The threat of fisheries crimes should draw more attention. Effective international cooperation, which is in line with national law and international instruments, should be stepped up.
London (ANTARA) - Indonesia has urged nations across the world to remain wary of the continued threat posed by organized transnational crimes despite the host of challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Indonesian Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations and International Organizations in Vienna, Dr. Darmansjah Djumala, made the call at the 10th Conference of Parties to the UN Convention against Organized Transnational Crimes (UNTOC), held at the UN Headquarters in Vienna, Austria, from October 10-16, 2020.

The 10th Conference of Parties to UNTOC was aimed at commemorating 20 years of the signing of the convention.

Djumala said the world should remain vigilant and forge international cooperation to thwart orchestrators of organized transnational crimes, who are capitalizing on the current pandemic situation.

He also called on the world community to pay attention to other forms of crimes, including transnational fisheries crimes that have a detrimental impact on the environment.

"The threat of fisheries crimes should draw more attention. Effective international cooperation, which is in line with national law and international instruments, should be stepped up," Djumala said.

On a separate occasion, Ambassador Djumala had revealed that several models of transnational crimes, including human trafficking and migrant smuggling, had showed a slightly downward trend due to stringent restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Organized transnational crime groups are making efforts to capitalize on the situation to operate in the health and public procurement sectors, such as fraud and trade in non-standard or counterfeit medicines,” he cautioned.

Hopefully, the 10th Conference of Parties to UNTOC can decide on the implementation of the UNTOC review mechanism, which will give a chance to the parties to the convention to evaluate and ascertain the disparities in their national laws in relation to the fight against organized transnational crimes, he noted.

The meeting discussed several resolutions. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, most delegations from the parties to the convention, including the Indonesian delegation from the Foreign Ministry and the Law and Human Rights Ministry, attended the meeting virtually.


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Translator: Zeynita Gibbons/Suharto
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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