18/6/2004
UN Crime Agency To Help Afghanistan Prevent Terrorism

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) will help Afghanistan's leaders to draft domestic laws against terrorism and international organised crime.

During a three-day meeting in Kabul last week, UNODC officials and senior Afghan government representatives discussed how to strengthen the country's legislation by implementing the content of 12 international treaties or legal instruments against terrorism.

They also considered how to implement the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, as well as its Protocols on human trafficking, migrant smuggling, and firearms trafficking and manufacturing. Justice Minister Abdul Rahim Karimi and Education Minister Mohammad Yunus Qanooni stressed the importance of Afghans receiving training on how to implement any new laws.

The two ministers said alleviating poverty, educating the population, promoting freedom of speech and developing democracy are essential if Afghanistan is to prevent and suppress terrorism and crime, one of its declared priorities.

Before the meeting, UNODC Executive Director Antonio Maria Costa visited Afghanistan to study the country's problems with drug production, closely related to crime. Last year, opium production reached an estimated 3,600 tons, generating the equivalent to 52 per cent of Afghanistan's gross domestic product and making the country the world's largest producer of opium. UNODC expects production to rise even further this year.