Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09UNVIEVIENNA175
2009-04-21 07:00:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
UNVIE
Cable title:  

UNODC Director Costa on UN Crime Conventions

Tags:  PGOV SNAR KCRM UNODC 
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VZCZCXRO4760
RR RUEHDBU RUEHKW RUEHMA RUEHSK
DE RUEHUNV #0175/01 1110700
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 210700Z APR 09
FM USMISSION UNVIE VIENNA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9323
INFO RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 1593
RUCNNAR/VIENNA NARCOTICS COLLECTIVE
RUCNCRI/VIENNA CRIME COLLECTIVE
RUEHUB/USINT HAVANA 0040
RUEHMU/AMEMBASSY MANAGUA 0004
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 UNVIE VIENNA 000175 


SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV SNAR KCRM UNODC
SUBJECT: UNODC Director Costa on UN Crime Conventions

REF: UNVIE VIENNA 72
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Summary
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 UNVIE VIENNA 000175


SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV SNAR KCRM UNODC
SUBJECT: UNODC Director Costa on UN Crime Conventions

REF: UNVIE VIENNA 72
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Summary
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1. (SBU) INL Deputy Assistant Secretary Liz Verville and UNVIE
Ambassador used an April 16 meeting with UNODC Executive Director
Costa to underline U.S. interest in making the Commission on Crime
Prevention and Criminal Justice (CCPCJ),and the respective
Conferences of Parties to the UN Convention against Transnational
Organized Crime (UNTOC) and the UN Convention against Corruption
(UNCAC)more operational. Costa engaged in a frank exchange on ways
to create synergies between the the conventions and their
conferences, to ensure progress towards establishing mechanisms to
review implementation of the commitments enshrined in the UNTOC,
particularly the Migrant Smuggling Protocol, and the UNCAC. UNODC
staff also previewed its piracy initiative and the Central and Latin
America initiative (the Santo Domingo Pact) to fight the flow of
South American cocaine. End Summary.


2. (SBU) In his April 16 opening statement before the CCPCJ, Costa
criticized the UNTOC protocol against migrant smuggling as
"languishing." During the meeting with Costa, DAS Verville, who is
leading USDEL to the current CCPCJ (April 16-24) highlighted the
recently completed G-8 Lyon/Roma Anti-Crime and Terrorism Group
project that cataloged the tens of millions of dollars of assistance
being provided to over 150 countries by G-8 Member States to support
implementation of the Protocol. Costa recognized his lack of
awareness of these efforts. Despite the difficulty in negotiations,
DAS Verville stressed that the Protocol was gaining increased
attention. She indicated that in her capacity as Chair of the UNTOC
Conference of Parties, she had convened a meeting of the Bureau on
the margins of the CCPCJ in order to ensure that momentum continued
from the 2008 COP (reftel),which had just completed convening its
first working group on trafficking in persons and would convene
working group meetings on the review of implementation and technical
assistance in September 2009.


3. Costa praised the U.S. opening statement to the CCPCJ, which DAS
Verville delivered, saying that it was not merely another national
statement, but one steeped in knowledge of the issues and
authoritative to expert and policy-maker alike. In particular, he
said, the statement provided ideas for generating informational

synergies between the CCPCJ and the Conferences of the Parties. For
example, this year's CCPCJ (septel) will feature a thematic debate
on economic fraud and identity-related crime. The outcome of this
debate would be transmitted to the COP for in-depth discussion on
utilizing UNTOC to combat this serious crime. (Note: The full text
of the U.S. statementis at www.state.gov/p/inl End Note.)


4. (SBU) DAS Verville stressed the importance of developing
effective review processes for UNCAC and UNTOC. Increased
Vienna-based discussions, particularly among the "Friends" group,
would facilitate the development of such processes. She pointed to
the shortcomings of the 2nd UNCAC Conference of State Parties (COSP)
in Indonesia, identifying the lack of Bureau leadership as a major
obstacle for parties to move forward on issues such as asset
recovery. She said that the Government of Qatar, as the host of the
3rd Conference in November 2009, will need to invest considerable
effort to avoid similar failures and UNODC in Vienna would have to
ensure timely election of a strong Conference Bureau. Costa agreed,
noting his concern that the "gang of four" (Egypt, Cuba, Iran and
Pakistan) would continue to be obstructive. He emphasized that
these countries remained "harder to control" when meetings were held
outside of Vienna.


