The purpose of the article Gender in White-Collar Crime: An Empirical Study of Pink-Collar Criminals is to use different feminist theories to describe the major gaps related to the involvement of women in white-collar crime. The authors explain why the issue of female white-collar crime should be investigated and dealt with (Gottschalk & Glaso, 2013). The article Theories of Female Criminality: A Criminological Analysis focuses on feminist theories to explain why more women are engaging in blue-collar crime (Islam, Banarjee, & Khatun, 2014). The purpose of the study was to use different models to understand the nature of female criminality.
Key Questions
The key question addressed in the first article is whether more men committing a white-collar crime in comparison with the detection rate for women engaging in such offenses (Gottschalk & Glaso, 2013). This question was informed by the increasing number of women involved in white-collar crime. In the second article, the targeted question was how different theories of female criminality could be used to explain the involvement of women in crime (Islam et al., 2014). The answer to the question would empower scholars to monitor and understand female criminality.
Data and Methods
The authors of the first article used a qualitative study sample to analyze the rate of white-collar crime in Norway. This methodological approach empowered scholars to use newspaper sources to present quality information. The sample size was 255 persons covered in different newspapers. Twenty of these criminals were women (Gottschalk & Glaso, 2013). This observation revealed that most of the white-collar crimes reported in the media were associated with men. It was necessary to examine the role of feminist theory in describing why fewer women were reported after committing such crimes. The second article relied on a qualitative study focusing on available literature. The authors went ahead to give a comparative analysis of different feminist theories to describe the risk factors for female criminality. According to the article, feminist theories such as opportunity, masculinity, and marginalization explain why some women engage in crime (Islam et al., 2014). Females who lack adequate resources would be willing to engage in crime. Similarly, masculine women tend to engage in blue-collar crime.
Conclusions
Gottschalk and Glaso (2013) indicate that more men are reported for committing white-collar criminal acts. Women might not engage in white-collar due to a lack of organizational power or resources. Additionally, women tend to be perceived as victims rather than culprits. Future studies should, therefore, focus on the uniqueness of every form of female white-collar crime. The second article shows conclusively that each feminist theory delivers the same message. This is the case because many women are currently engaging in violent crime due to different factors such as victimization, disempowerment, and inequality. Since women have less economic opportunities, they decide to engage in crime to improve their lives (Islam et al., 2014). This message should be taken seriously in order to implement adequate social programs to address this predicament.
Limitations
The authors of the first article have failed to explore why female white-collar crimes go unreported. They have also overlooked the linkage between feminist theory and white-collar crime among women (Gottschalk & Glaso, 2013). Future scholars can focus on the unique features of womens criminality and involvement in corporate fraud. The second article fails to explain how social changes inform female criminality. Failure to use a quantitative research approach also affected the studys strength. The researchers also overlooked the importance of feminist theories in dealing with female criminality (Islam et al., 2014). Future scholars should present new insights and ideas to empower more women.
References
Gottschalk, P., & Glaso, L. (2013). Gender in white-collar crime: An empirical study of pink-collar criminals. International Letters of Social and Humanistic Sciences, 4, 22-34. Web.
Islam, M., Banarjee, S., & Khatun, N. (2014). Theories of female criminality: A criminological analysis. International Journal of Criminology and Sociological Theory, 7(1), 1-8.
Law enforcement policies are guided by certain theories and principles. For instance, deterrence theory is now widely used as it is regarded as an effective framework that helps in deterring would-be offenders from committing crimes. However, there are still many concerns as to the effectiveness of such policies and the applicability of the theory to some contexts. This paper includes a brief analysis of the ways the theory is used by scholars. The focus is on adolescent sex crimes and policies developed on the basis of deterrence theory.
Theory Description
Deterrence theory is based on the assumption that people can make rational choices when deciding whether to commit or deter from committing a crime. It is stipulated that people weigh possible benefits as well as negative outcomes associated with their actions including criminal behaviors (Najdowski, Cleary, & Stevenson, 2016). In case the adverse effects overweigh potential gains, people are believed to deter from offenses. One of the major negative event associated with crime is being caught (Svensson, 2015). Therefore, it is possible to use the following wording. If people believe they can be caught easily and get severe punishment, they are likely to avoid certain crimes. However, there are many settings where this theory cannot be applied.
Adolescent Sex Crimes
Juvenile crime is one of the most controversial areas as adolescent delinquents are regarded as people who are unlikely to be totally responsible for their actions or can understand the outcomes of their behavior (Najdowski et al., 2016). At the same time, adolescents can commit violent crimes and become offenders in their adulthood. One of the crimes that attract a lot of attention is the adolescent sex crime. The policies associated with this type of offense are also rather debatable. For instance, the registration policy is seen as rather controversial (Najdowski et al., 2016). This policy implies the registration of adolescents personal information, and the following offenses can lead to stricter punishments for the registered people.
Theoretical Point(s) of View Presented in the Article
As has been mentioned above, the theory appeals to the individuals ability to make rational choices. Najdowski et al. (2016) concentrate on this premise and emphasize that adolescents are often unable to make rational choices due to certain psychological peculiarities of this age group. Moreover, the researchers claim that many young people are unaware of this policy and its possible outcomes. The researchers also note that psychological peculiarities of individuals should also be taken into account as people often have different risk perceptions. Svenssson (2015) addresses another aspect associated with peoples differences. The author states that individuals levels of morality have a considerable impact on their deterrence. The researcher stresses that deterrence is more likely to be effective among people with low levels of morality.
Data and Methods the Author Used
Najdowski et al. (2016) implemented a literature review and analyzed the available information on the corresponding policies and their outcomes. The authors used secondary data and made their conclusions based on this analysis. Svensson (2015) carried out an empirical study based on self-report data. The research involved 891 adolescents from Sweden. The author also reviewed the existing studies on the matter and developed conclusions based on the empirical and secondary data.
Results
Najdowski et al. (2016) stress that the registration policy is ineffective due to the limited applicability of deterrence theory. The researchers claim that adolescents are unlikely to be deterred from sex crimes due to certain limitations. These gaps include adolescents psychological peculiarities and their limited ability to make rational choices. Insufficient awareness of the registry law peculiarities, as well as the definition of crimes, also contribute to the ineffectiveness of the policy under consideration. The authors also draw readers attention to some empirical data showing that registration may have a negative effect on adolescents life in the future. Svensson (2015) found that morality was considerably correlated to deterrence among the participants. Individuals with low levels of morality were more likely to deter as compared to adolescents with high levels of morality.
Conclusions
Both articles provide the data that indicate the gaps in the use of deterrence theory when addressing adolescent sex crime. One of the major conclusions is that the theory should be used with caution as young people are often unable to make rational choices. Furthermore, personality can affect adolescents decisions to deter. Finally, the lack of awareness concerning the existing policies and their potential outcomes limits teenagers ability to make correct choices.
Limitations of the Studies
Although the articles provide valuable insights into the use of the theory, they are characterized by certain limitations. For example, Najdowski et al. (2016) do not provide sufficient empirical data due to the lack of this kind of information. It could be beneficial to implement sound quantitative studies on the matter. It can be effective to carry out similar inquiries nationwide. Svensson (2015) also reports some limitations of his research. The author notes that it is necessary to implement a longitudinal study to unveil the correlation between morality and deterrence. The researchers conclusions are also based on self-reports, which can undermine their reliability and validity to a certain extent.
References
Najdowski, C., Cleary, H., & Stevenson, M. (2016). Adolescent sex offender registration policy: Perspectives on general deterrence potential from criminology and developmental psychology. Psychology: Public Policy and Law, 22(1), 114-125.
Svensson, R. (2015). An examination of the interaction between morality and deterrence in offending. Crime & Delinquency, 61(1), 3-18.
Many news media outlets state that the USA has become a surveillance state. The realities of modern American life indicate that it is, indeed, the case. Practices of mass surveillance in the country have been around since the First and Second World War. These practices breach one of the core rights protected by the American Constitution, namely the right to privacy (Shields, Smith & Damphousse 2015). The Fourth Amendment provides that the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized (Fourth amendment 2018, para. 1).
State-sanctioned violations of constitutional rights normally occurred only in times of great need for security. Tapping into telephones, surveying mass media outlets, and monitoring personal communications is justified by an alleged effort to stop terrorists. CCTV cameras are allegedly in place to prevent violent crime and theft. These measures are costly and are afforded on taxpayer dollars (Greene et al. 2014). The purpose of this paper is not to argue about the morality of the surveillance society, but to investigate how measures currently in place reduce crime and make the nation safer in terms of privacy, security, costs, and effectiveness.
