Marshall Center Countering Organized Crime Alumni Workshop Studies ’15 years post-Palermo’

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Marshall Center Countering Organized Crime Alumni Workshop Studies ’15 years post-Palermo’

By Christine June
Public Affairs Office
George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies


GARMISCH-PARTENKIRCHEN, Germany (June 16, 2015) – The Countering Narcotics and Illicit Trafficking Alumni Community of Interest Workshop Countering Transnational Organized Crime: 15 years post-Palermo takes place June 15 to 19 at the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies here.

This fourth annual CNIT Alumni COI workshop examines the current security environment 15 years after the signing of the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime in December 2000 in Palermo, Italy, and will address current international countering transnational organized crime strategies, initiatives and coordination mechanisms.

Former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan called the convention a “watershed event in the reinforcement of our global fight against organized crime. The convention gives us a new tool to address the scourge of crime as a global problem.” The Palermo convention and its three ancillary protocols on Trafficking in Persons, Smuggling of Migrants, and Illicit Manufacturing and Trafficking in Firearms, all became instruments of international law on these issues.

This will be the first global CNIT alumni workshop with alumni selected from multiple regional centers and representing all major combatant command areas of responsibility. This Marshall Center workshop for Regional Center alumni worldwide serves as a forum to address security concerns created by transnational criminal networks.

Topics included: U.S. Evolution and Approaches to Combating Transnational Crime; 15 years post-Palermo: Reviewing the CTOC State of Play; Reviewing CTOC Interagency Mechanisms and Conventions; The Role of the UNODC in Countering Transnational Organized Crime; The Role of Law Enforcement in Countering Transnational Organized Crime; Countering Global Transnational Organized Crime; and, Countering Global Transnational Organized Crime.

In addition, there will be presentations from the Office of the Secretary of Defense, U.S. Africa Command, U.S. Central Command, U.S. European Command, U.S. Northern Command, U.S. Pacific Command and U.S. Southern Command.

Overall objectives of this CNIT Alumni COI workshop are:

  • Develop a common understanding among alumni of the security issues posed by the global transnational organized crime threat
  • Improve international cooperation across all major COCOM areas of responsibility by examining potential areas of improved communication, information exchange and the sharing of best practices across regions
  • Discuss the current security environment 15 years after the signing of the UNTOC in Palermo and examine current international CTOC strategies and initiatives
  • Operationalize the network of CTOC-focused alumni from the Marshall Center and other Regional Centers by developing and strengthening ties between alumni, encouraging the exchange of ideas and collaboration, and enabling a platform for partners and stakeholders to engage with, support, and elicit feedback from alumni

Other CNIT workshops were Initiating a Dialog on Common Issues and Cooperation in 2012, Changing Paradigms of Transnational Organized Crime in 2013, and Strengthening International Collaboration and Interagency Efforts in 2014.