Members of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation to improve law-enforcement cooperation

A meeting between Prosecutors-General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) member-states yielded a statement in which the officials stated the necessity to improve legal cooperation "in the face of new threats and challenges in order to protect regional peace, stability and security." In the joint statement adopted as a result of a two-day meeting, Prosecutors-General of China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrghyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan formalized their determination to establish legal cooperation within the SCO framework, which should be based on the UN Charter, international law and comply with the "SCO spirit." The officials also agreed to energetically cooperate in such areas as the struggle against terrorism, separatism and extremism, illegal drug trafficking and arms trade. They also came to an agreement that the scope of their cooperation would also cover international organised crime and illegal migration.

Participants in the meeting laid emphasis on the necessity to establish multilateral cooperation in such areas as evidence and facts collection and exchange, the arrest and extradition of criminals, disclosure and cutting off of criminal financial flows.