The Global War on Anarchism

310 : diplomatic history
police; and (3) to decide on technical arrangements between the appropriate
authorities of the participating states to further the fight against anarchism.” 41
At the request of the Russian ambassador, the final protocol of the conference
defined crimes related to anarchism as nonpolitical and subject to extradition
agreements, thereby denying anarchists the protection of political rights in certain
countries. 42 Furthermore, delegates agreed to prohibit the possession and use of
explosives within their countries and to ban anarchist organizations and publications.
43 With several delegations abstaining, representatives recommended the
death penalty as mandatory punishment for all assassinations of heads of state. 44
However, the final agreement of the Rome Conference lacked enforcement
powers, as all participating states retained the right to endorse the protocol’s resolutions
with qualifications or reservations. 45
The Rome Conference ended on December 21, 1898, and by early 1899 most
governments declared their allegiance to the final protocol with slight reservations.
In practice, few nations implemented any of the legal changes of the final agreement.
In terms of police work and establishing methods for information exchange,
the conference achieved some success.
In secret meetings, separate from the rest of the conference, police specialists
agreed to monitor anarchist activities, establish central agencies to oversee that
task, and organize a system of exchange among national agencies. 46 The police
provisions of the Rome protocol stated:
Every country undertakes to keep the anarchists on its territory under strict
surveillance and to establish a central office to this end. The central offices are
to communicate to each other all useful information concerning anarchist
activity.
All foreign anarchists are to be deported to their home states.
All states are to adopt the “portraits parlés” method of criminal
identification. 47
Great Britain was the only participating government to abstain from the set of
operational procedures proposed by the police chiefs. 48 Nevertheless, the British
representative Sir Philippe Currie affirmed that his country supported the goals of
the Rome Conference and recognized the existence of “an international duty to
41. Liang,The Rise of Modern Police and the European State System, 163.
42. TNA: Sir P. Currie to the Marquees of Salisbury, Rome, 30 November 1898, PROFO
881/7179.
43. Liang,164–65; Deflem, Policing World Society, 67.
44. Romaniuk,Multilateral Counter-Terrorism, 23.
45. Liang,163.
46. Deflem,Policing World Society, 67; Romaniuk,24.
47. Liang,165.
48. Deflem,67.