantee security and
protection of citizens in the exercise of the right to
life, honour, property, beliefs and other rights and
civil liberties.
The workshop allowed for the presentation of the
AMERIPOL-EU project, its objectives, guidelines,
outcomes and future actions.
The Memorandum of Understanding between the
AMERIPOL-EU project and the AIAMP was
emphasized and especially transnational joint
operations coordinated by the project where
several prosecutors have intervened in both Latin
America and Europe. One operation in particular
resulted in the commencement of actions for
developing International Legal Cooperation Treaty
between Germany and Brazil.
More information news and program
More information related to this workshop news,
concept note and a video
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Conference on police investigation on
cocaine trafficking by air
Santiago de Chile, Chile, 22-24 July, 2014.
VII Ordinary Meeting – Council of
Directors of the American Police
Community - AMERIPOL
Quito, Ecuador, 4, 5 and 6 August 2014.
Team Leader, Marcos Alvar, and IT Expert Vicente
Sanz Flores participated in the VII Ordinary Meeting
of AMERIPOL, that took place days 4 - 6 August
2014.
Some of the most important interventions were
those of the representative of the EU and the
Minister of Interior of Ecuador José Serrano.
The AMERIPOL-EU Team Leader participated in
this important event, organized by the COPOLAD
program, which had the objective to provide a
space for exchange of opinions and debate where
different aspects regarding methodology of police
investigation related to drug trafficking by air can be
debated, such as: the use of humans for trafficking;
the modus operandi of criminal organizations;
routes; profiling suspicious passengers; as well as
the importance of international cooperation in the
fight against these crimes. This event could count
on the participation of experts from Anti-narcotics
police units, Special Prosecutors and Customs
services in Latin America, the Caribbean and the
European Union, along with representatives from
CICAD, AMERIPOL, EUROPOL and the European
Commission
(AIRCOP
and
AMERIPOL-EU
Projects).
On 6 August, Sanz Flores presented the SIPASistema de Intercambio de Información Policial de
AMERIPOL (AMERIPOL Police Information
Exchange System) currently developed by the
AMERIPOL-EU project and one of its most
important results, which was very well received by
the representatives of the different AMERIPOL
Units.
Unanimously, the Board of Directors elected as
Executive Secretary for the period 2015-2017, the
National Police of Ecuador, now held by the
Superior General RODRIGO SUÁREZ SALGADO,
General Commander of that police force.
More information: news1, news2, concept
note, video
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Agenda law enforcement, judicial and prosecuting cooperation
Course on Drug trafficking via
containers, Origin-Transit-Destination
Rotterdam, The Netherlands, October 2014,
This event has the objective of offering a general
vision related to cocaine trafficking via containers,
the primary routes, as well as the problem in the
countries of origin, transit and destination. The idea
is to offer a space for exchange and debate related
to this topic where different opinions and
experiences of multidisciplinary character can be
presented.
During the seminar visits to EUROPOL and the
Port of Rotterdam are foreseen.
One police official from each AMERIPOL member
country beneficiary of the project is expected to
attend.
Trainers, experts in drug trafficking by containers
from the Anti-narcotics department of INTERPOL,
EUROPOL and the Netherlands National Police are
expected to participate in the course.
Pasantia for judges and prosecutors to
EUROJUST – Institutional strengthening
in international cooperation related to
the fight against drug trafficking between
institutions of Latin America and Europe
The Hague, The Netherlands November 2014.
This pasantía has the objective to present the
EUROJUST capacities and good practices related to
the efficiency of the authorities in investigating and
serious cross-border organized crime and bring
offenders to justice quickly and effectively. Also the
idea is to address issues related to cooperation and
experience on judicial level in effectively combating
cross-border organized crime in the European
Union.
The participation of about seven judges and
prosecutors of the beneficiary project countries is
expected as well as some of the AMERIPOL-EU
Key Experts.
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law enforcement, judicial and prosecuting cooperation
In this edition, we count on the participation of two key
stakeholders to answer our interview, whose
institutions are deeply committed to the fight against
drug trafficking and inequalities. We spoke with
Francisco Javier Albaladejo Campos, Head of the
International Cooperation Division of the Spanish
National Police, and Maria Antonia van Gool, EU
Ambassador in Colombia, about the international
challenges and commitments in order to face this
problem.
"Security actually has increased in
Latin America"
Francisco Javier Albaladejo Campos
Chief of the International Cooperation Division
Spanish National Police, Ministry of Interior, Spain
What is the commitment of the European
Union in the fight against organized crime in
Latin America after being present in that
region for a long time?
