01 September 2005
Inter-American Officials Meet To Enhance Anti-Terrorism Efforts
Brazil hosts September 1-3 Western Hemisphere event
By Eric Green
Washington File Staff Writer
Washington -- Inter-American officials are meeting in Brazil September 1-3 to strengthen cooperation in the Western Hemisphere on matters relating to crime and extradition as part of an effort to combat terrorism, transnational organized crime, money laundering and other crimes.
In an August 31 statement, the Organization of American States (OAS), which is organizing the meeting with the government of Brazil, said the event in Brasilia is designed to intensify cooperation among national authorities who are responsible for sending and receiving extradition requests, and for promoting mutual legal assistance in such areas as sharing evidence required to investigate and prosecute crimes.
This the second meeting held under OAS auspices of what is called "Authorities and Experts on Mutual Legal Assistance in the Western Hemisphere on Criminal Matters and Extradition."
During their first meeting in 2003 in Ottawa, Canada, inter-American officials discussed efforts to move forward on a hemispheric action plan for mutual legal assistance specifically related to combating organized transnational crime and terrorism. The meeting in Canada and the one being held in Brazil are called for under a mandate of the Summit of the Americas.
The OAS calls mutual legal assistance "an important mechanism through which the international community can more effectively suppress national crime." Since the meeting in Ottawa, the hemisphere's national authorities in this field have established an information-sharing system on the OAS Web site.
During the June OAS General Assembly meeting in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, OAS member states were called on to strengthen cooperation against terrorism and also against transnational organized crime, which includes drug trafficking, money laundering, illicit arms trafficking, trafficking in persons, smuggling of migrants, cybercrime, criminal youth gangs, kidnapping and corruption.
On the critical issue of hemispheric cooperation against terrorism, the United States signed the Inter-American Convention Against Terrorism in June 2002. The convention is designed to improve regional cooperation in the fight against terrorism through exchanges of information, technical cooperation, and mutual legal assistance. (See fact sheet.)
The OAS has said that the threat of terrorism in the Western Hemisphere is very real because of the connections that exist between terrorism and money laundering, and illicit drug trafficking and weapons -- problems that are afflicting a number of countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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