Priorities set to counter drugs, trafficking and organized crime in Central Asia

TASHKENT, 20 October 2000 - At an international conference on enhancing regional security and stability, the five Central Asian countries endorsed a document that would considerably strengthen co-ordinated efforts to combat the scourge of drug trafficking, organized crime and terrorism.

The document, "Priorities for Co-operation to Counter Drugs, Organized Crime and Terrorism in Central Asia," outlines measures for improving co-operation and co-ordination, exchanging information, enhancing preventive and control measures and strengthening the justice system, the rule of law and good governance. The United Nations Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention (UNODCCP) and the OSCE have pledged to help the Central Asian countries in concrete initiatives and projects.

A number of conference speakers identified Afghanistan as the base for drug trafficking and for extremists and terrorists who threaten to destabilize the region. "The trafficking of narcotics from Afghanistan and other criminal and terrorist activity that it fuels, pose a corrosive challenge to the governments in the region - a challenge we cannot ignore," said Pino Arlacchi, UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UNODCCP in his remarks to the conference. "To contain the flow of drugs, the spread of crime and terrorism from Afghanistan, an important element in our strategy is to strengthen the control capacities of all countries around Afghanistan." Mr. Arlacchi said.

In her address to the Conference, the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Austrian Foreign Minister Benita Ferrero-Waldner, stressed the need for Central Asian countries to adopt the OSCE-advocated "comprehensive approach" to security that advocates the interdependence of the human, political, economic and environmental dimensions. Other speakers called on the international community to recognize their own responsibility as countries of destination for trafficking in drugs and human beings and as havens for the profits that this commerce generates.

The two-day Conference, jointly organized by the UNODCCP and the Austrian Chairmanship of the OSCE, brought together 200 participants from 67 countries. Ministers from the five Central Asian States - Kazakhstan, Kyrgysztan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan - chaired the sessions.

The Declaration and the Priorities paper, endorsed by the five Central Asian countries at the Conference, are available on the OSCE website at: www.osce.org.

For further information contact the Press and Public Information Section of the OSCE Secretariat, tel.: (+ 43-1) 514 36 180 or e-mail: info@osce.org