President Leonid Kuchma has suggested that the state take a number of coordinated measures to combat organized crime and corruption, Interfax-Ukraine reports. According to presidential spokesperson Olena Hromnytska, the head of state told the Coordination Committee to Combat Organized Crime and Corruption, “These phenomena shake the confidence of international organizations in Ukraine, undermine market reforms, and adversely affect the investment climate in this country.”
To suppress organized crime and corruption in Ukraine, Mr. Kuchma suggested that official bodies first of all improve the applicable laws as a basis for effectively combating organized crime. It is necessary, the president believes, to closely monitor, deeply analyze, and make short and long-term forecasts about the crime situation in all Ukraine’s regions, districts, and cities.
One of the important tasks is spotting and removing the factors and conditions that bring about and develop organized crime and corruption. It is also necessary to redouble efforts to eliminate white collar crime as well as improve the existing and implement new operative and tactical techniques of crime detection.
The president believes that all actions of the law enforcement bodies should be as transparent as possible. Mr. Kuchma called for strict disciplinary measures against those officials who ignore the queries of individuals, especially about the investigation of specific cases.
The president thinks emphasis must be laid on improving appointments policy in the bodies of law enforcement. An especially sober approach should be taken, in the president’s opinion, regarding high-level appointments.
The chief executive instructed the Prosecutor General’s Office, Ministry of Justice, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs to draw up new criteria to assess the performance of law enforcement officers. Mr. Kuchma noted that, while mounting pressure on criminals, one must focus on the qualitative, not quantitative, signs that illustrate changes in the crime situation. The chief executive emphasized that law enforcement bodies should be mainly guided in their work by the constitutional provisions that treat an individual as the supreme social value in the state.