Surveillance and Security
This section defines the domains of surveillance in the field of security. The purpose of surveillance, at its core, is not malicious. Its initial intent is to prevent crime from occurring, or, if it did happen, to provide evidence that would allow the law enforcement agencies to identify and punish the culprit. Surveillance has two purposes prevention and detection of crime (Lyon 2014). These two purposes are intertwined, as prevention relies on detecting signs or leads of a potential crime, in order to interrupt it mid-way, whereas the presence detection serves as a passive deterrent against criminal activity no criminal would willingly conduct a crime if they were aware that they are being watched. Surveillance plays heavily into the inevitability of punishment in order to dissuade citizens from breaking the law. Online surveillance is utilized primarily as a prevention tool by tracking conversations that utilize words such as bomb, death, terror, shooting, and other triggers that may indicate preparation of a serious crime (Lyon 2014). CCTV cameras serve as primary detection tools. They are placed in public spaces, supermarkets, parking lots, and other areas where the possibility of a crime occurring is high (Roubini 2015). Their purpose is to deter crime and to provide visual data in order to catch the criminal, should a crime occur. These measures, at least, theoretically, are meant to contribute to safety and security of the society.
Surveillance and Privacy
Surveillance is considered the antithesis of privacy. Whenever surveillance is implemented, it inevitably causes a breach of personal privacy. However, in the scope of this paper, we will not investigate questionable morality of surveillance tactics. Instead, its purpose is to investigate how surveillance can be used to abuse privacy beyond acceptable social norms. According to Gorman (2013), secret service agents have been known to utilize surveillance systems to spy on their spouses and love interests. The term LOVEINT was coined after the incident. Thus, extensive surveillance generates privacy and security issues on its own, as it allows government and security workers monitor other people with impunity, accountable to no one. In many cases, the ability to extensively monitor personal movements and connections is utilized out of perverse pleasures, or to pursue certain political agendas. During FBIs COINTELPRO operations, surveillance was used to target leaders and supporters of the left-wing opposition (Gorman 2013). Based on the information gathered, it is concluded that surveillance can be used to undermine personal privacy both passively and actively. This results in numerous issues of appropriateness and legality of surveillance actions.
Effectiveness of Surveillance
The views on the effectiveness of surveillance vary. According to Calba et al. (2015), the existing approaches to surveillance systems experience a serious lack of information regarding the identification of security issues, selection of tools, and methods of evaluation. In addition, the researchers detected a lack of consideration of economic and social aspects of surveillance.
These findings are mirrored by the public statement made by the police chief Jim Peschong, who performed a 5-year audit of the effectiveness of surveillance systems in Lincoln, Nebraska (Roubini 2015). According to his findings, the recordings did not help the police identify any new criminals; neither did they provide any additional evidence against known criminals currently on trial. In addition, security cameras did not act as a deterrent for crime, as the average crime rate within their vicinity did not decrease in comparison to the yearly average (Roubini 2015).
However, there is evidence of security cameras showing some efficiency in preventing crime, particularly in subways and in parking lots. According to Priks (2015), security cameras installed in Stockholm Metro did manage to reduce the number of crimes (namely pickpocketing and robberies) committed at the station. However, the average cost of a single prevented crime is estimated at circa 2000 dollars.
With internet and personal communications surveillance, as well as the concept of Big Data, the majority of academic studies agree that monitoring of all available forms of information exchange, as well as the analysis of the databases using quantitative methods, is cumbersome and inefficient (Lyon 2014). One major problem stems from the inability of computers to recognize context, which forces them to sift through irrelevant communications and to brand innocent people as potential threats, forcing security agencies to follow a myriad of pointless leads. While internet surveillance has been proven to prevent several school shootings, in the majority of the scenarios the information was passed by concerned internet users, who spotted a dangerous post in Facebook and were able to judge its content and context (Kirchner 2015).
Cost-Efficiency of Surveillance
The majority of mass surveillance methods are costly. The installation and maintenance of a single security camera can cost up to 1500 dollars per piece. The systems require maintaining, cleaning, and replacing every 5 years (Roubini 2015). In addition, cameras can be damaged by the elements, debris, and human activities. The efficiency of security cameras is disputed, which puts a shadow on its cost-efficiency as well. As it was stated in the previous section, the cost of stopping a minor crime, such as pickpocketing or a minor robbery, with security cameras, is 2000 dollars per crime (Priks 2015). This is more money than the accumulated costs of 10 pickpocketing crimes combined. It can be argued that cameras pay for themselves whenever they prevent a crime with their passive presence, or when they help catch a criminal. In these rare cases, however, it could be argued that money spent on largely inefficient deterrents could have been spent on other methods of fighting crime.
With internet surveillance as well as Big Data projects, the balance of cost-efficiency is even less in favor of the intervention. Data analysis requires computers immense processing powers, thousands of personnel, and various supporting activities. The newest central hub for NSAs internet surveillance operations cost more than 1.5 billion dollars to construct, and even more to maintain (Greene et al. 2014). In addition, NSAs demands for information disclosure not only tarnish the good names of companies who are forced into compliance (thus hurting business and the economy) but also passively increase internet costs across the country. Coupled with perceived lack of effectiveness, internet surveillance and Big Data does not give an impression of efficiency or usefulness.
Conclusions
The premise of this paper was to answer the question of whether greater surveillance is or is not a desirable answer to the problem of crime. As evidenced by the research provided above, conclusions about mass surveillance are as follows:
The concept of surveillance is centered on providing safety and security for the society. Its intended purpose is pure.
The concept of mass surveillance is hostile to the concept of privacy and has the potential to be abused by individuals and organizations for dubious purposes.
Mass surveillance is largely inefficient at achieving its alleged goals.
Mass surveillance is not cost-efficient.
As such, it could be stated that mass surveillance is not a desirable answer to the problem of crime. The incredible amounts of money spent on it should instead be redirected to other venues that would help reduce the percentage of crime by eliminating the need to indulge in criminal behavior.
Reference List
Calba, C, Goutard, FL, Hoinville, L, Hendrikx, P, Lindberg, A, Saegerman, C & Peyre, M 2015, Surveillance systems evaluation: a systematic review of the existing approaches, BMJ Public Health, vol. 15, no. 448, pp. 1-13.
Shields, CA, Smith, BL & Damphousse, KR 2015, Prosecuting terrorism: challenges in the post 9/11 world, Sociology of Crime, Law and Deviance, vol. 20, pp. 173-195.
This proposal aims at the investigation of compliance programs influence on financial crimes in the UAE. Particularly, such compliance units as FATF MENA, NICE Actimize, and DFSA, current problems, and possible solutions were identified. The evidence-based literature review provides the basis for the study. The proposal also involves the methodology of the potential research consisting of both quantitative and qualitative methods.
The topic of the Research Proposal
The finance scope, an area of monetary and currency values and securities, is actively developing a significant element of the UAE economy. In terms of freedom of economic relations and the imperfection of the legal regulation, the financial sector has become one of the most attractive for the commission of criminal acts. The term financial crime includes a very large group of crimes that have similarities in their forensic characterization.
This concept is generally associated with criminal acts of fraud, embezzlement, money laundering, and others. In this regard, there is a need to investigate the UAE way of confronting financial crimes through compliance programs such as FATF MENA, NICE Actimize, and DFSA resulting in the concise analysis of key problems, objectives, concepts, and methodology of the proposal.
Literature Review
In order to identify principal problems in the marked area, it is essential to conduct a literature review. The corporate compliance unit is one of the ways of affecting financial crimes as it guarantees that all the businesses in the country are organized legally according to requirements of local and federal laws. There are a number of programs devoted to the implementation of the mentioned strategy.
The Middle East and North Africa Financial Action Task Force (FATF MENA) is an international organization that is a benchmark in the global fight against money laundering, the mission of which is to combat money laundering and terrorist financing. Hawala is the traditionally utilized Alternative Remittance Systems (ARS) in the UAE. The Central Bank administers the registration of hawala operations and adherence to a related set of rules and assures that details of those registered are kept safe, under strict confidentiality rules1.
The FATF MENA program involves legal systems and financial structures aimed at the enhancement of the efficiency of struggle against financial crimes as well as at the strengthening of international cooperation in this field. It is also very significant to point out the fact that the purpose of these regimes is the awareness of the financial crime phenomenon both within the government structures and the private business sector and the introduction of the necessary regulatory measures for agencies dealing with this issue.
The other program providing a fraud management platform is a NICE Actimize that is a group of products and solutions in the field of financial fraud prevention and anti-money laundering. Through best-in-class integrated solutions concerning financial security, risk, and compliance with regulatory requirements, financial institutions can meet the challenges of risk management, reduce operationally and IT costs, improve investment efficiency, and increase customers loyalty.
The enhanced functionality available within Actimizes Suspicious Activity Monitoring and Customer Due Diligence solutions will allow the institution to address evolving money laundering and terrorism financing threats more efficiently2. Besides, the use of NICE Actimize solutions enables customers to prevent financial crime, mitigate risk, reduce operational costs, minimize losses, and provide a higher level of compliance with regulatory requirements. The units solutions provide real-time fraud prevention through various channels of interaction with customers, the use of policies to combat money laundering, enterprise investigations, and risk management.
It is also necessary to pinpoint the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) that grants licenses and controls financial actions by means of Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC)3. The management of DFSA applies to asset management services, collective investment funds, credit, insurance, banking services, storage services, and fiduciary disposal of securities providing access to trade commodity futures, stocks, and other securities.
