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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¶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