INTERPOL - World Model United Nations

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leading many to dene it as a syndication crime driven by a medicinal demand for rhinoceros horn in the Middle East. 26 Current cost-benet analyses have been inconclusive due to lack of data, but it is well-known that in resource-rich developing countries, illicit wildlife trade is a prevalent and readily accessible activity that returns high prots because of a vast global market in plant and animal parts, as well as a reduction in steps of the trade process (compared to other industries) that returns greater prots to hunters at the ground level. 27 Not only is wildlife crime a signicant subset of the international crime network, it is also tied to terrorism in the newly declared “Age of Terror.” Rebel groups turn to poaching to fund activities or purchase weapons. Indeed, when individuals are monitored by their government or sanctioned by the international community, they may nd it safer and more undetectable to “barter” precious plants and animals for weapons on the international market instead of using more traceable monetary currency. In the Democratic 1.3 CASE STUDY: Regional Conict and Wildlife Crime in Somalia Before the 1991 Somali Civil War, the country had three international airports that were closely monitored by customs authorities. During the conict, however, a lack of legitimate centralized power allowed warlords to establish smaller, privatized airstrips that send unchecked goods throughout the Middle East and South Asia. As a result, wildlife tracking exploded in the region and continues to this day. Republic of Congo, rebel groups even threatened to kill the nation’s dwindling population of gorillas unless the government withdrew from rebel-held areas. 28 is use of wildlife as a commodity for terroristic bribery speaks both to the value of rare species in international and regional markets as well as to the need to link wildlife tracking to broader issues in international peace and security. e epicenter of wildlife crime appears to be the Horn of Africa, where tracking in illicit plants and animal parts has skyrocketed, threatening international environmental security and public health. 29 Other prominent wildlife trade “hotspots” include the Chinese borders, Southern Africa, Eastern Europe, Mexico, the Caribbean, Indonesia, New Guinea, and the Solomon Islands. 30 Today, “empty forest syndrome” 31 has sadly become a global phenomenon of species decline that is best illustrated by analyzing the state of various species that were once abundant. A 2004 CITES report stated that 4,000 elephants were illegally killed every year in the African Range states. 32 e population of Somali elephants has decreased by 95% since 1979. 33 Rhinoceros and tigers are at population levels less than 10% of previous numbers. 34 Other aected species include aardvarks, hippopotamuses, hyenas, ostriches, sea turtles, cheetahs, leopards, lions, and primates. is limited list only begins to illustrate the detriment that wildlife crime represents for environments and ecosystems around the world. CURRENT SITUATION—EXACERBATING FACTORS Now, more than ever, human poverty exacerbates the issue of wildlife crime, most notably in resource-rich yet developing states in the tropics. Poaching is oen a valuable source of livelihood for individuals, tribes, and villages that live in bio-diverse regions but suer from poverty and underdevelopment. A TRAFFIC Network study conrms this trend in Eastern and Southern Africa, where reliance on wild meat is growing in response to increased human populations and poverty. 35 Occasionally, the practice of illegally capturing wildlife is observed as a religious or cultural rite, with no regard to regional or international laws protecting endangered species. is conict between international human rights and cultural autonomy has been frequently observed in other areas—including the education of women, human sacrice, female genital mutilation, and many others. It is important to recognize these cultural barriers in the enforcement of international law and human rights. Without alternative methods of income readily available, young men and, less frequently, women from these regions turn increasingly toward organized criminal gangs that carry out poaching for regional and international consumers. 36 In the last two decades, civil war and intra-state conict push regions increasingly farther from conservation and toward the exploitation of natural resources. Conict takes a toll on local ecosystems and destroys regular, everyday livelihoods, pushing more and more individuals toward alternative, illicit avenues of wealth that ourish in a state of chaos and deregulation. Local governments, oundering to establish security, have very few resources or personnel available to enforce regulations, monitor trade, and Harvard WorldMUN 2012 INTERPOL 10