Key Problems
Based on the above literature review, it is possible to determine the following problems need to be addressed in the research:
The problem of the unification of financial regulation and supervision. Among the important problems of financial control programs, there is its legal basis, which lags behind economic realities and the state of problems in the financial sector. The rules of the general financial control are not contained in a single legislative act as they are scattered in various normative legal acts regulating certain types of financial control. In this regard, there is a problem with standardization to prevent financial crimes.
The problem of financial control enhancement in order to advance efficiency improving its role that is very important in terms of building an economic system based on innovation. The set of proposed solutions should lead to the development of the national innovation system, namely, a set of interrelated organizations engaged in the production and commercialization of science and technology.
The problem of money laundering. Despite the tightening of regulatory requirements, the relevance of the topic of combating money laundering of criminal proceeds is steadily growing. Money laundering acquires more sophisticated forms, and even large financial institutions worldwide are making difficult to reduce risks of illegal activities.
Objectives of the Study
Basically, the objectives of the study constitute the potential answers to the above problems and questions listed below and the evaluation of the present situation suggesting some improvements.
Justification of the Study
The current situation in the UAE concerning the financial sector remains corrupt to some extent and, therefore, might be considered as the justification of the study.
Definition of Major Concepts
Under the concept of the financial crime, one understands an unlawful (haram) act that directly infringes the formation, distribution, redistribution, and use financial resources of economic agents4. Financial crimes can be classified on various grounds. Depending on the level of financial relations, which is the object of crimes, the following types are usually distinguished:
The crimes encroaching on the state financial system (public and municipal finance).
The crimes encroaching on enterprise finances.
Depending on the scope of infringement, financial crimes might concern the following fields: taxation, securities market, insurance market, foreign exchange market, interbank money market, credit market, and market of goods and services.
Depending on the type of operations that are used for criminal purposes, crimes in the sphere of credit, accounting, currency, and stock are distinguished.
Hypotheses
The proposed solutions for the identified problems comprise the following aspects:
Give compliance agencies the power to monitor, collect, and confiscate profits obtained illegally in the final stage;
Provide the necessary infrastructure to enable compliance agencies to exchange information with their counterparts abroad;
It is principally important that the UAE government should take into account all the relevant facts in the development of programs to combat financial crimes. More precisely, there is a need to combine legal and financial structures with the private sector to enable financial institutions to contribute to the settlement of the problem. It means, among other things, that the power structure should establish the money transfer tracking system to identify the customers personality and preserve the information in petto.
Address future threats. Finally, a new system of fighting financial crime should take into account not only current but also future threats. The development of Internet banking opens new possibilities to criminals to use cryptocurrency5. One also might note the rapid development of new payment technologies, the growth of which is associated with the commercial espionage. To properly respond to such trends, it is necessary to create new systems that will make the most accurate predictions and implement the necessary changes timely.
Research Questions
What are the ways of combating financial crimes?
What are the main objectives aimed at creating an integrated system of financial control?
How should Internet banking be protected?
What are the improvements that should be implemented to prevent financial crimes?
Methodology
Every research needs a research design before starting because it is an integral part of the research. Therefore, there is a need to determine a research method for a possible investigation. In my research, I would use the mixed design of the investigation. A qualitative method involves the collection of information in a free form; it focuses on the understanding, explanation, and interpretation of empirical data that is the source of speculation and productive ideas. A quantitative method comprises conducting various surveys based on the use of structured questions of closed type, which corresponds to a large number of respondents6.
The main objective of quantitative research is to obtain a numerical estimate of the issue or the reaction of respondents towards it. For example, it would be better if the number of crimes would be accompanied by an explanation of the situation. Accordingly, I would like to provide quantitative research finding out the number of committed financial crimes.
All in all, it seems appropriate to examine at least three cases of financial crimes to suggest appropriate solutions using the interview method. I consider that less number of cases would lead to incorrect results. After that, I would like to interpret and understand the results to make relevant conclusions and contribute to some extent to the resolution of financial crime prevention.
Limitation to the Study
The study limits to the considered country, namely, the UAE as the proposal counts for its peculiarities and compliance programs conducted within the country. In addition, the study is limited by the time frame as it covers only the contemporary period.
Chapters Sequence
Speaking of the chapters organization, the mentioned thesis will consist of six chapters. The first chapter will provide the literature review to determine the current situation focused on evidence-based sources. The second chapter will formulate the key problems of the research to be addressed. The third chapter will identify fundamental concepts of the study including the notion of financial crime and its types. The fourth chapter will assume possible solutions. The fifth chapter will outline the findings of the research and their discussion. Finally, the last chapter will conclude the main points of the research and pinpoint gaps in the study.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it should be emphasized that this paper proposes a study in the field of financial crimes in the UAE. The problems identified in the proposal are relevant and researchable as they relate to the current situation in the country.
Bibliography
Cox Dennis, Handbook of Anti-Money Laundering (Wiley 2014).
Stoudt BG, Quantitative Methods (2014) 2 The SAGE Encyclopedia of Action Research 669.
Trautsolt Joanna and Johnson Jesper, International AntiMoney Laundering Regulation of Alternative Remittance Systems (2012) 15 Journal of Money Laundering Control 407.
Footnotes
Trautsolt Joanna and Johnson Jesper, International AntiMoney Laundering Regulation of Alternative Remittance Systems (2012) 15 Journal of Money Laundering Control 407.
NICE Actimize to Support UAE Exchange with Financial Crime Solutions Addressing Anti-Money Laundering and Integrated Fraud Management (NICE Systems 2015). Web.
Cox Cox Dennis, Handbook of Anti-Money Laundering (Wiley 2014).
Organized crime is becoming a major issue not only in the United States but also in many other countries around the world. Abadinsky (2016) defines organized crime as a category of transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals who intend to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for money and profit (56). These enterprises are often run in syndicated manner, using brutal force against anyone or any authority that they perceive to be a threat to their operations.
Balkans organized crime
The Balkans includes countries in central Europe running to the Mediterranean Sea (Benedek, 2010). They include Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, and Slovenia. Balkans organized crimes are highly centralized illegal business enterprises run locally, nationally, or internationally by criminals whose primary interest is to make quick economic gains using unlawful means (Arsovska, 2015).
Balkans organized crime can be classified into different categories. The following are the major categories of Balkans organized crime that affect many countries, including the United States.
Drug trafficking
Drug trafficking remains one of the major Balkans organized crime. According to Arsovska (2015), these syndicated groups often traffic drugs from South America, Central Europe and parts of Africa to North America and Western Europe. The efficiency and level of coordination used in running the drug business has made it difficult for these businesses to be tracked down and destroyed by multi-governmental agencies, making the country vulnerable.
These drug traffickers have infiltrated the security fabric of many nations around the world, making it almost impossible to track their activities. Abadinsky (2016) says that these traffickers have their agents in the top security agencies in Europe, Asia, Africa, and America. They know when they are being tracked and know how to escape the dragnets put in place by government agencies. In the United States, the government is still trying to find effective ways of dealing with this problem.
Human trafficking
Human trafficking is becoming a major problem in many countries around the world. Women from Asia, South America, and less developed European countries are often kidnapped and trafficked to the United States and Western Europe where they become sex slaves. Most of them are often lured into this form of slavery by being promised lucrative employment opportunities only to realize when it is too late that they have been sent to slavery. Fighting this form of crime has been a problem because the victims are often not aware that they are being sent to slavery.
Trade in contraband goods
Trade in contraband goods is also a form of Balkans crime that the government of the United States is trying to deal with in the recent past. These criminals take advantage of the porous borders and security lapses to traffic sub-standard goods into the country. Sometimes these criminals succeed in smuggling their goods into the country without paying the necessary levies.
These organized crimes often harm the economy of the country directly. For instance, failing to pay tax denies the country the income it deserves in order to run its operations normally. Others such as drug and human trafficking harm individual citizens of this nation, especially if the locals fall prey to these criminal gangs. The government should, therefore, find a way of cooperating with other nations to fight this crime. It can sanction businesses whose source of income is not clear.
References
Benedek, W. (2010). Transnational terrorism, organized crime and peace-building: Human security in the Western Balkans. Basingstoke, U.K.: Palgrave Macmillan.
Abadinsky, H. (2016). Organized crime. Basingstoke, England: Palgrave Macmillan Publishers.
Arsovska, J. (2015). Decoding Albanian organized crime: Culture, politics, and globalization. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley & Sons.
Hate crimes are a serious issue in modern society. Based on prejudice and often involving violence, this type violates the most basic human rights. Despite being constantly addressed by different activist groups and getting the response from the legal system, hate crimes are still reported on a regular basis with varying frequency, mostly due to the lack of understanding by the victims and the uneven coverage by law.
