| Date | 15 October 1996 |
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Agenda item 156
Observer Status for the International Criminal Police Organization-Interpol in the General Assembly
Draft resolution (A/51/L.1)
The President
I call on the representative of Sweden to introduce the draft resolution contained in document A/51/L.1.
Mr. Osvald (Sweden)
It is an honour for me to introduce, on behalf of the 43 co-sponsors, the draft resolution entitled "Observer Status for the International Criminal Police Organization-Interpol in the General Assembly", contained in document A/51/L.1. I should mention that in that document the Islamic Republic of Iran was inadvertently omitted as an original co-sponsor of the draft. The following countries have also informed us that they wish to join the list of sponsors: Australia, Belgium, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Croatia, Georgia, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Republic of Moldova, Romania, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Turkey, Ukraine and Zimbabwe.
Combating and preventing international crime is a crucial challenge to the international community. Unless we cooperate at a global level, we will not succeed in this endeavour. It is therefore essential to do what we can to facilitate and promote cooperation and coordination between the different organs involved in combating crime with transnational ramifications.
The work of Interpol in this area is well known and widely recognized. As many as 176 States are currently represented in Interpol, making it a unique global forum for crime prevention. Interpol has cooperated with the United Nations for years on a wide-ranging set of issues related to crime prevention and law enforcement. Last year, at the Interpol General Assembly in Beijing, the members of Interpol unanimously adopted a resolution expressing Interpol's desire to obtain observer status with the United Nations General Assembly in order to provide for still-closer cooperation between the organizations.
Against this background, my delegation, together with other delegations from all the different regional groups, has submitted the draft resolution before us. We believe that granting Interpol observer status with the General Assembly will contribute greatly to efforts to combat international crime. Interpol is an intergovernmental organization that meets the criteria for the granting of observer status with the General Assembly laid down in decision 49/426. The operative part of the draft resolution invites the International Criminal Police Organization-Interpol to participate in the sessions and work of the General Assembly in the capacity of observer, and requests the Secretary-General to take the necessary action to implement the resolution. It is our hope that the General Assembly will adopt the draft resolution by consensus.
The President
The Assembly will now take a decision on draft resolution A/51/L.1.
May I take it that the Assembly decides to adopt draft resolution A/51/L.1?
The President
In accordance with the resolution just adopted, I now call on Mr. Björn Eriksson, President of the International Criminal Police Organization-Interpol.
Mr. Eriksson (International Criminal Police Organization-Interpol)
The Secretary General of the International Criminal Police Organization-Interpol, Mr. Raymond Kendall, and I are very honoured to be present in the United Nations General Assembly today. On behalf of the International Criminal Police Organization-Interpol, I should like to take the opportunity to express our deep appreciation for the decision to grant the organization the status of observer to the United Nations General Assembly.
We are very proud of the fact that next week we shall be able to report back to our governing body, the Executive Committee, and to our General Assembly that we have achieved the objective of our General Assembly last year, namely to obtain observer status within the United Nations General Assembly.
The Secretary General and I would also like to express our sincere gratitude to the Swedish delegation to the United Nations and to the Member countries that have representatives on Interpol's Executive Committee, as well as to the other sponsors of the resolution, who have done so much to promote ICPO-Interpol's observer status within the United Nations General Assembly.
The mission of ICPO-Interpol, with its 176 member countries, is to combat international offences against ordinary criminal law while respecting human rights and the laws of its member countries. The United Nations and the ICPO-Interpol are in many ways carrying out the same mission whose aim is to create a safer world. Consequently, our two organizations have, for many years, cooperated in many sectors relating to crime prevention and law enforcement. Today's decision will mean that we have formed an even better platform at the highest level to reinforce and extend our cooperation. Let us not forget that our two organizations serve the vast majority of people in the world in the fight against the minority that commits crimes. Today's decision, therefore, will benefit not only our two organizations, but also the people we serve.
Today the International Criminal Police Organization is equipped with highly sophisticated information technology facilities as well as an advanced, fast and secure communications network, which makes it possible for us to transmit information from one continent to another with absolute security. The Organization also has an analytical Crime Intelligence Unit working on international crime on the basis of the information received from all 176 member countries. The Unit produces reports that are of the utmost importance for forming effective law-enforcement strategies and policies.
For some time now, we have been engaged in a regionalization process and have established subregional bureaux in Asia, Africa and South America. We foresee that this development will continue and that Interpol will be able to enhance law-enforcement cooperation at the regional level.
Finally, the United Nations, its agencies and Interpol have cooperated for many years in the field of law enforcement. During recent years, we have expanded cooperation into new areas, such as the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. I am certain that in future we shall find even more new areas for cooperation.
As representatives of the International Criminal Police Organization-Interpol, the Secretary General and I are convinced that our organization has the ability and structure to meet the demands of the future. We hope that through joint efforts, together with the United Nations, we shall be able to step into the twenty-first century and prove even more effective in the fight against international crime.
We believe that the greatest threat to our democracy today is that presented by the menace of organized crime and drug trafficking, whose combined resources, derived from their illegal activities, enable them to corrupt our democratic institutions at the highest level. With political will and an action-oriented approach, we shall be in a much more favourable position. The higher status granted to ICPO-Interpol will enable the organization better to combine and coordinate its actions in the furtherance of our primary objective -- to make the world a safer place. Once again, the Secretary General and I renew our thanks and appreciation.
The President
May I take it that it is the wish of the Assembly to conclude its consideration of agenda item 156?
