WorldECR | US welcomes adoption of Milestones

On August 9, the U.S. State Department welcomed the adoption of the United Nations Convention against Cybercrime by the Ad Hoc Committee on Cybercrime.

The statement said the agreement “expands the global fight against cybercrime, one of the most pervasive challenges of our time, affecting communities around the world.”

In a statement, the United Nations said: “After three years of work, the Committee established by the United Nations General Assembly to negotiate a new convention on cybercrime today agreed on a draft text.

The draft convention is expected to be adopted by the General Assembly later this year, making it the first legally binding global instrument on cybercrime.

“This achievement is the culmination of five years of hard work by UN Member States, with the participation of civil society, academic institutions and the private sector.”

Ghada Wali, Executive Director of the Office of Drugs and Crime, said the finalization of the convention was “a milestone. It is the first multilateral anti-crime treaty in more than 20 years and the first UN convention to combat cybercrime in the context of the rapid growth of threats in cyberspace.” He also said, “As the draft convention points out, technology has created opportunities for larger scale, faster speed and wider scope of crimes, from terrorism to drug trafficking, human trafficking, migrant smuggling, gun trafficking and so on.”

However, some observers and activist groups have criticized the convention. Deborah Brown, deputy technology and rights director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement, “The global cybercrime treaty now being adopted by the United Nations would be a disaster for the human rights of people around the world. Member states have created an unprecedented surveillance tool without adequate safeguards. This treaty will effectively become a legal tool to silence journalists, activists, and others around the world.”