The state of Maryland is usually performing well when it comes to the percentage of hate crimes (TRNN, 2015). Nevertheless, when it comes to assessing the statistics, the numbers do not always show positive tendencies. For example, the total number of verified hate crimes have decreased by 35% from 2011 (78 instances) to 2012 (50 instances). However, in the next year, the number has grown the same amount, returning to 78. Among these, half of the crimes were conducted on a racial basis (39), and 28% on religious grounds (22). This latter number has also risen dramatically since 2012, which had only seven verified instances. The third leading cause is sexual orientation (16%), and the remaining 6% is based on ethnic prejudice (OMalley, Brown, & Brown, 2014).
However, the reasons behind the increase in the crime rates are complex. While there is no doubt that racial and religious discrimination remains the sole reason behind the majority of the cases, the growing number of reported crimes does not necessarily mean the growing number of abuses. The hate crime is a relatively recent development in a legal system, and its classification is still undergoing changes. Thus, the crimes which previously fell under other categories, are now classified as hate ones. Additionally, the statistics only show the number of reported cases, which do not necessarily correspond to the actual number of abuses.
Finally, the numbers are still susceptible to the biased judgment, with the majority of cases being misattributed to the hate crime variety by the victims, either because of their lack of understanding of the concept or as a result of trying to gain an advantage by claiming to be a victim of discrimination. The statistics show more than 300 percent difference between the reported (252) and confirmed (78) number of instances, with the tendency being the most obvious among the crimes of racial origin (39 confirmed cases out of 156 reported ones, or a 400% rate) and a 200 to 300 percent in other fields (OMalley et al., 2014).
Of the 78 confirmed cases, only one was conclusively proven to be conducted by a group with a race-bias ideology (OMalley et al., 2014). This tendency also remains persistent throughout the years, with only two incidents associated with such groups in 2012. Apparently, the overwhelming majority of crimes are conducted by individuals who exhibit bias on the personal level rather than a part of membership in some group. This conclusion suggests several ways of addressing the issue.
First, awareness needs to be continuously raised regarding the situation. This includes organizing educational campaigns, forming activist groups, both on grassroots and official levels, and ensuring the adequate theoretical basis regarding the social and legal aspects of the hate crimes. The latter is especially important, as the statistics suggest that the current lack of understanding puts the victims at a disadvantage and at least some of them supposedly do not completely distinguish a hate crime from other variety. The authorities, on the other hand, need to improve the legal basis by creating more transparent criteria that at the same time do not omit any of the aspects of the abuse.
References
OMalley, M., Brown, A., & Brown, M. (2014). State of Maryland 2013 hate/bias report. Web.
TRNN. (2015). MD among lowest number of hate crimes in the nation. Web.
It is obvious that the efficient functioning of the professional working in the sphere of the crime depends on numerous factors. However, credible and relevant data should be considered the most important aspects which impact the final result and promote the success of a certain case. In this regard, there are many various methods to collect statistical data and various data sources which present this very information to a specialist. Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) are the official source which suggests the information about crime in the USA. It collects statistics on the number of offenses known to law enforcement (UCR Offense Definitions, n.d.). There are two large groups (Part I and Part II offenses) which include crimes of various character such as murder and nonnegligent homicide, forcible rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, motor vehicle theft, larceny-theft, and arson (UCR Offense Definitions, n.d.) and the main statistics related to them.
It is obvious that the given source has a number of advantages which result from its nature. First, only credible and relevant data is presented to a specialist. That is why he/she is able to process the information and provide the authentic conclusion. Additionally, the existing pattern of the classification of crimes contributes to the improved efficiency of search. Besides, there is the historical perspective of crime which allows people to trace the evolution of society. However, there are certain weaknesses that result from the peculiarities of the data collection. The fact is that UCR reports only crimes known to the police. It means that it is difficult to obtain a clear image of the current situation. Moreover, UCR reports only the most serious and complex crime incidents. That is why data obtained with the help of the given tool could be incomplete.
However, numerous victimologists still use the given tool trying to acquire the knowledge needed to analyze a certain crime and determine its main peculiarities. Using UCR, victimologists are able to trace the evolution of a certain kind of crime which is essential for further predictions and prognosis. Additionally, it still remains one of the main sources to investigate the nature and extent of the criminality in the USA (Regoli & Hewitt, 2008). That is why, victimologists tend to use the given data source to create a clear image and highlight the most important tendencies related to the world of crime, its peculiarities, and evolution. Despite the fact that some data might lack relevance, UCR still remains important and popular among specialists because of its simple and efficient nature.
Investigating the ways to collect data needed for the analysis of a certain crime or some other aspects of the given sphere, the National Incident-Based Reporting system should also be admitted. It also provides data related to each crime o incident that attracted the polices attention. (National Incident-based reporting system (NIBRS), n.d.) It includes information about the nature and types of various offenses in the incident. The given tool also describes the most important characteristics of a victim and offender, types and value of the stolen property, etc. It becomes obvious that the given source tends to present comprehensive information for a specialist to be able to use it while investigating a certain crime or making a final report. The information is organized according to a special pattern which results in increased efficiency and great practical utility.
When investigating strong and weak aspects of the given tool, one should admit the fact that NIBRS is the component of UCR which could be characterized by the same problems and advantages (Regoli & Hewitt, 2008). As mentioned above, it also works with data about crimes that attracted the polices attention. It means that the relevance of the information might suffer from various factors. However, NIBRS differs from UCR in several important ways which condition its advantageous character and promotes its usage instead of UCR. Thus, the ability to collect the data on each single accident and arrest is a great advantage of the given tool. Moreover, it provides comprehensive crime data to local agencies which might use it to improve their functioning and guarantee the monitoring of the further evolution of crime in the area.
It becomes obvious that the given tool is also used by victimologists who want to obtain the relevant information about the crime tendencies and its evolution peculiar to certain area or city. At the same time, specialists of this sort appreciate numerous additional facts related to the character of the victim, offender, place, etc. provided by NIBRS. This information could be used to allocate the resources needed to respond to crime efficiently and create the new pattern which could contribute to the significant improvement of the current situation. Finally, NIBRS could also be used by numerous victimologists to guarantee the significant increase of their performance in terms of the investigation of a certain tendency or sort of crime conditioned by the existence of the relevant information.
Finally, there is another data source widely used nowadays to obtain the credible information and create the efficient strategy or solution. Besides, National Crime Victimization Survey is the survey which collects data related to personal and household victimization (Data Collection: National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), n.d.). It could be considered the primary source of information on the characteristics of criminal victimization and other crimes not reported to law enforcement authorities (UCR, NIBRS, and the NCVS, n.d.). Furthermore, NCVS provides victims with the opportunity to share their thoughts and emotions related to the impact crime or some other stressors had on them. The hierarchical pattern used to organize the data is one of the main peculiarities of the given sources as the majority of other surveys just provide the flat individual-level data set (UCR, NIBRS, and the NCVS, n.d.). The given pattern considers the variations in household composition and in the occurrence of incidents of victimization.
Nevertheless, this very hierarchical pattern could also be considered as a great benefit of the given system as it provides numerous opportunities for its analysis and processing. It also reduces the size and space needed to store the great amount of data related to various accidents. Moreover, the precise analysis of various data sets and the ability to provide the information related both to individual ad household levels contribute to the increased efficiency of the given tool in terms of the investigation of the impact and the main tendencies of the evolution of crime. Additionally, the provision of the opportunity to share experiences and emotions related to a certain accident is another great advantage which contributes to the improvement of the image of the given data sources. At the same time, the absence of the official statistics could be considered some disadvantage as it impacts the relevance of the provided data.
However, the given tool could be used by victimologists to analyze victims showings related to a certain crime and feelings and emotions related to it. Furthermore, NCVS helps to develop the detailed information about the victims and consequences of crime, estimate the number and types of accidents which were not admitted by the police, create the efficient tool to prevent the further evolution of crime and compare the crime statistics at various periods of time. In these regards, victimologists tend to use the given tool to accomplish these task and provide the credible information related to the given sphere. The tool could be considered efficient as it also provides the opportunity to evaluate the current performance by comparing showings at various periods of time.
Table 1. Comparison of UCR, NIBRS, NCVS.
UCR
NIBRS
NCVS
Details on incidents
No
Yes
no
Hierarchical pattern
Yes
No
Yes
Victims experiences
No
No
yes
Accounts for offenders attempted vs completed
No
Yes
no
number and types of crimes not reported to the police
No
No
yes
In these regards, one should realize the fact that above-mentioned data sources are organized in accordance with various patterns which contribute to the significant differences in their peculiarities and functions. UCR and NIBRS are focused on the provision of data resting on the official reports related to the crimes admitted by the police. At the same time, NCVS provides the information which rests on victims showings and is evidenced by numerous real-life examples. Additionally, the given tool also uses data which are not included in official reports; This fact contributes to its increased importance. The different nature of these tools conditions the existence of various possibilities to analyze a certain crime and provide the efficient solution.
Therefore, all these data sources promote the better understanding of the basic trends peculiar to the modern society. The fact is that the precise analysis and investigation of the relevant official statistics results in the acquisition of knowledge related to the nature of a crime and its main peculiarities. That is why the usage of these very tools to analyze and investigate the modern situation could be considered the most efficient method to attain success and decrease the number of accidents of this sort. Besides, despite numerous efforts, the problem of criminal victimization remains topical as there is the growing tendency towards the increase of the number of crimes and the deterioration of the general situation. With this in mind, it is crucial to use the data provided by these sources to mitigate the negative effects of this tendency and attain success.
