10 November 1999
Source: http://www.usia.gov/cgi-bin/washfile/display.pl?p=/products/washfile/latest&f=99110902.elt&t=/products/washfile/newsitem.shtml

Washington File
_________________

09 November 1999

Transcript: FBI Director Remarks at Bangkok Law Enforcement Academy
(Freeh praises U.S.-Thai law enforcement relationship) (2650)



"More and more we see the development of technical means and
information technologies that allow crimes and criminals to move and
communicate quicker than ever," Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
Director Louis Freeh during a November 8 press conference at the
International Law Enforcement Academy in Bangkok.


Freeh said that as such technology develops the concept of borders --
whether between countries or police jurisdictions -- becomes less and
less important.


"What we need to do is to apply the rule of law and be as competent
and fast moving and as coordinated as those who would break the law
using the advantages of globalization and technology to commit those
ends," he said.


Freeh said the FBI, which sends agents to teach at the Bangkok
academy, was "very proud" to have a role in the institution's
development and running because "this academy and all the other
bilateral relationships between our law enforcement agencies guarantee
the people that we serve in both countries will have the advantage of
the very best in competence in terms of law enforcement as well as the
tools that are necessary."


"Our two countries are committed to democracy, committed to the
protection of human rights," Freeh added, "and more importantly, the
protection of the people whom we serve in both countries."


Following is a transcript of the press conference:



(begin transcript)



Remarks of FBI Director Louis Freeh

At the International Law Enforcement Academy, Bangkok

Monday, November 8, 1999

2:30 p.m.



Thank you very much General Pow, thank you, General Watcharapol, also
let me introduce our Ambassador, Ambassador Hecklinger, who is also
here today. I'm particularly proud and pleased to visit ILEA, which as
General Pow has said, is really an historic achievement of not just
the law enforcement agencies of our two governments, but of this
government, that has supported this institution, and the leadership of
the Royal Thai Police, which has provided the infrastructure and the
necessary relationships to begin what I believe will be a very
historic institution and a world-wide institution with respect to the
development of professional law enforcement cooperation.


As you know, the world has gotten to be much smaller in terms of the
types of crime and the types of people who commit crime. Whether it's
money laundering cases, or drug trafficking, or terrorism cases, or
financial crime cases, more and more we see the development of
technical means and information technologies that allow crimes and
criminals to move and communicate quicker than ever. It means that
borders between our countries and jurisdictions between our police
agencies have less and less importance. What we need to do is to apply
the rule of law and be as competent and fast moving and as coordinated
as those who would break the law using the advantages of globalization
and technology to commit those ends.


So I'm particularly pleased and proud to be here. Let me add my high
praise to this government, to the federal law enforcement agencies who
have provided assistance here, and most importantly, to our partners
in the Thai Royal Police for really exceptional leadership and
organization which has gone into the founding of this academy and now
the graduation of five hundred police officers.


I was particularly moved to see the students and what they represent
in terms of professional law enforcement, in terms of applying the
rule of law, in terms of cooperating and assisting each other in all
these necessary endeavors. So the FBI is very proud to play a small
part in the development and carrying out of this institution. The FBI
agents who have come here and will come here to teach, benefit greatly
themselves from the interaction with their counterparts as well as
with the students, who represent professional law enforcement at its
best in many, many different venues.


The trip here to Bangkok, as you probably know, is part of a trip
we're making to five Asian countries. We'll leave next for Seoul,
Korea to attend the INTERPOL conference which is now going on. We
visited Japan, the Philippines, Singapore. I've had the opportunity to
consult with many of my colleagues in these countries. We were
particularly honored today to have some of the very precious time of
your Prime Minister, your Minister of the Interior, your Attorney
General, your Foreign Minister, all of our police partners, as well as
our security partners, and to spend a very productive visit discussing
all the various law enforcement and national security issues which
unite our countries. Our two countries are committed to democracy,
committed to the protection of human rights, and more importantly, the
protection of the people whom we serve in both countries -- people who
need to be protected from crime, as well as from the fear of crime.


