Action against cross-border crime is urged

Pakistan has called for a holistic approach to combat transnational organized crime, tackling root causes, promoting social inclusion and ensuring equal access to justice for all.

“Transnational organized crime continues to hamper the rule of law, economic development and the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,” Ambassador Usman Iqbal Jadoon, Deputy Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the UN, told the Third Committee of the General Assembly of the United Nations UN, which deals with social, humanitarian and cultural issues.

Speaking in a debate on crime prevention and criminal justice and countering the use of information and communications technologies for criminal purposes, he said climate change, with its devastating consequences, offers new opportunities for organized criminal groups to infiltrate vulnerable situations.

Other forms of transnational organized crime, especially money laundering, cybercrime, corruption, human smuggling and trafficking, continue to pose enormous challenges, the Pakistani envoy pointed out.

Ambassador Jadoon highlighted Pakistan’s efforts to combat money laundering and terrorist financing, including by setting up an independent Financial Monitoring Unit to work with other countries to eliminate the threat.

Drawing attention to a wave of hate crimes, including those fueled by Islamophobia, and other acts of provocation inciting intolerance and violence based on race, ethnicity, religion or belief, he stressed the need to promote mutual respect for religious and promote cultural beliefs to promote understanding and coexistence.

The use of ICT (information and communications technologies) for criminal purposes facilitates and enables several other types of crimes, including illicit financial flows and corruption, which pose a substantial challenge to global security, he said.

Ambassador Jadoon added that the exponential spread of disinformation through online platforms and social media has exacerbated social discord, competing nationalisms, discrimination, hate speech, stigmatization, racism, xenophobia, Islamophobia and related intolerance.

Pakistan, he said, looks forward to contributing constructively to the upcoming negotiations on the draft Additional Protocol to the Convention.

“This protocol should cover additional criminal offences, including cybercrime, to comprehensively address the concerns of all Member States,” he said, calling for the promotion of greater international cooperation, capacity building and legal frameworks to ensure a secure cyberspace for all to guarantee. .

On the global drug problem, the Pakistani envoy said it continues to take a heavy toll on the health, security, socio-economic development and well-being of individuals, families and society as a whole.