Molokomme calls for cooperation against crime
Goitsemodimo Kaelo | Wednesday October 28, 2015 14:46
This was revealed by the Attorney General (AG), Dr Athaliah Molokomme, when opening a conference on Exploring Links Between Core International Crimes and Transnational Organised Crimes yesterday in Gaborone.
Molokomme pointed out that the United Nations’ High-Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change has classified transnational organised crime as a threat to peace and security. She added that the UN has taken a stand against the threat through the Palermo Convention, which has been adopted to fight against transnational organised crime.
“With criminals continuously developing sophisticated networks, domestic legal systems must be able to respond to the new types of organised crimes focusing on their diverse and interconnected nature,” she said.
“The regulation of crimes within states has a direct relationship with the outcome of internal investigations and prosecutions.
“The synchronisation of domestic and international legislation is indispensable in ensuring the administration of justice at this level.”
Molokomme called for states to develop effective international cooperation among legal enforcement agencies to curb the spread of crimes.
“This would involve processes of continuous cooperation to ensure that the affected states have a coordinated response,” she said.
Molokomme said Botswana is interested in topics such as wildlife crimes because of the increasing incidences of this crime and has taken stringent measures to deal with them. She said wildlife crimes are also becoming more complex as they intersect with crimes of interest to international criminal law due to smuggling networks and funding for armed groups. The crimes are aggravated by the demand for trophies internationally and they dominate in developing economies such as Botswana. She said increased penalties and certifying surveillance is helping to arrest the situation.
“We further need to mobilise adequate financial resources at the national, regional and international level to ensure an effective response when the need arises.”
She called for the need to establish linkages between organised crime and core international crimes with a view to finding solutions for better-coordinated investigations and prosecutions. The AG further said confiscation of crime proceeds should not be treated as secondary importance but rather a fundamental component of criminal justice response to organised crime.
EU Genocide Network Coordinator, Matevz Pezdirc, also said there is need among agencies of investigations and prosecutions to corporate to fight organised crimes. He said many developing countries are the most affected because there are raw materials, poaching and conflicts especially in Africa.