ASEAN police to join hands in fighting crime
ASEAN police to join hands in fighting crime
Wahyoe Boediwardhana, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar, Bali
Participants at the 25th conference of ASEAN chiefs of police
grouped in the Aseanapol organization have agreed to establish a
partnership between the group's members to fight 12 types of
transnational crimes and develop an electronic Aseanapol database
system (e-ADS).
A joint communique issued here on Thursday after the two-day
meeting said the agreement covered cooperation in fighting drug
trafficking, terrorism, arms smuggling, people trafficking,
maritime crime, commercial crime, banking crime, credit card
fraud, cyber crime, travel document fraud and transnational
fraud.
After making his closing remarks, National Police chief Gen.
Da'i Bachtiar told reporters that the establishment of e-ADS had
actually been under discussion by ASEAN police forces since 1990.
He said that one year would be required to prepare the
infrastructure and train the necessary personnel.
The project is expected to be completed in December for trial
stage, when a test is slated to be held and the results conveyed
to all members of Aseanapol.
"And another idea has been proposed by Interpol. We expect
that the Aseanapol database can be connected to the Interpol
database so that it will be easier and faster for Interpol and
Aseanapol to communicate with one another," Da'i said.
Da'i did not deny the possibility of exchanging confidential
data within Aseanapol. However, he said any such data would only
be used by Aseanapol members for such purposes as helping each
other out with terrorism and drug trafficking cases.
"Off course, each member will release only specific data and
protect data that is confidential and needs to be kept within the
confines of each country. But all information on transnational
crimes will be provided," Da'i explained.
During the discussions, delegates of the 10 ASEAN member
states and seven non-ASEAN countries -- China, South Korea, New
Zealand, Japan, Australia, Papua New Guinea and East Timor --
elaborated on the details of the measures that will be taken to
fight transnational crimes within the ASEAN countries.
On the matter of drug trafficking, they agreed on a number of
major steps:
First, exchanging information on the movement of precursor
chemicals used in the production and processing of drugs.
Second, exchanging information on the movement of chemists
suspected of being involved in the illegal drug business.
Third, destroying drug syndicates and their networks through
special investigation efforts.
On the issue of terrorism, the members agreed to expand their
partnership and coordination efforts based on both their own
national laws and United Nations conventions, and through
training and exchanging experiences, information on terrorist
organizations and data on suspects, including their modus
operandi.
In the area of arms smuggling, the members agreed to intensify
their supervision of firearms and explosives, including places
where these are produced.
On people trafficking, the members agreed to exchange
information on activities related to people trafficking and to
intensify border controls.
The meeting also discussed accelerating the realization of
extradition agreements among the members of ASEAN and providing
assistance with investigations between members.