This archive report was first published on 14 December 2019.
On December 10, 2019, in Nairobi, a conference brought together lawyers, magistrates, prosecutors, and other judicial officers from the 12 partner states of the International Committee of the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) to establish common legal mechanisms and strengthen judicial co-operation to fight transnational crimes and impunity.
The meeting aimed to address the challenges in enforcing the ICGLR Protocol on Judicial Cooperation, which has been hindered by some countries' lack of capacity due to political instability, and others simply ignoring extradition requests from other member states, according to Barbara Matasconi, the Human Rights and Justice Adviser at the Office of the Special Envoy of the UN Secretary-General for the Great Lakes Region.
The Great Lakes Regional Judicial Co-operation Network, established in 2016, aims to contribute to the prevention and punishment of trans-border organised crimes committed in Africa's Great Lakes region.
The region has experienced political strife and armed conflicts in recent years, creating an environment where transnational crimes such as terrorism, human trafficking, money laundering, poaching, and piracy thrive.
According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, transnational organised crime in the Great Lakes region is a product of both illicit markets that span continents and an underlying weakness in the rule of law.