FJA - The European Union has been working for
many years now on helping Latin American
countries to combat organized crime in general and
illicit drug trafficking in particular. There are many
forums that work in a coordinated manner and the
AMERIPOL-EU project fits into this general
framework. AMERIPOL is the police community of
the Americas created in 2007 by an agreement of
the directors of the respective police forces and the
Spanish police has always considered that it is of
great importance to help its establishment as a
regional bloc of police cooperation in the region.
The Spanish police has been present at the
AMERIPOL Executive Secretariat in Bogota since its
establishment and there is a direct relationship with
the organization especially in offering assistance in
training and technical collaboration. Moreover, in
the EU we have always fostered collaboration with
AMERIPOL. It was actually within this framework
that the FIIAPP presented a project with the EU,
with Spain leading the consortium with other EU
Member States - France, Italy, Portugal and the UK
- to carry out a project in AMERIPOL that would
allow the creation of a system for exchange of
police information related to the fight against
trafficking. To this end, it has developed a system
made up of AMERIPOL Units in each of the
countries involved and a network of computer
servers
that
allows
direct
and
secure
communication between each of the countries
engaged in the project and the AMERIPOL
headquarters in Bogota. The Team Leader of the
project is a Chief Inspector of the Spanish police
who has been present in the region for some time
and we must say we are very pleased with the
results. In fact, it has been considered to try to
obtain funding from the EU for a second phase of
the project which would allow including more
countries in the project and expand activities
further, thus move from drug trafficking to areas
such as cybercrime and organized crime.
Which actions do you think would encourage
the consolidation of the results obtained by
the AMERIPOL-EU project and other
projects funded by the EU, focused on the
fight against drug trafficking and organized
crime?
FJA – The first achievement is the decision for
creating an information exchange system. This is
normally very delicate and complex regarding the
content of the information that will be shared with
other partners in an international project. It has a
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number of reservations that must be overcome in
the very beginning and accomplish changing the
mindset of bilateral cooperation between two
countries based on a bond of trust between those
who will perform this exchange to a multilateral
system in which information is put at the disposal of
others. That involves changing the way of work,
procedures, or the most difficult part, the culture
or the mentality of the people who operate. To the
extent that as the system becomes a success
because it allows to exchange information and the
results of this process translate into concrete
operations that demonstrate the added value of
these forms of cooperation; this will produce
feedback, increased exchange of information and
more countries will join the system. Then, the
information exchanged will be of greater quantity
and quality.
The high economic growth of Latin America
in recent years has not been translated into
increased security. What is your opinion in
this regard? What would be the right way to
proceed in this respect?
FJA- It is important to differentiate two things.
Security has increased, but only when compared
with previous statistics. If European security
standards are applied to this region, most certainly
there will be an important difference and from our
security standards it will appear that this region
isn’t at this level since the crime rates are higher,
but in the regional context security rate is greater
and better. It must be noted that it is a progressive
process.
point of view. To say, in a very vulgar way, “life has
no value”. Then there is a social context to be
taken into account and there is an economic
context which should enable a better development
of societies in America. I hope that the growth in
these last years will be translated in measures for
improving living conditions of the people that live in
these societies and that from there the crime
related statistics will start declining. Crime doesn’t
decrease only because of police or judicial action,
but also as a result of creating socioeconomic
conditions that will decrease the potential of people
determined to commit criminal acts.
The success in this area contribute to extending the
values of Justice, transparency and security for the
people and assets that the EU has fomented since
its beginnings and the reason why our region
continues to be admired, respected, and why not,
envied in the regions that don’t enjoy the same
ones.
What do you expect will be the direction of
the development cooperation policy of the
European Union for Latin America after the
recent changes in the European Parliament?
FJA- I do not expect major changes. It is an
established policy of the EU that will not be affected
because the majority in the European Parliament is
of one or another party. There is great political
agreement between the major European parties and
therefore I do not think there will be any significant
changes in this policy.
On what should we focus in order for it to
continue this trend?
FJA- Basically as it occurs with crime in other parts
of the world, work must be done in relation to
preventing crime. Economic, social and cultural
conditions are a fundamental factor also. When a
country has suffered a war or a conflict, the value of
the right to life actually decreases from an ethical
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“The AMERIPOL-EU project is
being consolidated as a useful and
effective tool”
Maria Antonia van Gool
EU Ambassador in Colombia
parts of the world, and especially with Europe. We
cannot forget that the Old Continent is
unfortunately a major consumer of cocaine, and
within the project countries there are not only
drug-producing countries as Bolivia, Colombia and
Peru, bur also transit countries such as Ecuador,
Brazil and Panama.