For these reasons, victimologists use the above-mentioned information and tend to trace the evolution of crime as it might help to predict the new outbreak of violence and stop its development. Furthermore, the usage of the given information might contribute to the creation of the efficient solution which might help to reduce the number of crimes and help society to get rid of numerous problems of this sort.
Finally, considering UCR, NIBRS, NCVS and their main advantages, I should admit the great practical use of the last one. The fact is that NCVS provides the information related to the crimes not fixed by the police, and it increases its practical use and results in the appearance of a number of new opportunities for the analysis of the current situation. In this regards, I accept NCVS as the best possible choice.
Each individual and state has a moral and legal obligation to protect its population against war crimes and crimes against humanity. Understanding this obligation requires a deeper understanding of what such responsibility entails. Often issues have arisen as to whether war crimes and crimes against humanity committed while in office can be treated as individual or publicly committed crimes (Cryer et al., 2007). As some people have put it, should such crimes be attached to the office an individual was holding on commission or attached to the holder of the office? As a minimum requirement the state or a state office holder should ensure that citizens under its jurisdiction are not subjected to acts amounting to crimes against humanity or war crimes, put in place appropriate and effective measures to ensures such dont happen, and when they happen, ensure that those responsible for the atrocities are held accountable. State and state office holders should therefore be organized in a manner ensuring that they are able to live up to this obligation. Government apparatus and structures through which public power is exercised should facilitate the minimum thresholds required to ensure that the aforementioned crimes and tensions which may lead to the same do not occur. These should include facilitation of peaceful solution mechanism where possible.
Authoritarian/totalitarian systems often lack these structures. They generally lack structures and mechanism which could facilitate peaceful resolution to conflicts. Additionally, such regimes have often been associated with practices which infringe on the right of citizens. This often results into commission of crimes against humanity. Likewise during wars, people often loose moral and legal restrains and end up committing war crimes (Cryer et al., 2007). Basic rules that govern combat operations and behaviors offer guidelines of engagement during military/armed conflicts. These rules focus on ensuring that the opposing forces to engage in acts which may result into unjustified casualties. Additionally, it protects against operations which pose a danger to the civilian population. Such may include operations carried out against dams, nuclear sites, and other facilities which facilitate civilian life or pose a threat to the same. However, this paper does not focus on the level of commission of such crimes. The paper rather recognizes that a major obligation of occupying powers is that it must restore and maintain, as far as possible, public order and safety.
An occupying power must also respect the fundamental human rights of the countrys inhabitants, including refugees and other non-citizens. One duty under the concept of public safety is the fundamental duty of an Occupying Power to ensure the life, health and safety of the civilian population under its control. When the individual fails to do this, the fundamental question is whether the individual or the office is accountable and to what levels (Cryer et al., 2007). This paper will evaluate how trails for crimes against humanity and war crimes have endeavored to as this question. To achieve this, the paper will compare how different trials involving war crimes and crimes against humanity have solved the problem of separating personal responsibility from collective responsibility
The essay will begin by providing working definitions of personal and collective responsibility. This will be done with the help of scholarly articles touching on the issue. This will include explaining Immanuel Kants categorical imperative, a central concept in modern deontological ethics which is an approach to ethics that judges the morality of an action based on the actions adherence to a rule or rules. These explanations are important in writing about responsibility.
Background information
Collective responsibility, just like personal and shared responsibility refers to moral agents causal responsibility for harm and consequently the attributed blameworthiness. Both public and moral responsibilities draw from moral and legal rather than causal responsibility. Collective responsibility attaches no blame or responsibility to individuals. Instead, it associates causal and moral responsibility to the duties assigned to the office holder by virtue of being in office.
Theoretical background for personal responsibility
Formerly, only the state/organizations were subjected to international law for crimes against humanity and war crimes. In the modern day jurisprudence both the position of individuals, organizations and state are considered in relation to the crimes committed. This is a shift from the earlier notion that only the state/organizations are responsible for atrocities committed by its officials (Janna, 2002). The expansion of international laws has been able to successfully incorporate the new principles of individual responsibility alongside public responsibility. The Genocide Convention for instance is based on the principle of dual responsibility where both the state and the individual are held accountable. It ensures trial and appropriate punishment of individuals who engage in acts intended to destroy either in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, and racial or religious group (The Geneva Conventions Today, 2009:Art. II). However, it still recognizes that the acts may implicate state responsibility and as such should be referred to the ICJ (Rome Statute, Art. IX).
In pursuant of deterrence and punishment of crimes against humanity/war crime, the international law requires that persons charged with listed offenses, be brought before a competent tribunal preferably within the state of commission (Art. VI). However, the convention also envisages trial of the involved persons before an international penal tribunal with respect to conflicting parties having accepted its jurisdiction (Janna, 2002). Forty years after the Convention came into force; the international criminal tribunal was put in place by the international community with respect to cases from the former Yugoslavia. The ICTY was the first of the International Criminal Courts to have jurisdiction over persons accused of atrocities committed (Cryer et al., 2007). The role of the International Criminal Tribunal has been further broadened by the formation of the Rome treaty which allowed formation of international Criminal Court (ICC)
Unlike the ICC, whose effect is yet to be felt, ICTY has already tried a dozen cases against persons charged with crimes against humanity and war crimes. Likewise has the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, has dealt with cases against persons charged with crimes against humanity related to Rwanda genocide. It is important to note that most of these persons have bore the responsibility individually rather than from public perspective (Janna, 2002). It is therefore possible to mention article VIs intent is to envisage holding of individual responsible before the trying tribunals rather than the office they held.
As a value preference, it is worth noting that future trends in international law will opt to affix and punish individuals for crimes against humanity and war crimes and hence diminish the concept of collective responsibility. Implementation of such is however expected to have far reaching implications and hence demand a closer and in-depth examination (Cryer et al., 2007). However, its acknowledgement that it is truthful that crimes against institutions are committed by individuals and not the offices they hold. Even in instances where such individual purports to have acted on behalf of the state, they seldom engage the whole population/office holders in commission of the same.
Generally acceptable jurisprudence and war customs provide for holding to account of state political leaders, armed forces commanders, senior officers and soldiers. In recent trials, focus has shifted to political and military leaders who order illegal acts and the responsibility they bear to such. This approach has been founded on the basic rule that superior orders cannot be used as a defense for against crimes committed (Janna, 2002). This is applicable to all regardless of rank and position with hierarchy. As various reports have indicated many individual military personnel have deliberately issued orders targeting both civilians and medical suppliers. Such orders have out-rightly sanctioned torture of persons, use of unacceptable weapons and deliberate target of humanitarian facilities (Janna, 2002). Additionally, such orders have obstructed supply of humanitarian aid and facilitated destruction of property wantonly. Although individual perpetrators are liable for capture, trial and punishment, the law is less evident regarding holding of the state accountable for crimes committed. To such extent, the concept of collective responsibility is not due for retirement as it is an important tool in deterrence of state sanctioned atrocities.
Theoretical background on collective responsibility
Various scholars argue that Collective responsibility is morally a more suspect notion compared to individual responsibility (Tannsjo, 1989). It affixes responsibility to an entire population i.e. the nation. Despite its civil consequences, the population bears the reparation costs and its presumption of collective responsibility put to question it fairness. To an extent, it distorts moral responsibility topography lumping to the population crime committed by their leaders purportedly on their behalf.
Arguably, collective responsibility dates back to the Grotain age too, where individual were considered as chattels of state and injury to such a person was considered an injury to the respective state. Based on this, it logically followed that crimes committed by such persons would also be considered as crimes by the respective state (Tannsjo, 1989). The latest changes in international law have however disregarded this notion as a bygone act of past era. It currently recognizes that there is nothing like collective commission of crime rather it is individuals who commit the crime.
International law commissions draft article on collective responsibility fort wrongful was adopted in by the international commission and accepted by submitted to the United Nations general assembly in 2001 (Tannsjo, 2007). The draft seeks to establish applicable norms in determination of responsibility to state constituting a breach of obligation. As per article 8, individuals committed for crimes against humanity and war crimes shall be deemed to have acted on behalf of the state if proof exists such that the person acted under direct instructions or state control (Tannsjo, 2007). Further, article 9 adds that a persons conduct is considered an act of the state if the person was exercising the powers of the office and no default whatsoever of the official authority was committed. Collective responsibility act therefore makes it clear that acts committed by individuals empowered by their office are also attributable to that office.
While no recourse is specified to any given tribunal, juridical attribution of responsibilities to given states is pursued by the ICC in instances where it has jurisdiction (Tannsjo, 2007). The articles generally stipulate that its text must not be understood to derogate individual responsibility by persons acting on behalf of the state. Generally, the legal principals guiding jurisprudence of collective and personal responsibility are based on moral values that guide both the state/organization and individuals to act in the manner they act. Immanuel Kant explores the concept of morality in-depthly.
