Interpol - Recent adds and updates
|
|
| Smog Caused by Illegally Burnt Forests, Malaysia
Gregory Norminton |
|
|
|
|
Barrels discarded on public ground, England
Arwyn Jones, United Kingdom Environment Agency |
The INTERPOL Pollution Crime Working Group
The INTERPOL Pollution Crime Working Group focuses the expertise and experience of law enforcement officers on issues of pollution. As with the Environmental Crime Committee, participation is welcomed from all of INTERPOL’s 188 member countries.
The Working Group meets face to face annually, most recently at its 15th meeting at the INTERPOL General Secretariat between 7 and 9 October 2009. The Working Group’s next meeting will be held in 2010 at the INTERPOL General Secretariat in Lyon, France concurrent with the 7th International Conference on Environmental Crime.
| Pollution Crime Resources |
|
|
The INTERPOL Pollution Crime Working Group has produced a number of documents of use to law enforcement agencies and prosecution services dealing with pollution crime:
Electronic waste (e-waste) is the collective term for all the pre-owned products such as computers and televisions discarded by our modern consumer society. As these products often contain hazardous chemicals and metals, the management and appropriate disposal of e-waste is regulated by national and international laws and agreements. However, due to the stringent regulations in the European Union and Americas these products are often shipped to other countries in order to avoid expensive recycling and disposal costs. If handled inappropriately, e-waste can release poisonous or hazardous materials into the environment or water supplies, posing a serious health threat to communities. This report represents a milestone in INTERPOL’s efforts to develop global and multi-sector responses to the many issues surrounding the illegal e-waste trade and the levels of criminal organization behind them.
-
Illegal Oil Discharges from Vessels (Acrobat file
)
The conclusion reached at the Interpol Pollution Crimes Working Group meeting in May 2005 is that the illegal discharge of oil from vessels is pervasive. While individual quantities of oil discharged are not large compared with more notorious accidental spills, the cumulative effect to the natural environment can be significant. In addition, these are intentional discharges motivated by greed and cost-cutting.
In response to a request from member countries, Interpol has compiled an Investigative Manual for Illegal Oil Discharges from Vessels. This manual is a tool for investigators to pull together stronger cases for criminal prosecution, with the aim of making individuals and corporations accountable for their actions. The ultimate goal is to impose adequate deterrents to prevent future violations, thus protecting a resource that is essential to global commerce and citizens’ livelihoods and recreation. Hard copies of the manual can also be ordered via the National Central Bureaus of each Interpol Member Country.
Additional information on this subject:
International European Police Co-operation on the Water (Acrobat file 
)
Paris MOU press release – Concentrated Inspection Campaign on MARPOL Annex I, 14/02/2007 (Acrobat file )
The Ship Pollution Prosecution Database contains information on completed prosecutions by various countries for the period 2001 to 2006. Further information on particular cases can be obtained from the contacts provided in the database. This public information is provided to assist countries in targeting enforcement efforts and also to publicize those ships and shipping companies that violate pollution laws. This task has been co-ordinated by Project Clean Seas and will be updated as more information becomes available.
There is the potential for huge profits from Environmental crime. And where there are profits to be made, there is always the concern that organized crime is involved, which has already been documented in Italy and possibly other countries. INTERPOL has formed a specialised working group to examine the possible links between Environmental crimes and other types of organized criminal activity.
The purpose of criminal penalties is to punish serious violations of the law and to deter the commission of future crimes. If penalties are not substantial enough, criminals will see them simply as a cost of doing business. Thus, the penalty must outweigh the profits which can be made. Law enforcement has a responsibility to protect the interests of law-abiding businesses by aggressively pursuing those who intentionally violate the law and thus have an unfair economic advantage.
For punishment and deterrence to be effective on an international scale, there must be a degree of parity among nations. If one or more nations have low or non-existent criminal penalties they risk becoming victims of Environmental crime.
INTERPOL has initiated a Penalties Project to address the issue of parity. This project gathers models, matrices and approaches used by various jurisdictions to determine appropriate sentences for environmental offences.
This project also gathers information concerning sentences which have been imposed for various types of environmental offences around the world. In addition, the project gathers press releases, sentencing memoranda and other related documents which could be of assistance to the project and investigators and prosecutors.
The final product of this project is advocacy memorandum for prosecutors to be used during sentencing for environmental offences to support more appropriate sentences. This information could also be used to assist agencies in trying to persuade their national legislative bodies to increase maximum fines as well. The advocacy memorandum was presented at the INTERPOL Pollution Crime Working Group Meeting 2007 in Lyon.
Details of recent cases involving pollution from ships which may be of use to investigators and prosecutors.
- INTERPOL supports fight against climate change
Many pollution crimes involve the uncontrolled emission of pollutants into the environment. The release or evaporation of these pollutants can raise greenhouse gas levels. INTERPOL recognises that fighting climate change must include the reduction of uncontrolled emissions of pollutants. INTERPOL is committed to research that will help to quantify the impact of pollution crimes on climate change and to make available information based on this research on how INTERPOL’s work to fight pollution crimes also contributes to tackling climate change.
- Identifying trends and patterns in trans-border shipments of hazardous waste
The illegal shipment of hazardous waste, including discarded household appliances and electronic goods, is a serious problem. Waste from industrialised countries is being shipped to less developed countries under the listed intention of recycling and reclamation.
A problem arises when the receiving country does not have the capacity to actually perform the recycling and reclamation or when the materials received are not able to be recycled or reclaimed. The result is the disposal of the items, which can contaminate the environment. INTERPOL is working on the development of analytical support tools to help member countries address this growing problem.
) 