In this regard and in the context of shared
responsibility on the issue of drugs, we have
supported the police, judiciary and prosecutor
cooperation through the AMERIPOL-EU project
aimed at integrating the various police forces in the
region. Just to cite one example, recently in May
the AMERIPOL Units (UAs) were provided with
secure and encrypted emails through their own
servers equipped with separate lines installed in the
AMERIPOL Executive Secretariat in Bogota.
What is the commitment of the European
Union in the fight against organized crime in
Latin America after being present in that
region for a long time?
MAvG – The European External Action Service
(EEAS) follows closely the world events and
particularly activities that threaten security or affect
peace. In this context, the fight against organized
crime is increasingly important not only at a local
level or regional levels, but in a global way. In
Europe, EUROPOL is a clear example of
coordination of our police forces to combat the
various criminal activities and of course organized
crime, the threat of terrorism and any other
important crime that affects us.
In Latin America we have also been working on
these issues. In fact we have shared our experience
through EUROPOL, and also EUROJUST. We also
have numerous projects funded by the EU in the
region, which contribute to combating organized
crime not only in Latin America but also in other
Also, in August, we will formally present the
AMERIPOL information exchange system during the
ordinary summit of the institution in Quito. This
system fully funded by the AMERIPOL-EU project
will provide AMERIPOL with its primary
communications and data storage tool for
intelligence equal to those of INTERPOL or
EUROPOL.
Which actions do you think would encourage
the consolidation of the results obtained by
the AMERIPOL-EU project and other
projects funded by the EU, focused on the
fight against drug trafficking and organized
crime?
MAvG – I am convinced that the AMERIPOL-EU
project is being consolidated as a useful and
effective tool in order to offer added value to the
six participating countries (Colombia, Ecuador,
Peru, Bolivia, Panama and Brazil) since it has
positioned itself as a reference point in the region,
as EUROPOL in the EU.
We must recall that three years ago the AMERIPOL
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Units (AUs) were not consolidated and today the
system of secure emails and encrypted information
is a reality. The AUs are integrated in their
respective police forces, in addition to the exchange
of information which has already produced
excellent results. I know how it strategically works.
I would also dare to say that as it happened with
Interpol worldwide or Europol in Europe in order
to evolve and consolidate, AMERIPOL also has its
time to develop and grow, given that the political
context in the region is very different.
In particular I can cite actions and visible results of
AMERIPOL in the fight against organized crime and
drug trafficking, as well as the aforementioned AUs,
confidence building in the region is essential for
cooperation to be effective, development of a
secure information exchange system, a letter of
intent between EUROPOL and AMERIPOL, joint
investigations with concrete results on the field,
training criminal intelligence analysts, courses,
seminars etc ...).
I believe that it is necessary to continue developing
efforts in order to strengthen the foundations built
by the project. This shouldn’t be a short impulse,
but should be continued over time, and for that the
commitment of Latin American countries is crucial.
A clear example is that of EUROPOL that after
more than 20 years continues evolving.
The high economic growth of Latin America
in recent years has not been translated into
increased security. What is your opinion in
this regard? What would be the right way to
proceed in this respect?
MAvG - Unfortunately, as some studies indicate,
despite a growing economy with sustained growth,
Latin America remains to be a comparatively
insecure region. There are structural factors that
contribute to this such as socioeconomic
inequalities which are still very noticeable. On the
continent there are still high levels of social
exclusion, in some cases slow judicial systems, and
the scourge of corruption that threatens
governance. It is clear that drug trafficking is one of
the primary activities of organized crime all over
the world which thrives because of failures in
international cooperation that still exist and of
course affects the security in different regions. As
the economy grows and changes, unfortunately
trafficking routes also evolve and change affecting
security in different parts. We also know that drug
trafficking is closely related to other forms of
organized crime.
With regard to the aforementioned structural
factors, the European Union works with Latin
American Governments in programs that seek to
address these issues, both in terms of social
exclusion and poverty, as well as reforms to the
judicial systems and promoting good governance.
With regard to the fight against international
organized crime, since 2009 a Global Action Plan
titled “Cocaine Route Program” was created in
order to fight these criminal networks. Financed by
the Instrument contributing to Stability and Peace
the program is meant for all regions including
routes from Latin America to Europe, with special
emphasis on West Africa, where the threat has
emerged more recently and whose capacity deficit
is high. The purpose of the Plan is to strengthen the
international cooperation capacities between law
enforcement, judicial and prosecuting authorities in
the affected regions.