Immanuel Kants categorical imperative
Morality
Philosophers have often engaged in discussion of existence of right and wrong. Study of human conduct focuses on moral values and making ethical decisions (Van den, 2002). Many theorists have attempted to the question as to the existence of morality. A critical review and analysis of Kants meta-ethics view offers critical information as to acceptance of moral views from a practical point (Kant, 1989).
Morality exists when the subjects believe in conforming to acts that are universally acceptable as right. Ethics on the other hand define situations where moral decision making is employed. Morality begins with identification of what is good and what is wrong, and hence making reasonable judgments on what to and what not to do (Kant, 1989). It is however important to note that most people use the two terms interchangeably.
According to Kant, central morality radix deals with what one has to or ought not to do. There is a conditional obligation that for one thing to happen; one has to perform another action. Conditional ought defines morality in context of performing a given act for another to occur while unconditional ought requires that one performs an act without merit consideration. Kant defines morality on basis of the unconditional ought (Kant, 1989). It makes no reference to associated rewards and merits. The general assertion here is that moral acts do not take into consideration the expected benefits/disbenefits.
Categorical imperative
Kant proposes an approach to determination of morally right and wrong things. He cites that moral justification is a product of categorical imperative. Further, he classifies imperative as either hypothetical or categorical (Kant, 1989). When an action is a means to something, it is hypothetical while if the idea is conceived out of good intentions and not benefits expected, then it is categorical. He sets condition which qualifies an act as categorical imperative including that it must conform to acceptable society norms and conform to rational reasoning (Kant, 1989). Categorical imperative questions whether or not actions can be universalized. He caps it by mentioning that an individuals act can only be considered as categorical imperative if the individual performing the act would reasonable with that it becomes a universal law. A generalized definition according to Kant is that a categorical imperative commands one to do an action X in as much as it is intrinsically right aside from any other considerations and hence no ifs or strings are attached to the decision (Kant, 1989).
The Trial of Adolf Eichmann
Adolf Eichmann served in several of the Einsatzgruppen ( task force ) units that arrested and sometimes executed Jews in German-occupied Europe. Later he became the commandant of Auschwitz. He survived the war and was arrested, ultimately standing trial in Israel in 1961 (Goldhagen, 1996). This is a sample from the prosecutions opening statement at his trial.
In an event that has come to known as the Holocaust, approximately 6,000,000 Jews were systematically exterminated by the Nazis. Upon knowledge of the crimes magnitude, it became imperative to bring as many as possible of its perpetrators to justice. But in the ensuing post-war confusion, identifying the criminals was a rather complex process and most did not account for their actions. One of the most prominent was Germanys Minister of Death, Adolf Eichmann, who eluded capture for years (Arendt 1964). How he was tracked down and brought to justice is this segments compelling story. In 1960, Adolf Eichmann was surreptitiously kidnapped by Israeli agents and transported to Jerusalem. It is in Jerusalem where he was subjected to trials for crimes against humanity and war crimes (Arendt 1964).
The trial became a tool to generate a grand narrative of what happened, when it happened, and how it happened. Despite Israeli having prior knowledge of what had happened, Eichmann answered the other half that had remained covered over time. Eichmanns grand theories attributed guilt to all Germans rather than individuals. The interests of Ben Gurions professed objectives, in the interests of truth, a significant portion of testimony recounted survivor stories that, if connected to Eichmann at all, were at best only marginally associated with him: sick children, thrown out of the childrens ward on the fifth floor. Babies, ripped apart like a rag in front of their mothers eye and many more (Arendt 1964:249). Old priests forced to play horseback-riding matches on each others backs. Old women made to scrub a square clean with toothbrushes. Orchestras playing dance music, while thousands of naked families are being executed. Dogs being given sugar cubes for having bitten flesh out of a girl. Meadows covered with skulls and bones. Naked people in winter, covered with water and frozen (Arendt 1964). A man, who has to choose between his wife and his mother; if not, both will be executed. This mythical scenario describes the crimes that Eichmann was associated with. Attempting to attribute all these crimes did not auger well with the jury. Such level of atrocities could only be committed if the person involved had a will to do so.
Not only did this myth predate the trial but admittance of the testimony served as a pedagogical function envisioned by the Israelites. It largely consecrated Eichmanns myth. The Appeals Court bought into the concept of individual responsibility, asserting (against the wisdom of the District Court judges) that the appellant had received no superior orders at all. He was his own superior, and he gave all orders in matters that concerned Jewish affairs; he had, moreover, eclipsed in importance all his superiors, including Muller (Arendt 1964:216). In rejecting Eichmanns appeal and sealing his fate, the judges maintained that the idea of the Final Solution would never have assumed the infernal forms of the flayed skin and tortured flesh of millions of Jews without the fanatical zeal and the unquenchable blood thirst of the appellant and his accomplices (Arendt 1964: 249).
The Trial of Slobodan Milosevic
Milosevic was indicted for a dozen of crimes including genocide, murder, political, racial, and religious persecutions as well as other inhumane acts considered crimes against humanity. His actions were considered to have been done unlawfully and wantonly without consideration of the moral principles which ought to have guided his decision making.
The initial indictment against Slobodan Milosevic concerning crimes committed in Kosovo was made public on 27 May 1999. 29 October 2001, the Prosecution filed a second amended indictment. On 5 September 2002, the Trial Chamber separated the proceedings against Slobodan Milosevic from proceedings against the other accused (Berkeley, 2002). The operative indictment alleged that between 1 January 1999 and 20 June 1999, Slobodan Milosevic participated in a joint criminal enterprise (JCE) together with a number of other individuals. During this period, the forces of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) and Serbia, acting at the direction, with the encouragement, or with the support of the JCE, executed a campaign of terror and violence directed at Kosovo Albanian civilians (Berkeley, 2002). It was held that pursuant to Article 7(1) of the Statute of the Tribunal, Milosevic was personally responsible for the alleged crimes and likewise crimes of omission by sub-ordinates as stated in Article 7(1) (Berkeley, 2002). According to the indictment, during the relevant period, Slobodan Milosevic was the President of FRY, President of the Supreme Defense Council of the FRY and the Supreme Commander of the Yugoslav Army (VJ).
Pursuant to his position, he exercised command authority over the VJ and the police forces subordinated to the VJ. Other than the de jure powers he enjoyed, Milosevic also exercised extensive de fact power of control over organizations which facilitated commission of the alleged crimes. An estimated 800,000 Kosovo Albanians were exorcised through forceful removal and subsequently their homes were looted. In the ensuing disorder, many persons died or had their property looted (Berkeley, 2002). The same was upheld for other crimes he had committed in his official capacity. These included indictments in Croatia, where after the take-over, the Serb forces, in cooperation with the local Serb authorities, established a regime of persecutions designed to drive the Croat and other non-Serb civilian population from these territories, Bosnia and Herzegovina
The initial indictment against Slobodan Milosevic concerning crimes committed in Bosnia and Herzegovina was confirmed on 22 November 2001 and made public on 23 November 2001. On 22 November 2002, the Prosecution filed an amended version of the indictment. On 21 April 2004, this version of the indictment became the operative one. The indictment alleged that Milosevic participated in a JCE, which came into existence by 1 August 1991 and continued until at least 31 December 1995. The individuals participating in the JCE included Radovan Karad~i, Mom
ilo Krajianik, and Biljana Plavai, Ratko Mladi, Borisav Jovi, Branko Kosti, Veljko Kadijevi, Blagoje Ad~i, Milan Marti, Jovica Staniai, Franko Simatovi (also known as Frenki ), Vojislav `eaelj, Radovan Stoji
i (also known as Bad~a ), }eljko Ra~natovi Arkan and other known and unknown participants. The purpose of the JCE was the forcible and permanent removal of the majority of non-Serbs, principally Bosnian Muslims and Bosnian Croats, from large areas of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Berkeley, 2002). It was alleged that, from on or about 1 March 1992 until 31 December 1995, Slobodan Miloaevi, acting alone or in concert with other members of the JCE, planned, instigated, ordered, committed or otherwise
As a co-perpetrator in the JCE, Miloaevi was also held responsible for the extermination or murder and forcible transfer and deportation of thousands of Bosnian Muslim, Bosnian Croat and other non-Serb civilians. The charges also included numbers of acts of intentional and wanton destruction of homes, other public and private property belonging to Bosnian Muslims and Bosnian Croats, their cultural and religious institutions, historical monuments and other sacred sites and the appropriation and plunder of property belonging to Bosnian Muslim, Bosnian Croat and other non-Serb civilians. Slobodan Milosevic was charged on the basis of individual criminal responsibility (Article 7(1) of the Statute of the Tribunal), and on the basis of superior criminal responsibility (Rome Statute, 7(3).
Conclusion
It is important to critically revisit the issue of responsibility of the state for the wrongful acts of its citizens. According to the two cases analyzed, both individuals were held individually responsible for the acts committed while in public services. They assert that acts committed by person and lack moral justification and constitute abuse of powers bestowed by the office held, are not vicarious responsibility of the empowering institution. In the context of the international jurisdiction of the cases, collective responsibility can not be claimed for someone who fails to act universal moral obligation or as Kant would put it, acts that are categorical imperative.
