Police chiefs disagree on extradition<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): ASEAN police chiefs ended their three-day
\nconference Wednesday agreeing to boost cooperation efforts,
\ndespite shooting down Indonesia's proposal on a regional
\nextradition treaty.<\/p>\n
The 15th annual ASEAN Police (ASEANAPOL) conference was closed
\nby Indonesia Police Chief Gen. Banurusman Astrosemitro.<\/p>\n
\"We are determined to enhance cooperation in handling trans-
\nnational crime in ASEAN member countries,\" Banurusman said.<\/p>\n
The police chiefs issued a 10-point joint communique in which
\nthey agreed to step up cooperation in combating drug trafficking,
\nfraudulent travel documents, commercial crime, phantomship frauds
\nand product counterfeiting.<\/p>\n
They also agreed on exchanges of personnel, training programs,
\nmutual assistance in criminal matters and the establishment of a
\ntemporary ASEANAPOL secretariat and data base.<\/p>\n
The communique, however, made no mention of an extradition
\ntreaty, which was one of the hottest issues during last year's
\nASEANAPOL conference in Phuket, Thailand.<\/p>\n
When opening the meeting, Indonesian Armed Forces Commander
\nGen. Feisal Tanjung proposed that each member of the Association
\nof Southeast Asian Nations adopt extradition pacts to help curb
\nthe increasing frequency of trans-national crime.<\/p>\n
ASEAN groups Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, the Philippines,
\nThailand and Singapore. Vietnam, who will join ASEAN this year,
\nis an observer at the conference.<\/p>\n
Delegates from Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines were
\nkeen to push each member country to have not only a bilateral but
\nalso a regional extradition treaty.<\/p>\n
In the region, Indonesia has extradition agreements with
\nMalaysia, Thailand and the Philippines.<\/p>\n
Malaysian police chief Tan Sri Rahim Noor and Filipino
\nRecaredo A. Sarmiento said that an extradition treaty would
\nfacilitate the exchange of criminals.<\/p>\n
But Singapore's police commissioner Tee Tua Ba said that the
\nASEAN countries can exchange criminals and fugitives based on
\neach member's \"mutual assistance treaty\".<\/p>\n
A member country can hand over a criminal without having an
\nextradition agreement, he said.<\/p>\n
He added that the conference could not decide on extradition
\nwithout the involvement of other agencies such as individual
\nministries of justice and foreign affairs.<\/p>\n
The police chiefs also agreed that drug trafficking is a
\nserious threat in the region and agreed to step up cooperation to
\ncombat it.<\/p>\n
With regard to the rising incidence of fraudulent travel
\ndocuments, the conference agreed to make recommendations to
\nrelevant government officials to improve security measures,
\nincluding the use of finger printing.<\/p>\n
The communique also underlined the importance of mutual
\nassistance to reduce crime in the ASEAN countries.<\/p>\n
Because investigations into trans-national criminal cases are
\noften hindered by each country's different laws, the conference
\nagreed to work on a common legal foundation for future incidents.<\/p>\n
On economic crime, the use of advanced technologies has
\nallowed more and more sophisticated crimes to occur in the
\nbanking system, especially in the forgery of credit cards.<\/p>\n
As a result, each country agreed on the need to step up the
\nexchange of information to determine criminals' identities and
\ntheir techniques.<\/p>\n
To facilitate the exchange of information, the police chief
\nagreed to establish a data base. The tender will be held in
\nSingapore this year.<\/p>\n
The police chiefs, however, agreed that it was not necessary
\nto establish a permanent secretariat to be in charge of
\nformulating the agenda of the upcoming conference, which will be
\nheld in Kuala Lumpur. (pan)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/police-chiefs-disagree-on-extradition-1447893297",
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