International Conference On Global Crime Opens In Moscow

An international conference, "The International Community against the Globalisation of Crime and Terrorism," was opened in Moscow on Tuesday by Chairman of the international organisational committee of the "World-Wide Anti-Criminal and Anti-Terrorist Forum", General of the Army Anatoly Kulikov He said that the crime rate had risen by four times across the world in the last decade, while the figure was two times higher in the former Soviet republics and the USA. According to Kulikov, organised crime, which first reared its head in Prohibition USA, had become a permanent feature of the modern world. In his opinion, it flourished in Russia in the period of political and socio-economic reforms. More than 27,300 crimes committed by organised crime groups were registered in the year 2000. Kulikov also said that crime was growing at a rate of 5% per year in the world, while the population was only increasing by 1%. According to specialists' forecasts, 450 million crimes will have been registered in the world by the end of the year. In addition, the general said that 200 crimes an hour were registered around the globe. So-called new generation crimes make up a large part of these, including new technology theft, such as crashing banking systems and hacking, and the theft of intellectual property rights. The international conference will continue its work tomorrow.