Organized Crime In Africa
Organized crime is a problem that has spread
all throughout the international
community. In the past, national and
regional crime organizations were small,
isolated and worked independent of
other crime organizations. However in the
past few decades free trade and
high speed telecommunications has made it easier
for such groups to operate,
therefore resulting in "global Mafiosi"
that seem to be working together
around the globe. This new development makes it
hard for governments and the
United Nations to combat international organized
crime. Lesotho, a nation of
the African block is particularly concerned with the
escalating problem of
illicit traffic of drugs and firearms linked with
organized crime. Not only
does drug trafficking pose a threat to the structure
of Lesotho’s society,
but also to its government. Profits made from these
operations are used to
destabilize governments, corrupt officials and influence
government
decisions. Lesotho is a member of the United Nations African
Institute
for the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders.
Furthermore
it is an active member of the Commission on Crime Prevention and
Criminal
Justice. The nation of Lesotho recognizes that cooperation is the
key
ingredient in combating organized crime. At present formal
extradition
agreements exist between Lesotho and South Africa, Botswana,
Swaziland, Malawi,
Taiwan, the USA and Israel. International cooperation
is required to
successfully prevent and control transnational crime. This is
particularly the
case with increasing numbers of offenders fleeing from one
jurisdiction to
another in order to avoid punishment and continue their
activities. Countries
must respect and abide by the terms of bilateral and
multilateral treaties that
they are party to. Organized crime which should be
of most concern includes
terrorism, illicit arms trade, drug trafficking and
economic crime, such as
international fraud. Freedom from the fear of crime
is important to the
international community. There is a strong need for
improved cooperation and
exchange of data for proper law enforcement.
Suppression and prevention of
illicit trafficking can be accomplished by
adopting an effective method
identifying and tracing good that are being
smuggled. In the case of firearms,
there should be the establishment of an
import and export and in-transit
licensing for their transport. States of the
African region have many financial
difficulties, and are in the category of
the least developed nations. Therefore
they often lack the necessary
resources to combat crime within their nation.
Because of this the United
Nations African Institute for the Prevention of Crime
and the Treatment of
Offenders lacks funds to support itself. Lesotho strongly
believes that in
the future conferences of organizations such as the Commission
of Crime
Prevention and Criminal Justice, should concentrate on problems of
developing
Asian and African nations. They are vulnerable targets for drug and
economic
crime cartels. It should be recognized that because these nations lack
money
they are high risk for succumbing to organized crime. Programs should
be
developed to aid needy nations. To discuss these issues more conferences
on
organized crime should be held in the future and all countries should
strongly
be urged to attend.