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.