ARGENTINA INAUGURATES OFFICE DEDICATED TO

UNCLAS BUENOS AIRES 001007 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR OES/PCI LARRY SPERLING AND WHA/BSC EPA FOR CAM HILL-MACON BRASILIA FOR JIMMY STORY E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: SENV AR SUBJECT: ARGENTINA INAUGURATES OFFICE DEDICATED TO PROSECUTING ENVIRONMENTAL CRIMES -------------- Summary -------------- ¶1. Argentina has created its first prosecutorial body dedicated to fighting crimes against the environment. The establishment of that office, known by its Spanish acronym UFIMA, is the latest in a series of steps taken by Argentina's active environment secretary toward a more vigorous protection of Argentina's environment. UFIMA's chief plans to begin his efforts with several high profile prosecutions, which he hopes will have a deterrent effect on polluters and others who have never had to fear any legal consequences from their actions. The creation of such an institution augurs well for Argentina's nascent movement toward a real enforcement regime for environmental law. -------------- --- A First - Prosecutors Dedicated to Enviro Crimes -------------- --- ¶2. The Government of Argentina has for the first time created an office specifically dedicated to tackling crimes against the environment. The office, known by its Spanish acronym UFIMA, began to function only as of mid-April 2007, and has yet to prosecute its first case. ¶3. Ramiro Gonzalez, the federal prosecutor who heads UFIMA, told an Embassy visitor he hopes he and his staff of eighteen will provide better access to justice for victims of environmental crimes and serve as a resource for provincial officials, whom he described as often less sure of their legal footing when confronting such crime. UFIMA has a national mandate, and its enabling decree appointed the federal prosecutors in charge of five regional offices to act as UFIMA's representatives to ensure coverage in each of Argentina's twenty-four provinces. ¶4. UFIMA is the product of an unprecedented cooperation between the Secretary of the Environment, Romina Picolotti, and Argentina's attorney general equivalent, Esteban Righi. Their agreement provides UFIMA relatively generous funding from Picolotti's recently flush coffers, while giving Picolotti's secretariat a direct pipeline to feed case leads to UFIMA's independent prosecutors. Note: Gonzalez stressed that independence, saying that UFIMA was not just "a stick for the environment secretary." -------------- Things are Changing -------------- ¶5. Picolotti has taken a number of steps to serve notice to polluters and others who commit crimes against Argentina's environment that they might be called to account for their actions. For example, the number of uniformed environmental inspectors has risen from three to 250 under her watch. Last month two high level officials from the environment secretariat traveled to EPA offices in Washington and New SIPDIS York to learn about U.S. environmental enforcement. The unexpected and abrupt May 21 closure by Picolotti's secretariat of five companies alleged to be dumping directly SIPDIS into the massively polluted Riachuelo river, which runs through Buenos Aires, is another sign that Argentina's environmental enforcement apparatus is growing teeth. Those cases will be referred to UFIMA. -------------- Comment -------------- ¶6. The establishment of UFIMA will further expand the relevance of an environment secretariat that has become a more important part of government since Picolotti took over almost one year ago. While UFIMA's staff will likely soon be feeling crushed under the weight of an outpouring of complaints from victims -- UFIMA will represent for many their first recognizable opportunity for redress -- Gonzalez has a plausible plan to ensure UFIMA's effectiveness. He will focus UFIMA's efforts on a few solid and high-profile prosecutions early on, and believes their successful resolution will have an enormous deterrent effect that will in turn make UFIMA's task more manageable. Even if UFIMA is initially overwhelmed, the creation of such an institution is a sign that Argentina's nascent movement toward a credible enforcement regime for environmental law might be for real. WAYNE