The interventions focus on creating infrastructures
of persecuting drug trafficking at certain airports
and ports in West Africa, Latin America and the
Caribbean as well as in establishing transregional
frameworks for judicial cooperation, training, joint
investigations and operations as well as exchange of
information.
Another component of the Global Action Plan is
the fight against money laundering. Work is
underway in Latin America and we are gradually
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trying to establish links with West Africa. The
interventions come from regional institutions with
law enforcement functions that combat money
laundering, among which the Financial Action Task
Force of South America against Money Laundering
(GAFISUD). Another major component is directed
to the Police Community of the Americas
(AMERIPOL), its Member States and other key
stakeholders.
the case of Colombia, supporting the fight against
poverty, support for climate change always go in
one direction and with a clear objective: to have a
more just society and welfare, trying to achieve
coexistence and balance, and this applies to both
Europe and Latin America.
Finally, there is a support mechanism for
coordination and monitoring. The final purpose is
to ensure the coherence between the different
actions and their complementarity with existing
international mechanisms. This would give greater
inclusiveness to the fight against organized crime.
What do you expect will be the direction of
the development cooperation policy of the
European Union for Latin America after the
recent changes in the European Parliament?
MAvG – The European Union and its institutions
have their own dynamics and changes. Certainly
2014 has been a year of many changes. A new
European Parliament, President of the European
Council and the Commission and new
commissioners, but this does not mean that there
will be major changes in political orientation. The
objectives of the European Union are clearly
defined by the various treaties and the institutions
and their officials work accordingly in order to
meet these goals.
In this sense our policy with Latin America
continues to grow. We have strategic partners in
Latin America, free trade agreements with several
countries in the region, agreements, framework
agreements and above all a common vision with
common values.
Also, as we have seen with projects like
AMERIPOL-EU our work in judicial cooperation,
support for regional security, peace support as is
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law enforcement,
judicial and prosecuting cooperation
In this edition, we release the new section: Comment
and Debate with the participation of our Key Expert
Emerald Rasillo from the General Prosecutor’s Office of
Spain who works, among other areas, in strengthening
international cooperation between public prosecutors.
She also provides an added value for the AMERIPOL-EU
project, encouraging joint activities through AIAMP and
different stakeholders in fiscal and judicial matters in
Latin America.
The AMERIPOL-EU Project and its
objective to reinforce international
cooperation against drug trafficking
towards Europe
Esmeralda Rasillo López
Prosecutor from the Support Unit of the General
State Prosecutors Office and AMERIPOL-EU Key
Expert
The new global dimension of the world requires the
overcoming of the concept of criminal law as a
manifestation of sovereignty of the states since
criminal organizations operate and their effects
extend beyond borders. Besides the old concept of
sovereign justice limited to its territory favours the
impunity
of
criminals
and
international
organizations.
Given this phenomenon of globalization of criminal
activities, the international community has assumed
that cooperation between countries and their legal
systems is a pressing need to defend living
standards
seriously
threatened
by
them.
Undeniably, there have been great advances in
international
criminal
cooperation
through
International Treaties and building the common
European space. However the answer is not always
quick or effective when faced with the divergence
of the different legislations in criminal law. Thus,
legal practitioners claim homogenization of the
response of criminal law to the same criminal
phenomena, still distant, as closest and most
simplified collaboration mechanisms.
In my opinion, the AMERIPOL-EU project fully
connects with the expressed needs and highlights
three key aspects for achieving adequate practices
related to international cooperation in the fight
against drug trafficking that meet the criteria of
agility and efficiency, with submission in any case to
the Rule of Law.
Firstly, the project is conceived as an instrument of
stability for the beneficiary countries funded by the
European Union and managed by FIIAPP. It offers
international support against drug trafficking from
cocaine producing countries as well as transit
countries in Latin America and Africa towards
Europe. During the identification phase of the
project and after the analysis on the field, it was
decided that Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador,
Peru and Panama would be the beneficiary
countries of this project. However, its influence
extends to other countries in Latin America and
some African countries such as Ghana or Ivory
Coast.
Secondly, the project was designed with the
objective to integrate and collaborate with already
existing organizations as the Police Community of
the Americas (AMERIPOL) and the Ibero-American
Assembly of Public Ministries (AIAMP). In this
regard the AMERIPOL Units, intensely supported
by the project, are an example of this integration.
They are constituted by police forces of the project
beneficiary countries, which in turn are part of
AMERIPOL. Also, the AMERIPOL institution has its
autonomous headquarters in Bogota, the Executive
Secretariat of AMERIPOL, where the AMERIPOLEU project is integrated through the police expert
appointed by the National Spanish Police. In this
same line of integration, a secure information
exchange system for the beneficiary countries is
being developed, a system that is key to prevention
and police work against drug trafficking.
