Money laundering as dangerous as terrorism
Rita A.Widiadana, The Jakarta Post, Nusa Dua, Bali
Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda stressed on Tuesday a deadly link between money laundering and the financing of terrorism, and concluded that both must be eradicated along with terrorism itself.
Speaking at the opening of the two-day international conference on money laundering at the Bali International Convention Center (BICC), the minister added that long before it was linked to terrorism, money laundering had already been regarded as one of the most pernicious forms of economic crimes because of its connection to transnational crime.
"Money that is successfully laundered is invariably used to finance the expansion of the dirty business that produced it," Hassan said, adding that in the long run, unabated money laundering has the effect of destabilizing the national economy and contributing to political instability and to the breakdown of public order.
"As long as money can be laundered, terrorism can be financed and carried out to kill more innocents and wreak havoc on our lives," he asserted.
Despite the fact that money laundering had been detected a long time ago, Indonesia passed a law only this year to eradicate the crime.
Indonesia and Australia are co-hosting the conference, which is aimed at augmenting and contributing to the existing initiatives being undertaken at regional and international levels against money laundering.
The co-hosting of this conference highlights the continuing commitment of the two countries to combat financing terrorism and money laundering in the region.
The two-day meeting was officially opened by Australian Justice Minister Chris Ellison and Indonesian foreign minister Hassan Wirayuda.
The conference also drew high-level representatives from the governments, international organizations and the private sectors of 33 countries from Asia and the Pacific Rim, including Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Canada, China, East Timor, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Singapore, the Solomon Islands, Thailand and the United States. International organizations represented at the conference included the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the Islamic Development Bank, the United Nations Development Program and the European Commission.
Hassan said that transnational organized crimes had become so methodical, so dependent on modern science and technology, and so ambitious in their ill intentions that they could not possibly operate without sizable logistics.
"Without massive logistics, they cannot possibly maintain their shadowy network of cells and they cannot run from one hideout to another in a bid to outrun the long arm of the law," he noted.
For example, investigations into the Bali bombings have indicated that around US$30,000 was made available to terrorists to carry out their horrific attacks.
"This money is surely worth nothing if we compare it to the devastating effects that it instigates. I am not only talking about the grave loss of lives to the families of the victims, which is beyond any measure, but also to the billions of dollar losses resulting from the bombing's negative economic impacts," he maintained.
The first day of the conference covered overviews of participating countries' efforts in combating money laundering and its link to terrorism.
In his presentation, Curtis A. Ward, Adviser on Technical Assistance of the United Nations Security Council, said the challenge posed by international terrorism in its new manifestation had awakened the global community to a clearer understanding of the need for new measures to enhance the level of cooperation between states at the bilateral, regional and international levels.
The UN Security Council has thus imposed several resolutions to deal with this contentious issue. beginning with the establishment of the Counter Terrorism Committee (CTC).
In addition, the Security Council has set up the Counter Terrorism Committee (CTC), which is tasked with monitoring the compliance of states with the requirements of the resolution, and receiving reports from states on the actions they have taken to implement the resolutions.
States are required to demonstrate, concisely and clearly, the legislative and executive measures they have in place, or have contemplated, to give effect to the resolution.
"The process of capacity building for combating terrorism will be a long-term commitment for all. There is no quick fix for the problems, hence long-term support of the donor community is needed.
The meeting on Tuesday also revealed Indonesia's experience in dealing with money laundering, as presented by Senior Deputy Governor of Bank Indonesia Anwar Nasution.
The outcomes of the conference will be a Co-chairs' Statements and Report, which will summarize the discussions of the conference. The report will be designed to feed into and inform future international and regional work on these issues, including the Pacific Rim Conference in March 2003, as well as other regional forums.