POSSIBLE UNODC TERRORISM PROJECT IN VIETNAM

UNCLAS HANOI 000726 SIPDIS STATE FOR S/CT; INL/AAE AND EAP/BCLTV E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PTER VM CTERR SUBJECT: POSSIBLE UNODC TERRORISM PROJECT IN VIETNAM ¶1. (U) This is an action cable. Please see paragraph 6. ¶2. (U) Poloff met February 27 with Dolgor Solongo, Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Officer, Terrorism Prevention Branch, UN Office of Drugs and Crime. Solongo was in Vietnam to review the GVN's approach to counterterrorism, particularly the legal and regulatory environment and prospects for achieving Vietnamese accession to the remaining four counterterrorism conventions. The GVN, she said, would need to undertake legislative reforms to be able to accede to the four CT conventions it had not yet signed. ¶3. (U) Solango said UNODC might consider a legal assistance project in FY 2005 with the goal of working with the GVN to review and reform the legal code in such a way that Vietnam would be in a position to accede to the remaining CT conventions. Such a project would conceivably last one year and cost USD 500,000; the expected outcome would be GVN accession to all four remaining CT conventions. However, Solango noted that UNODC was not ready to make a commitment to doing a counterterrorism project in Vietnam, and cautioned that obtaining GVN agreement to do such a project would be a delicate matter. ¶4. (U) Poloff told Solongo that obtaining GVN accession to the CT conventions is one of Embassy Hanoi's strategic goals and that a project like this might interest the USG. Later, the UNODC Representative in Hanoi told Poloff that UNODC would prefer to do a legal assistance project that was wider in scope than just counterterrorism and covered more of the criminal code. One way or the other, a decisive factor would be what sort of project the U.S. might be willing to fund, she added. ¶5. (U) Comment: Deficiencies in Vietnam's legal code and interagency conflicts over resource allocation represent the main obstacles to Vietnam's accession to the remaining four CT conventions. Legal reform will be necessary to overcome these hurdles, and UNODC has the expertise and personnel to carry it out. In addition, UNODC has a track record of working with the Ministry of Justice on legal reform in the areas of counternarcotics and trafficking in persons, and has excellent contacts within the MOJ and the Ministry of Public Security. This represents the best possibility we have seen to date of achieving the goal of Vietnamese accession to the remaining four CT conventions. If the U.S. were prepared to fund the project or part of it, UNODC would likely carry it out. End comment. ¶6. (U) ACTION REQUEST: Please advise if FY05 funding might be available for the project described above. BURGHARDT