Tokyo - Justice and home affairs ministers from the Group of
Eight (G8) vowed Friday to combat terrorism not only committed by
organizations but also 'radicalized' individuals through stronger
cooperation.
The ministers also sought improvements in developing nations'
legal systems to better tackle cross-border crime.
'We are deeply concerned not only about acts committed by
terrorist organizations but about the increasing tendency throughout
many countries for individuals with no affiliation to terrorist
organizations to become radicalized and subsequently perpetrate
terrorist acts,' the members states said in a declaration released
after a three-day meeting in Tokyo.
Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russian and the
United States expressed concerns over information available on the
internet that could instigate crimes.
'Due to the development and spread of modern information and
communications technologies, such as the internet, it has become
increasingly easy to access and disseminate violent extremist ideas,'
the declaration said.
Concerning information technology, the ministers also agreed to
step up cooperation to eradicate crimes involving child pornography,
especially with private entities to monitor the internet.
Japanese Justice Minister Kunio Hatoyama called on the G8 states,
which consist of seven of the world's leading economies and Russia,
to assist other nations to improve their legal systems with the help
of legal experts trained to tackle cross-border crime.
'To fight organized crime and terrorism, not only the G8 developed
countries but all the other countries need to have sufficient
capacity to deal with them,' Hatoyama, one of the meeting's
co-chairmen, said at a press conference.
The declaration also touched upon the need to tackle drug crimes
amid increasing production and trafficking of synthetic drugs, which
are 'notoriously difficult to assess,' the declaration said.
The justice and home affairs ministers were finishing their
meetings as the G8 finance ministers began two days of meetings in
Osaka. Both groups were meeting ahead of the G8 summit July 7-9 on
the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido.
USA
Your Talkback on this Story