Interview date: September 11 th 2008 Interviewed by Galina Fomaidi (Programme Officer of UNODC’s Regional Office for Central Asia)

“ITALY IS INTERESTED IN SUPPORTING COUNTRIES ALONG TRAFFICKING ROUTES”

Mr. Giovanni Ricciulli, the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Italy to the Republic of

- Please describe Italy’s overall priorities for its relationship with Uzbekistan and .

Italy, like Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, is not responsible for the production of any kind of drugs, but is only a drug-transit and consumption country. In this framework, Italy is interested in supporting and cooperating with all the countries situated along trafficking routes. Bilateral agreements signed by the Italian Government with the Uzbek as well as Tajik Governments outline the fields of cooperation (the fight against organized crime, terrorism and drug trafficking). In order to provide concrete follow-up and to implement what is envisaged in these agreements, in particular the cooperation among the respective law enforcement entities, in 2005 Italy appointed a Drug Liaison Officer, based in Tashkent, who covers all five Central Asian countries.

-… and in regard to countering drug abuse and trafficking?

Afghanistan remains the main opiate producing country in the world, responsible for more than 90 percent of global opium production. Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, as neighbouring countries, represent today important transit routes for Afghan narcotics bound for Russian and Western European markets. With the commitment of Uzbek and Tajik authorities, the increasing assistance from international organizations, such as UNODC, and cooperation with foreign partners including Italy, a level of progress on the fight against illegal drug-trafficking is being achieved. However, to achieve fully consistent policies and enforcement that will significantly suppress illicit drug trafficking, strengthening drug interdiction capacities in both countries should remain a priority. Within this framework, the Italian Government will continue to address the reinforcement of drug control capacities in both countries, in order to identify and dismantle trafficking organizations and to reduce the amount of smuggled drugs reaching final consumption markets, including Italy.

- Your country fully funded two UNODC regional drug prevention projects in 2003-2007. Are there any plans or consideration for providing future support to demand reduction projects?

Generally speaking, experience in fighting illicit drugs shows that there is a strict interdependence among the three main drug-related aspects, namely: cultivation and production; illegal trade; and drug use and abuse. In regards to the specific situation in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, as outlined above, they represent drug-transit countries for narcotics cultivated and produced in . The drug abuse issue in these two countries is a direct consequence of this situation, entailing that the focus must be on interdiction of illegal drug trade and drug abuse. Thus a well-structured strategy must be articulated around these two complementary axes, setting out a balanced approach that focuses on drug supply

Interview date: September 11 th 2008 Interviewed by Galina Fomaidi (Programme Officer of UNODC’s Regional Office for Central Asia)

reduction and dismantling national and international drug trafficking organizations, while acting on prevention and reduction of consumption, as well as the rehabilitation of drug abusers.

- Your Government has provided funding for the Drug Control Agency of Tajikistan in the past

The Italian Government has among its priorities the fight against illegal drugs, continuing on the path laid out by the previous governments. The experience gained in the last decades shows the drug phenomenon as a significant problem, having a trans-national dimension, threatening developed and developing countries. Thus, the increasing awareness of international cooperation and partnership building is vital. In this framework, Italy strongly supports UNODC, as the UN agency having a specific mandate in countering illicit drugs and drug-related crimes and providing critical contributions in this field. Italy is particularly satisfied with the level of cooperation established with UNODC Regional Office for Central Asia (ROCA). Among others, the project on drug prevention 2003-2007 and the project on the Drug Control Agency in Tajikistan contributed to concrete improvements of the involved institutions .

Over the past years, Italy supported financially a number of projects implemented by UNODC ROCA; among others: the Paris Pact Initiative, Phase II – A partnership to counter traffic and consumption of Afghan opiates; Effective HIV/AIDS prevention and care among vulnerable populations in Central Asia; Precursors control in Central Asia; Computer-based drug law enforcement training in the member countries of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Sub-regional Cooperation in Drug Control (Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, , Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan); Establishment of the Central Asia Regional Information and Coordination Centre (CARICC); Drug law enforcement systems for criminal intelligence collection, analysis and exchange.

- Will Government of Italy continue to support UNODC activities on a bilateral basis or does your Government prefer to concentrate its efforts supporting European Commission projects?

The financial support from Italy with regard to UNODC future and on-going initiatives will depend on the availability of resources and on the Government’s strategy for resource allocation, given the Government’s priorities and the specific UNODC requests as well as particular requirements from recipient countries.

- Italy has been the chair of regional Mini-Dublin Group for some time. What are your priorities for the MDG?

The main tasks of the mini-Dublin groups are institutionally to compile local situation reports, facilitate coordination of drug policy and assistance, conduct a dialogue with the host country on drug control, draw up recommendations and implement orientations of the Central Dublin Group and from regional chairs. Besides these, Italy, as chair of the MDG for Central Asia, would like to focus on the coordination of all bilateral and multilateral initiatives falling under the field of illegal drug interdiction with the aim to avoid overlapping and duplication of initiatives and/or projects and to identify and recommend areas necessitating urgent interventions to donors and recipient countries.

Interview date: September 11 th 2008 Interviewed by Galina Fomaidi (Programme Officer of UNODC’s Regional Office for Central Asia)

- Recently Italy supported a study tour of Central Asian judges to Rome through the UNODC global legal advisory project as well as a separate study tour for Kyrgyz prosecutors and judges. Do you feel that study tours help to strengthen professional capacities of public servants working on countering organized crime and drug trafficking?

Every chance to exchange and compare professional experiences with other countries is to be considered as an invaluable opportunity to develop deeper relationships as well as to compare and harmonize practices and procedures. In this framework the study tour of Central Asian judges, prosecutors and counter-narcotic authorities conducted in Italy in May 2006 under the BOMCA 2 project for legal advisory represents a relevant example. At the moment an exchange of visits between the Italian Central Directorate for Anti-Drug Services and CARICC is being negotiated and, within this visit, particular importance will be given to the European project COSPOL Heroin, in which Italy is the lead country, and how this initiative can effectively support CARICC activities in the future.

However a successful strategy must adopt a holistic approach and study tours are only a small part of wider cooperation.