implement preventive measures (see case study). Wildlife crime is highly organized and requires extensive experience. It thus oen intersects with the tracking of drugs, arms, and persons: in all these tracking situations, there is a clear delineation between those in control of the distribution of illicit goods and those that merely pass goods along for a cut of the prots. 37 e latter are far more numerous and inexperienced, resulting in greater capture by enforcement agents. As such, organizers and decisionmakers in tracking gangs are rarely apprehended and are able to continue poaching activities simply by hiring Display of illegal wildlife products used in Chinese medicine conscated by customs ocers at Heathrow Airport, UK. ((http://www.trac.org/trade) replacement lackeys to continue smuggling when the originals are arrested. 38 Organized syndicates also practice the routine corruption of LEOs in order to continue their practices without detection or deterrence. For instance, the Indian state of Tamil Nadu has been accused of undergoing “arbitrary transfers of capable forest ocers and local political patronage to miscreants,” by popular wildlife activist Shekar Dattatri. 39 Because of its illicit nature, it is very dicult to provide an accurate estimate for the net worth of wildlife tracking. Even the most generous estimates are probably only 70% accurate. 40 In addition, people are slow to recognize the accumulated eects of wildlife crime because it aects humans on a public—and not an individual—basis. 41 CURRENT SITUATION—EFFORTS TO ALLEVIATE THE PROBLEM In November 2009, an International Tiger Consortium held in St. Petersburg, Russia signed the International Consortium on Combating Wildlife Crime (ICCWC). e Consortium was the cooperative work of the heads of ve organizations leading the ght: the CITES, INTERPOL, United Nations Oce on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the World Bank, and the World Customs Organization (WCO). e Letter of Understanding advocates maintaining interagency cooperation, empowering regional law enforcement oces, and fostering a positive local view on conservation. Unprecedented in taking a united and strong stance against criminal organizations, the document also acknowledges that solutions to wildlife crime must also take into account human poverty. 42 CITES Secretary-General John Scanlon praises the global achievement: “ICCWC sends a very clear message that a new era of wildlife law enforcement is upon us, one where wildlife criminals will face a determined and coordinated opposition, rather than the current situation where the risks of detection and of facing penalties that match their crimes are oen low.” 43 Despite the promises of this newfound Consortium, it will have limited impact on the ground unless states are willing to cooperate fully with the ICCWC’s regulations and recommendations regarding enforcement. Wildlife Without Borders, a division of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, is currently working in Africa to develop capacity-building infrastructure, increase technological capability, regulate wildlife markets, and address the bushmeat crisis. 44 By working with regional governments, WWB helps organize and fund conservation research initiatives, conduct training courses for Africa law enforcement ocers, and publish curriculum on environmental law and CITES. 45 New Zealand and Germany have wildlife policies that give each owner of hunting grounds policing power and arms to fend o poachers in his/her territory. Other hunters can also be deputized to have policing powers. 46 Local people acting as auxiliary game guards have reduced rhino poaching in Namibia. 47 Scotland’s Tayside Police has taken this initiative a step further. It was the rst local LEO in the country to employ a wildlife crime ocer to address poaching of birds of prey, deer, hares, and mussels—a move applauded by the regional Partnership Against Wildlife Crime (PAW). 48 Special attention given to wildlife crime on such a level is crucial to the ght against local wildlife Harvard WorldMUN 2012 INTERPOL 11
Page 1 and 2: INTERPOL World Model UN 2012 Backgr
Page 3 and 4: KATHLEEN TANG Secretary-General SAM
Page 5 and 6: KATHLEEN TANG Secretary-General SAM
Page 7 and 8: T OPI C A: W I LDLI FE CRIME STATEM
Page 9: species list from extinction. In pa
Page 13 and 14: works to coordinate wildlife crime
Page 15 and 16: advice on the eects of trade, respe
Page 17 and 18: and international trade organizatio
Page 19 and 20: Simvastatin tablets ordered via the
Page 21 and 22: Police in Jakarta burned seized cou
Page 23 and 24: eective database can be created eit
Page 25 and 26: drugs to be one of its main priorit
Page 27 and 28: American Pharmacists Association, S
Page 29 and 30: United Nations Environmental Progra
Page 31 and 32: 37 $FPE98 38 $C+!#+&TE,..,!1*$MI]8
Page 33: 115 Ibid8 116 $E+&)3+,1+&8 117 Ibid

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