The third, and not less relevant, aspect is training.
The trainings in the project have been undertaken
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law enforcement,
judicial and prosecuting cooperation
from a fresh perspective. Indeed, along with specific
training for police, joint trainings for police, judges
and prosecutors have been organized. These
multidisciplinary training activities are proving
enormously enriching and useful since they cover
various points of view, both judicial and police
related. Also good practices of European police
forces have been introduced through courses
taught by different European law enforcement
agencies.
The importance of training for prosecutors within
the project led to the signature of a Memorandum
of Understanding with the Ibero-American
Assembly of Public Ministries (AIAMP) in 2011,
whereby over 90 prosecutors from these countries
have been trained.
Apart from this, these training meetings foster
mutual understanding which is the basis for building
trust between police and legal practitioners from
different countries. From this approach, various
police investigations and prosecutions ended in
both convictions and destruction of several drug
laboratories, drug arrests, as well as seizures of
money, drugs and goods.
It is precisely this mutual knowledge, gained
through the training, that allowed to undertake
joint action between the AMERIPOL-EU Project
and the Public Ministry of Brazil as explained in
continuation. In August 2013 two Brazilian
individuals were detained in Spain for their alleged
commission in our country for a crime of trafficking
in psychotropic substances in outstanding amounts.
One of those detained was in turn claimed by the
judicial authorities in Brazil since there was a
pending conviction of nine years imposed by a
Brazilian court and another criminal case on
charges of trafficking drugs and psychotropic
substances between Brazil and Europe.
the Public Ministry of Brazil shared the need to
collaborate with the experts of the AMERIPOL-EU
project so that links are established between the
prosecutors from Brazil and European judicial and
prosecuting authorities in order to collect
information on a criminal organization involved in
drug trafficking and allegedly led by one of the
detainees. The European Commission authorized
that within the framework of the AMERIPOL-EU
Project, a Brazilian prosecutor in charge of the
processes in Brazil travels to Spain and Germany in
November 2013 with two officers of the Brazil
Federal Police. The meetings of the Brazilian
delegation with judges, prosecutors and police
officials in Spain and prosecutors in Germany were
coordinated by the Prosecutor of the International
Cooperation Unit in Spain.
The results of all these joint efforts have been very
positive. On the one hand, Brasil channeled letters
rogatory to Spain and Germany. On the other
hand, relevant information was collected for
identifying members of an international organization
dedicated to drug trafficking between Brazil and
Europe. Finally, this event served as a boost at a
diplomatic level for preparing a Treaty of
International
Judicial
Cooperation
between
Germany and Brazil.
The AMERIPOL-EU project aims to ultimately
continue its aim to contribute to building trust and
serve as a support in the coordination between
countries in Europe, Latin America and Africa in the
fight against drug trafficking.
The Public Ministry of Brasil was aware of these
arrests through INTERPOL and immediately the
Secretariat for International Judicial Cooperation of
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“AMERIPOL: Enhance the capacity for international
Proyecto AMERIPOL-UE “AMERIPOL: Enhance the capacity for international cooperation of
BACK
COVER
STATICS of the European Drug Report 2014 EMCDDA
NEWS
-
-
The hole of universal justice threatens more anti-narcotics operations
EL UNIVERSAL wins Ortega y Gasset award for drug trafficking
report
New synthetic drugs are created every day
The bridges of drugs
Cooperation with Europe against drug trafficking increases
Operation of the Anticorruption Office of the Prosecutor against the
Camorra.Collaboration with the Guardia di Finanza from Italy
Peru intensifies the fight against drug trafficking and will intercept
“narcoplanes”
México and the EU to an strategic cooperation in the control of the
ilicit drugs and organized crime
AN IMAGE
Drug trafficking routes and markets
PUBLICATIONS OF INTEREST
-
-
Commission en direct
EU Serious and Organised Crime Threat Assesment (EUROPOL)
Eurosocial’s Magazine Encuentros 3
Study on judicial cooperation, mutual legal assistance and extradition
of drug traffickers and other drug-related crime offenders, between
the EU and its Member States and Latin American and Caribbean
(LAC) countries
World Drug Report 2014 UNODC
LINKS
-
-
Interview Veimar Rojas for the FIIAPP blog
Presentations - course on equity investigations held at the Centre for
Legal Studies in Spain
Drogues, Chiffres clés
French action in the fight against drug trafficking
Source: European Drug Report 2014 - EMCDDA
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Project Activities Newsletter AMERIPOL-EU nº 3 August

Transcription

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