This Academy and all the other bilateral relationships between our law
enforcement agencies guarantee the people that we serve in both
countries will have the advantage of the very best in competence in
terms of law enforcement as well as the tools that are necessary.


The FBI has a long and distinguished relationship with our
counterparts in the Royal Thai Police and the other police services
here. Over 96 Thai officers have graduated from our National Academy
in Quantico, Virginia. I had an opportunity to visit with many of them
today, which was a great thrill. We have a long history of exchanging
training and working together in counter-terrorism cases. The Yousef
case, which of course was a case of great importance to both
countries, was facilitated by the expert work and support we received
here from both the police services as well as the security services.


Since 1991 over 42 fugitives have been returned to the United States
from Thailand pursuant to the rule of law, to be brought to justice
for crimes against both Americans and Thais. We have many projects
which are underway. And also many new areas of cooperation which we
discussed, including computer crime, which has changed the nature of
policing both internally in our countries as well as transnationally.
We talked about some of the counter-terrorism initiatives that are
important to both countries. We talked about some of the new threats
arising from chemical and biological weapons-people who would use
those against countries and populations to wreak great destruction.


We've talked about some of the new types of legislation we need to
combat crime, including money-laundering. This country recently passed
a money-laundering statute which will be implemented very effectively
against those who would use financial channels to promote crime and
make profits. We talked about the need for continuous high-level
cooperation and more importantly perhaps, the day-to-day routine
contacts between our services which allow us to take advantage of a
very strong relationship, a very critical bilateral relationship in
terms of law enforcement. And also to look to Thailand as a regional
leader with respect to law enforcement.


The Academy represents in many ways the Thai regional leadership in
terms of law enforcement. And if you look at the success that this
government and country has enjoyed even in the most difficult
counter-narcotics area, you know that the establishment of this
Academy and these relationships will not only enhance the mission of
law enforcement around the world, but will provide very critical
leadership to this region by a country committed to democracy, human
rights, and strong enforcement of the law.


We're very, very pleased, and proud to be here. And let me just again
compliment my colleagues, both in the Thai services and the United
States services, for their support. I also want to thank the
Ambassador and the Mission here for the particularly strong support he
has shown in the area of law enforcement, and in the promotion and
support of this very important institution. It's clear from my
meetings with him and his staff that they are particularly committed
and knowledgeable about the importance of these law enforcement issues
and they play a central role in his Mission.


And finally, let me thank our Congress, in particular Chairman Gilman
and others who had the foresight to support this activity and who
understand that at the end of the day, when it comes down to public
safety and the protection of those we serve, it's the trust and
relationships between police forces -- competent, honest police forces
-- that will give us what we need to overcome great threats and very
competent adversaries who would commit crimes and destroy our
democracies as well as our freedoms.


I'll be happy to take a few questions from members of the press, if
they wish.


Q: Mr. Freeh, I'm from Associated Press, I'm Matthew Pennington. The
FBI has recently completed an investigation into a grenade attack in
Cambodia ... against opposition politician Sam Rainsy. The report,
from what I've read, suggests that the body guard troops of Prime
Minister Hun Sen were present at the rally which was quite unusual.
But the report doesn't come to any conclusions about whether Hun Sen
was complicit in the attack. I was hoping you could comment on that
and whether you think Hun Sen was involved in the attack.


FREEH: I really can't comment on that. We've not talked about that
case publicly. We've made some initial reports to our Attorney General
as well as to our Congress, as well as to some of the other
governmental parties involved. But as in all matters that we conduct
in terms of investigation, we don't make those results public. This is
not, of course, an FBI case. We were asked to conduct an investigation
and supply some assistance, which we've done. We've reported the
findings. It's for the principals involved to discuss the particular
details.


Q: Mr. Freeh, David Brunstrom from Reuters. I wonder if I can ask you
about Burma's law enforcement efforts regarding narcotics production.
Last week, the Burmese government said that they have achieved a 31%
year on year drop in poppy cultivation. I think that the time frame is
1999 ... they are characterizing that as a success in law enforcement
efforts. Do you think that law enforcement does have something to do
with that, or is it just the weather, maybe?