5. (SBU) Costa further indicated that the upcoming Global Forum
against Corruption, also hosted by Qatar, would be the last. The
end of this forum will allow the UNCAC COSP to become the primary
vehicle to promote cooperation to combat corruption. DAS Verville
explained that the Global Forum, started under former Vice President
Gore, had been successful in raising awareness on corruption.
However, since the UNCAC and its COSP came into existence, the Forum
had unfortunately been used by some to undermine the legally-binding
Convention. She agreed that the focus against corruption should be
UNCAC's Conference of States Parties.


6. (SBU) Turning to the financial crisis at the UNDOC, Costa
pointed to the USD three million shortfall in General Purpose Fund
(GPF) contributions. (Note: Reftel reported that in January UNODC
expected a USD 2.5 million shortfall in the GPF. The financial
picture has since gotten worse, and UNODC is now estimating a USD
3.5 to USD 4.0 million shortfall in the GPF. End Note. ) Despite the
fact that UNODC's budget grew from USD 65 million in 2002 to over
USD 265 million in 2008, UNODC did not receive a commensurate amount
of General Purpose Funds required to sustain core staffing
requirements. Of the current budget, only USD 12 million comes from
General Purpose Funds contributions. Nevertheless, although only

UNVIE VIEN 00000175 002 OF 002

Summary
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slightly over 1 pct of the total budget, the current projected
shortfall will result in the laying off of 20-30 staff members.
Costa compared the UNODC to a growing body-"It is growing so fast,
but it missing its vitamins." Costa also highlighted the toll this
crisis has on UNODC staff, pointing to an increasingly unsettled
union and a falling morale throughout the secretariat.


7. (SBU) DAS Verville expressed appreciation for Costa's
explanation of the financial crisis. She reiterated the U.S.
commitment to maintain its 2008 level of GPF contributions at
approximately USD 1 million and that the United States was looking
to identify ways for "soft earmarking" some of its contributions,
particularly those related to furthering implementation of the UNTOC
and UNCAC.


8. (SBU) John Sandage, Chief of the Treaty and Legal Assistance
Branch in UNODC's Division of Treaty Affairs (DTA),described
contributions UNODC had received to combat piracy off the Somali
coast. He said the Germans and French have contributed modest
amounts of money for planned UNODC assistance to Kenya with regard
to building criminal justice and prison capacity, as well as
detaining and bringing to trial suspected pirates. However, without
increased funding, he stressed, Kenya will soon be reaching its
capacity limits. The European Commission is also in discussions
with UNODC in regards to similar efforts, and Sandage hopes a
contribution will be forthcoming soon.


9. (SBU) Director of the Division of Operations (DO) Francis
Maertens briefly described the recent UNODC-hosted Ministerial
meeting held in February in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. At
this meeting, countries adopted the "Santo Domingo Pact". Similar
to the Paris Pact Initiative to combat the flow of Afghan heroin,
the Santo Domingo Pact will seek to bolster cooperation to combat
South American cocaine. It will also contain a normative focus on
implementing the UNTOC, UNCAC and the universal legal instruments
against terrorism. Maertens indicated that a similar meeting for
Central American countries is being organized from May 13-15 in
Managua, Nicaragua. Maertens encouraged U.S. attendance.


10. (SBU) Wrapping up the meeting, DAS Verville asked about Costa's
intentions to move ahead with bringing international organizations
under the umbrella of UNCAC, particularly its provisions on bribery.
Costa indicated that he has so far reached out only to members of
the UN Board of Chief Executives, and has received few responses
from international organizations. The IMF stated it was not willing
to accept such an arrangement, while other UN agencies have been
slow in responding. DAS Verville and Ambassador Schulte encouraged
Costa to renew his efforts, and he expressed appreciation for their
support. Costa asserted that SYG Ban is favorable towards this
accountability initiative.

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Comment
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11. (SBU) Costa often denigrates the two crime conventions,
describing them as slow moving and ineffective. His frank exchange
with his U.S. interlocutors this time represents a level of respect,
which he had not previously shown for the work of the UNCAC and
UNTOC and the extensive preparation required for their Conferences
of the Parties. He seemed genuinely impressed by G-8 efforts to
advance the Migrant Smuggling Protocol. At the same time,
recognizing the importance the U.S. attaches to the two Conventions,
he was obviously eager to work with us to ensure successful outcomes
of the respective Conferences. END Comment.

This cable has been cleared by DAS Verville.

Pyatt