The evaluation notes that collective responsibility for unauthorized acts of officials have a near true vicarious liability. Implicitly, it acknowledges that state officials acts falling within the authorized provision of the position occupied are directly attributable to the empowering body. It is assumed that it is the state that authorized the actions and hence must be held accountable. However, modern law as prescribed by the trends in the two cases takes into consideration morality and ethical decision making. While the state has a legal obligation to restrain commission of crime by its officials, the officials are expected to be individually responsible for wrongful judgments they make and end in commission of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Modern international laws differentiate between personal criminal acts of persons holding office and the publicly committed crimes by those persons. It must be stressed though that much emphasis has in the recent past shifted to individual responsibility as deterrence. In Eichmanns case for instance, the court took into consideration his claim that he was acting on orders and found no reasonable justification to the claim noting that his rank allowed him to take appropriate decisions and additionally the crimes were beyond the powers mandated by the office. In cases involving war crimes and crimes against humanity, the individual is n violation of the provisions of international law while the state is liable for failing to prevent and punish commission of the crimes mentioned.
Elaboration of international crimes must whenever possible, enunciate moral policy. This refers to the moral mandate of the law which questions the fairness of making the whole population suffer alongside those who committed crimes against humanity and war crimes. However, based on the discussed cases, the international law sufficiently creates a distinction noting that state and individual guilt are not based on the same malfeasance. For instance while an individual is personal responsible for killings, rapes among other acts considered war crimes or crimes against humanity, the state is considered guilty of not only facilitating but also tolerating and failing to deter and reprimand the acts committed. The legal provisions recognize that in the age of expanded communication and enlarged democratic space, it is highly unlikely that people committing crimes lack awareness of the implications of their actions. It is therefore fair that persons who used their positions to the detriment or had the power but failed to act in deterrence are held accountable for their doings or misdoings.
In general, it is a good amoral policy for the state to inform persons that they cannot escape responsibility for crimes resulting from ostensible acts and failure to act in the name of the office they hold unless they have both moral and legal justification to dissociate themselves from the actions committed. By ensuring that collective responsibility is not overtaken by the development of personal responsibility for crimes against humanity and war crimes, citizens and the modern political participants are alerted that they ought to act to hold those responsible accountable. Generally, though, the modern law notes that individuals make decisions on behalf of the state. The individuals thus begin by acting from individual capacity and hence are liable for any crimes resulting from their proposals. It is their obligation to ensure that decisions emanating from the offices they hold are morally and legally acceptable by the international society. The concept of vicarious liability does not bear the burden of an individual for crimes committed.
References
Arendt, H. (1964). Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil. New York: Penguin Books.
Berkeley, B. (2002). Road to a Genocide. in the New Killing Fields: Massacre and the Politics of Intervention. New York: Basic Books, 103-116.
Cryer, R. et al. (2007). An Introduction to International Criminal Law and Procedure. London: Cambridge University Press.
Goldhagen, D. (1996). Hitlers Willing Executioners: Ordinary Germans and the Holocaust. New York: Vintage Books.
Janna, T. (2002). Taking Responsibility for the Past: Reparations and Historical Injustice, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Kant, l. (1989). Good Will, Duty, and the Categorical Imperative: Ethics and Social Concern. New York: Paragon House Publishers, 1989, p. 29.
Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (U.N. Doc. A/CONF.183/9*).
Tannsjo, T. (1989). The Morality of Collective Actions, Philosophical Quarterly, 39: 221228.
, (2007). The Myth of Innocence: On Collective Responsibility and Collective Punishment , Philosophical Papers, 36: 295314.
The Geneva Conventions Today (2009) . International Laws. Web.
Van den, B. (2002). Can Collective Responsibility For Perpetrated Evil Persist Over Generations? Ethical Theory and Moral Practice, 5(2): 1812000.
Since the emergence of the victims rights movement, significant progress has been made in decreasing the violence by both decreasing consequences of the assault and preventing the possible violence. This latter result was achieved in part by the implementation of the National Crime Victimization Survey, which serves the purpose of the early warning system and a valuable tool for analysis of the trends in multiple aspects of criminal activities. Two reports show the significant progress in the declining crime rate of a sexual character as well as those involving firearms.
The research on firearms violence rates shows a stable decrease in recent years. The homicides related to firearms have gone down 39% from 1993 (18, 253 victims) to 2011 (11,101 victims). The percentage of crimes not resulting in fatalities decreased even more, with almost seventy percent from the 1993s 1,5 million to 2011s 467,300 instances (NCVS, 2013). As the firearm-involving homicides comprise around 70% of the total number of fatal crimes, this may be viewed as a contribution to the safety of the population.
The rate of sexual assault victimization has also decreased in the period since 1997. The tendency is overwhelming as it can be observed among students (3,3 to 1,5) and non-student (9,2 to 4,3) age groups alike, with the latter exhibiting more than a 50% decrease (NCVS, 2014).
Reporting of data in a reassuring tone may be used to raise the confidence in the existing organization designated to deal with the issue (e.g. NCVS) or any party that claims the responsibility for the positive outcome.
Sex crimes and firearm violence are known to be a serious issue in American society. While certain effort has been made to mend the adverse outcomes for victims of the assaults and decrease the rates of victimization, the numbers obtained by the NCVS suggest the lack of substantial progress or, in some cases, no progress at all.
The report on firearm violence resulting in death, for instance, shows the 39% decline since 1993. However, under closer inspection, it becomes apparent that the decline occurs in the period of 1993 to 1999, whereas it starts to grow again to 2006 (10,828 to 12,791) and decreases unsubstantially from there on (12,791 to 11,101) (NCVS, 2013). The same tendency is observed regarding the non-fatal violence incidents: a steep decline from 1993 to 2004 (1,529,700 to 456,500, more than 70%), but no significant progress since (2006, only two years later, saw an increase in 157900 victims of violence) (NCVS, 2013).
The same tendency is observed if we look at the rates of sexual victims. The number of non-college age victims has declined from 3,3 to 1,5 per 1000 population. However, as this age group becomes the target of the sexual assault about three times less frequently than students and non-students age 18 to 24, this decline does not influence the numbers significantly. We should instead look at the group where the majority of the victimization occurs. Here, we see the decline from 1997 up to 2006, but virtually no progress from thereon. Whats more, the rates of non-student victimization has risen dramatically from 2006 (less than 6 per 1000) to 2009 (almost 9 per 1000) (NCVS, 2014). There is little doubt that such a situation demands instant action.
Presenting the results in an alarming manner puts the policies or parties currently in force in an unfavorable position. In this case, the periods of 1999 to 2006 and 2006 to 2009 can be used to undermine the actions that correspond to the timeframe. This can be used to undermine their credibility and to gain leverage for the alternative course of action or party.
Transnational organized crime is a term that is used to refer to the type of crime that is committed across state borders. The organized criminal group is usually made up of more than three individuals who know each other very well. The group could exist for quite some time before organizing to commit crimes in different places. For a crime to be termed transnational, it must be punishable by at least four years.
The major aim of this type of criminal group is to obtain financial or material gains, either directly or indirectly. It is true that the major defining feature of organized crime is its profit-driven nature and the seriousness of the offense it executes. Transnational crimes are usually organized and planned in one state, but they are committed in several countries.
Moreover, the crime could be committed in one state, but its effects could be felt in a number of countries. It follows therefore that transnational organized crime is complex in nature since it is difficult to understand how individuals with different nationalities and origin would plan to execute a crime1.
There are different forms of transnational organized crime, including human trafficking, illegal migration, firearms smuggling, drug trafficking, and money laundering. These forms of crime pose a serious challenge to the state since they interfere with the sovereignty and security.
Scholars of international relations agree that little is known about transnational organized crime. Moreover, there is no clear definition of the term. Victims of transnational organized crime are always reluctant to approach the police, unlike victims of conventional crimes, such as murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault. Some reports indicate that victims fear reprisals in case they inform state securities.
Criminal markets are always liberalized in order to attract many customers. Some powerful state officials normally support transnational organized crime since it is committed without state interference.
For instance, drug trafficking is a common transnational crime, yet state officials are reluctant to terminate it. Only those found utilizing the drugs are taken to jail, but sellers are not tracked down. This article looks at the prevalence of transnational organized crime, factors that facilitate it, and its impacts on society.
Prevalence of Transnational Organized Crime
Existing body of knowledge shows some crucial market information regarding illegal goods and services. These literatures prove that both loosely structured and highly structured groups carry out organized crimes worldwide. The European commission carried out a research in 2001, which claimed that loose networks of illegal groups are substituting conventional hierarchical organizations globally.
A different report generated by the United Nations in 2004 concluded that organized crime functions through a fluid system in the modern society, as opposed to a formal chain of command. The report observed further that this form of organization gives criminals miscellany, elasticity, low visibility, and prolonged existence2.
