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Last Updated: Feb 6, 2017 - 2:32:04 PM |
From left to right:
Jean Michel Arrighi, OAS Secretary for Legal Affairs;
José Miguel Insulza, OAS Secretary General;
Albert C. Rees, Jr., Professor of Law at Georgetown University; and
Jorge García-Gonzalez, Director of the OAS Department of Legal Cooperation
Date: February 06, 2012
Place: Washington, DC
Credit: Patricia Leiva/OAS
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The
Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), José
Miguel Insulza, today highlighted the importance of labeling and
tackling cybercrime as a scourge of a transnational nature that "poses
legal, specialization, training-related challenges as well as assistance
and cooperation among the States."
At the opening session of
the Seventh Meeting of the Working Group on Cyber-crime of the Meetings
of Ministers of Justice or other Ministers or Attorneys General of the
Americas (REMJA), the OAS Secretary General stressed the "paradox" that
the rapid change of technology and telecommunications poses in
comparison with its use for negative purposes. He said that these
advances allow for “unimaginable developments to improve the quality of
life for millions of people around the world, including: education,
trade, industrial development, research, and the progress of science,"
but at the same time, he warned that "it can become a powerful weapon
that produces serious economic and security damages."
"We are
facing criminal methods with unexpected characteristics, that bring in
new problems, giving the fact that to these crimes are held with no
borders, no customs, no passports, no visas, and there is no need to
even be in the country where the crimes are committed," highlighted the
highest representative of the hemispheric organization, who in this
context made special emphasis to the need for strengthening
international legal cooperation against cybercrime given its
trans-boundary nature.
The Secretary General Insulza noted the
OAS efforts to support countries in this struggle, through mechanisms
such as conducting regional training workshops for the development of
legislation, and to strengthen international legal cooperation; the
creation of special units in fourteen countries on the continent to
investigate and prosecute such crimes, the consolidation of the
Inter-American Cooperation Portal on Cyber-Crime, the development of a
regional survey on the subject, and the progress accomplished in the
collaboration with other agencies and international bodies as well as
with the private sector.
"All these steps are crucial to deal
with cyber criminals through international cooperation, but if we want
to get better results, our priority remains to continue strengthening
the legal frameworks in our countries and ensuring the protection of
other interests that are equally legitimate, such as access to
information, copyright, and adequate protection of privacy," he said.
The
Seventh Meeting of the Group on Cybercrime, which takes place today and
tomorrow at OAS headquarters in Washington, DC, is chaired by U.S.
representative Rodolfo Orjales, and includes in its agenda topics such
as: the progress made on the implementation of the Comprehensive
Inter-American Cyber-security Strategy, cooperation between authorities
responsible for investigating and prosecuting crime, the existing
international legal frameworks in this area and recent developments at
national level.
The Working Group, established in 1999, is the
principal hemispheric forum to strengthen international cooperation in
the prevention, investigation and prosecution of cybercrime, facilitate
the exchange of information and experience among its members and make
necessary recommendations for collaboration among OAS Member States and
with other organizations and mechanisms. Additional information is
available here:
For more information, please visit the OAS Website at www.oas.org.
© Copyright 2012 by thebahamasweekly.com
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