Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates - Sunday, May 25th 2014 [ME NewsWire]

The UAE, represented by the Higher Committee for Child Protection at the Ministry of Interior, welcomed Switzerland as a new member of the Virtual Global Taskforce (VGT), the Global Alliance against online child abuse, during a meeting recently held in Brussels and attended by  a delegation from the UAE Ministry of Interior.

Major General Nasser Lakhrebani Al Nuaimi, Secretary General of the Office of HH Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior and Chairman of the Higher Committee for Child Protection at the Ministry of Interior, the UAE representative at the Virtual Global taskforce (VGT), hailed this prestigious event. He pointed that Switzerland became the newest member of the VGT, an international alliance of law enforcement and private sector agencies dedicated to combating online child sexual exploitation and other forms of transnational child sexual exploitation. He explained that the official signing-in ceremony was held in Brussels on Tuesday and was attended by both the U.S. and Swiss ambassadors to the European Union.

Major General Al Nuaimi reiterated the keenness of the UAE to carry out the instructions of Lt. General HH Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, and his vision to make the UAE a hub for civilization and role model in the field of child protection. He noted that the UAE has joined the VGT in 2010 and since then, has endeavored to fulfill its goals and the leaders’ visions to be fully committed to protect the safety of children in the UAE and the world. This is achieved through a multi-level perspective and key pillars based on regulations, internet, monitoring people who may represent a threat to children, as well as raising the community’s awareness about ways to prevent sexual and physical abuse against children  and investigating child abuse cases.

For his part, Lieutenant Colonel Faisal Mohammed Al Shimmari, Director of the Ministry of Interior’s Child Protection Center, highlighted the Ministry of Interior’s efforts to devise solutions and initiatives to guarantee the protection of children, by implementing the laws and legislations applicable in the country, which is considered as a regional role model, based on the best regulatory practices in terms of related laws. These laws incriminate the possession and distribution of “explicit” electronic files; computer-facilitated crimes and seduction techniques; they also ensure monitoring of those who may distribute explicit material and explain the implications of such negative behaviors on offenders. He also reiterated the keenness of the Ministry of Interior to follow the best police practices and training programs, preparing and carrying out media campaigns, academic programs and specialized training programs, with a view to raise awareness on the risks of cybercrimes, especially those involving child abuse on the internet. He also highlighted the keenness to develop and promote the family supervision of children about the risks of the negative use of the internet, and to acquaint them with the risks that might face them online.

Switzerland was formally welcomed by VGT Chair Ian Quinn, head of the Cyber Crimes Center for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), who said, “I’m proud to welcome Switzerland to the VGT and I look forward to their contributions in helping us to combat this global problem.” The VGT now consists of 13 international law enforcement agencies and 12 private sector partners.

“As a member of the Global Alliance against online child abuse, Switzerland set itself the goal of joining the VGT in order to share the responsibility of fighting online child abuse with the international community,” said Thomas Walther, commissioner of the Swiss Cybercrime Coordination Unit Switzerland (CYCO), who will represent Switzerland on the VGT board of management.

CYCO is part of the Federal Criminal Police, a main division within the Federal Office of Police and is Switzerland’s central contact point for reporting illegal subject matter on the Internet. The Cybercrime Unit has three areas of responsibility: monitoring, analysis and clearing – and is composed of networks technicians, specialists for Internet protocol and information security, legal experts and criminal analysts. CYCO is represented in national working groups and cooperates closely with international partners and NGOs.

It is worth mentioning that the 12 other VGT law enforcement member agencies are: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); the Australian Federal Police; the UK National Crime Agency’s Child Exploitation and Online Protection Command; Royal Canadian Mounted Police’s Canadian Police Centre for Missing and Exploited Children/Behavioral Sciences Branch; the Italian Postal and Communication Police Service; New Zealand Police; INTERPOL; Europol; the Ministry of Interior for the United Arab Emirates; Dutch National Police, Indonesian National Police and the Korean National Police.

The VGT private partners are: End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes network (ECPAT International), International Association of Internet Hotlines (INHOPE), the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC), International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (ICMEC), PayPal, Microsoft Digital Crimes Unit, World Vision, Blackberry, The Code, Kids Internet Safety Alliance (KINSA), NetClean and Telstra.

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The Arabic-language text of this announcement is the official, authoritative version. Translations are provided as an accommodation only, and should be cross-referenced with the Arabic-language text, which is the only version of the text intended to have legal effect.

Contacts

The UAE Minister of Interior's General Secretariat, Tactical Affairs and Security Media Department

Abu Dhabi Police GHQ - Security Media

Chris Cron +971-(0)-50-987-1317

E-mail: cron.media@hotmail.com

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