FREEH: Well, I don't know, and I'm sorry to say I'm not particularly
familiar with that issue. I know the documented, historic reductions
here in Thailand of both cultivation and processing have been
verified. I'm very familiar with those figures. I'm not that familiar
with the neighboring country figures. Obviously we want to maximize
all of our efforts, both as a regional matter and internationally to
ensure that producer countries are doing whatever is necessary to
interdict and suppress this kind of trade. On the other hand, we have
to work harder as consumer countries. Of course the United States is
the largest consumer of illegal drugs in the world. To reduce that
demand, we're not going to solve the international crisis by law
enforcement. Law enforcement is certainly a necessary part of that.
And we must never relent in our efforts to enforce the law, whether by
interdiction, by arrest and prosecution. But the real issue has to be
addressed on the consumer/demand level. And the United States has to
do a much better job with respect to that, as we ask other countries
to do their share.


Q: To follow up on that, would you say that the FBI is happy with the
law enforcement efforts being taken by the Burmese, and would your
institution like to see greater U.S. involvement in those efforts?


FREEH: We would like to see the strongest counter-narcotics efforts by
every government, including the government that you mentioned. And
those efforts obviously have to be undertaken at the highest level.
They have to be sustained, they have to be honest efforts. They also
have to be efforts that respect human rights as we also conduct
enforcement. I'm not, as I said, (familiar) with the numbers that you
mentioned or the reports of progress, but we certainly want to promote
and support counter-drug activities along the lines that I've
described.


Q: Dan Eaton, AFP. Looking at the millenium, what do you see as the
biggest threats to security in Asia and how you see the FBI involved,
in what role? I'm particularly interested in the IT angle you
mentioned earlier.


FREEH: Well, I think the threats to the new century are in most cases
continued from threats of the last century. We see, as I mentioned,
narcotics issues. In all the countries that I've visited, the
methamphetamine production and consumption and distribution have
become recently much more pronounced. It's probably one of the fastest
growing narcotic problems within the United States. So we have to do a
better job internationally and regionally in focusing on a problem
which was not traditionally the center of that kind of international
attention. Information technologies which are wonderful for education
and the promotion of good things, are also used by people to do harm
and commit crimes. Whether it's a pedophile using the internet or a
terrorist looking to shut down a stock exchange or perhaps shut down a
"911" emergency system as we had a hacker recently do in Florida;
whether it's a person sitting in a far-away country with a lap-top
computer breaking into Citibank in New York and moving 10 million
dollars as we recently saw; whether it's a terrorist who attempts to
use chemical weapons to commit attacks, which is one of the charges
against Bin Laden and the other individuals in the East African
bombings case. These are threats that are facilitated by
globalization, by information technologies, and by telecommunications
efforts and channels that are sometimes even beyond the ability of law
enforcement to counter. So I think the millenium will require
international cooperation at unprecedented levels, which is why this
Academy, and its sister Academy in Budapest, are good and important
steps and initiatives in that direction. What has to happen is what is
happening. And that is high level law enforcement officers,
governments, presidents, prime ministers have to ensure that public
safety issues and law enforcement issues are as important as matters
of foreign policy, as are defense issues, as are economic issues.
National security today and certainly in the millenium is equal to
public safety. And we have to make sure we give those issues the
highest priority. As I think you see in APEC, ASEAN, in NATO
consideration. This has to be elevated to the very top or our
priority.


Q: Dave Brunstrom here, I just wondered if you were in a position to
say anything about the Egypt Air investigation ....


FREEH: The National Safety Board is of course the lead United States
federal agency conducting that investigation. The FBI is playing a
very supportive role at this point. We're processing and working the
case with a view towards preserving all the evidence if in fact we
were to receive information that this was a criminal act. We have not
received any such information. However, we can't rule out anything
until all the facts are obtained by the Safety agency, and we've all
had a chance to review them. So there's no new developments there
except the weather and the depth of the water has made it a very
difficult operation both in terms of the recovery of bodies, the
identification of victims -- this is a very difficult disaster for the
families. We're trying to deal with that and at the same time get the
necessary facts to make some findings, that we hope we'll be able to
do.


(end transcript)



(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State)