Another research conducted by Europol in 2006 echoed the previous reports by suggesting that organized crime is becoming progressively assorted and dynamically ordered in controlled terms implying that it is moving from organized structures to loosely connected networks.
Previously, pyramidal monoliths characterized organized crime. A final report released by the US department of justice in 2008 confirmed the claims of previous scholars by suggesting that international criminals have changed their mode of operation since they prefer loose networks, as opposed to traditional hierarchical structures.
Indeed, the nature of operation is different since organized criminals engage in a number of crimes, ranging from ivory poaching in Africa to child trafficking in Eastern Europe. The changing nature of organized crime is caused by political developments in the third world.
Hierarchical structures in organized crime flourish in places experiencing poor governance and corruption, such as Africa and South America. Such structures are usually identified by a certain institutional identify. Transnational organized crime is always committed in large scale without state intervention since some of their members are even represented in parliament or in the cabinet.
They own some criminal gangs in the name of mafias, which are used in enforcing conformity. On the other hand, loose networks operate in places with strong governance, such as the United States and Western Europe. Moreover, loose networks operate in developed countries, such as Japan and Italy.
Some of these loose organized criminal gangs include the mafia organization of Italy, the Japanese Yakuza, the Chinese Triads, the Brazilian favela, and the American street gangs. Loosely organized criminals are frequently made up of ethnic groups, which have a feeling that the government has neglected them for long. Most of these communities are slum dwellers and new immigrants.
Since the government do not provide them with basic needs, the neglected communities come up with their own sources of capital, job opportunities, and security. If the government do not intervene in time, such groups would end up forming their own loan sharking schemes, labour exporting organizations, and illegal security firms.
This would really destabilize the countrys economy and security since the proceeds generated through illegal means enter the economy without taxation3. A small group that could have started as a protection organization could turn out to be a menace to the government and the society in general.
Loose organized criminal gangs could also have an opportunity to carry out its activities in case the state continuously prohibits the trading of goods and services that have high demand. Individuals would organize themselves to make profit out of the prohibited goods and services without even seeking state approval.
For instance, drugs, gambling business, and prostitution could be having high demand, yet the government would be reluctant to allow these forms of business activities to go on in society. Illegal groups would quickly take over by assuming a regulatory role. In this regard, illegal goods and services would be located in a marginalized centre, which would serve as a distribution centre.
Through criminal gangs, the distribution centres would be a no go zone for security officers. The loosely organized criminal gang may seek the support of the local population by promising to offer job opportunities and essential services that the state does not provide, such as free food supply. These criminal gangs are very dangerous and violent, even though they might be helping the locals.
They simply give pleasure to the locals by offering them peanuts, yet the real proceeds are shared among the few rich individuals. The locals will always demonstrate to protect the group from government mistreatment. The illegal gang might be violating the law, yet no authority is available to check on this4. In other words, the owners of the criminal group are simply accountable to themselves.
Transnational organized criminal groups are everywhere in the world, with different names. They share certain features that make them distinct. The groups are conservative in nature, hierarchically structured, and tend to be clannish meaning that individuals sharing a culture control them. Most of them operate locally, with the major aim of exploiting their local communities.
They do this by cooperating with other criminal gangs operating in different countries, but supplying products and services that have high demand in their localities. Moreover, localized organized groups have militia groups that are used in frustrating the opponents and the government. Modern studies show that these groups engage in a number of crimes, as opposed to their previous operation.
Globalization seems to have presented new challenges and opportunities to transnational organized criminals. For structured organized criminals, they have been forced to readjust their strategy since huge criminal organization cannot be sustained in the globalized society. Some have disintegrated into smaller and more flexible groups.
The strengthening of the state security agencies has forced these structured organized criminals to adapt smaller networks that would hide from the state security agencies. Large organized criminal organizations are usually frustrated through constant arrests, seizure of products, and naming of owners.
The minor, supple, and low profile illicit groups rapidly took over the markets. The current advancement of structured offence is contrasted with the surfacing nature of terror campaign, which is changing from habitual violence to the cell structure.
The smaller networks cannot be viewed as groups since they do not manufacture anything, neither do they engage in shipping services. They can be termed as commercial connections with very different systems of operation. The only thing that makes them engage in crime is the moneymaking aspiration. Law enforcers are unable to identify these groups since they are invisible.
Many state security agencies focus on investigating structured organized groups, but are never interested in chasing invisible groups. This has given smaller organized crime networks a chance to engage in crime undetected. Law enforcers would want to disband an organized group that is superior to the state machineries, but not small illegal groups that operate in secrecy.
In 1957, the US government discovered an illegal group made up of seventy individuals from different parts of the country. The incident was understood differently since state officials believed an enemy is always against the government since it coordinates its activities to overthrow the democratically elected government.
However, this was a wrong interpretation since the major aim of an organized criminal gang is simply to make money, but nothing else. At the same period, the European Union was quick to believe that all organized groups in the world were aiming at overthrowing the government. The government had to organize itself to launch an attack to these organized criminals.
The media reported any organized crime as a ground empire. State security agencies received heavy funding from the government to fight these organized crimes. Consequently, defective policies were designed aimed at flushing out organized criminals.
After some time, state security agencies and law enforcement organizations realized that organized criminal had a different motive, which was related to profit making, but not overthrowing the government.
Research shows that transnational trafficking markets are growing in number but traditional turf-based crimes are declining. It is therefore factual that the role of territorial groups is declining owing to the strengthening of the government. However, these turf-based groups benefit from transnational organized crime in the sense that they act as agents or they impose taxes to illegal goods and services.
In the developed countries, traditional transnational criminal groups are disadvantaged mainly because of the tough policies social changes. In the developed countries, individuals have easy access to credit meaning that the issue of unemployment does not arise. Unemployment is one of the factors that force individuals to engage in crime.
Moreover, the role of labour unions in the advanced democracies is minimal implying that organized groups cannot commit crime in the name of advocating for the rights of the marginalized. Unlike in developing countries, immigrants are easily integrated in developed countries, which seals the loopholes that organized criminals explored before.
Immigrants were easily used in executing transnational organized crime since they are always desperate, given the fact that they are new in the environment.
Other factors that impede the functions of organized criminals include prevention of homogenous neighbourhoods, shipping goods in containers, transparency in terms of hiring public officials, prevention of patron-client politics, stable private security sector, and liberalization of gambling and prostitution.
In the current society, a group of individuals, but not organizations, conducts organized crime. In case the group is arrested, charged, and imprisoned, the illegal trade will just go on. The illicit market and its profits encourage even innocent individuals to try their luck.
Research shows that the focus should shift from arresting individual to dealing with the market. Law enforcement agencies ought to shift from individuals to focusing on markets in case organized crime is to be contained. It is observed that transnational organized felony is likely to continue since law enforcement officers are typically recruited to deal with offences within a particular authority.
In other words, they do not have the power to arrest individuals in other jurisdictions5. Based on this reality, law enforcers are facing a number of challenges in dealing with organized crime worldwide. It would be prudent for law enforcers to cooperate and share information freely globally in case they want to end the new challenge of transnational organized crime.
Law enforcers apply local or national tools in handling transnational crime, yet the crime itself is international. Laws of any jurisdiction are usually made based on cultural norms and regulations meaning that they cannot be applied in other jurisdictions successfully.
It is concluded that transnational organized crime cannot be ended any soon since it is a sensitive issue that does not encourage global information sharing. Moreover, crime is always perceived as local problem that should be handled using local mechanisms and strategies. It becomes difficult for governments to cooperate internationally in stamping out the menace.
The issue of transnational crime affects almost all state in the international system meaning that no state is safe. It has evolved over years to be what it is now. The issue of drug trafficking has been present in the international system for years, but its distribution has always been changing.
Human trafficking and trading in illegal firearms is another issue that has given many policy makers sleepless nights owing to its effects on society. Many conflicts being experienced in Africa, particularly the Democratic Republic of Congo, are attributed to illegal distribution of firearms.
These weapons are produced in the United States and other powerful countries, yet they find their way to criminals in the desert countries in Africa and other parts of the world. The US government does not distribute these weapons, but instead transnational organized criminals are in charge of their distribution.
Transnational organized crime received a boost just after the end of the Cold War since criminals had a chance to fill in the gap left by the two superpowers as regards to weapon supply. Globalization has also presented new opportunities, particularly technological developments and the emergence of efficient transport and communication systems.
Research shows that both state and non-state actors are unable to predict the storm in the current international system since it is characterized by complexity and uncertainty. Policies and strategies towards mitigating organized crime have flopped in the past mainly because of the new socio-political and economic developments.
In other words, state security agencies and other law enforcers in the international system are unable to combat transnational organized crime mainly because of its evolving nature. Some of the factors facilitate the growth and evolution of transnational organized. These factors would be discussed in this section.
Enhanced Movement of People and Goods
A number of studies define globalization as the interconnectedness of world nations, which is facilitated by liberation of trade just after the Cold War. Many countries were forced to open up their economies for foreign investment just after the Cold War. In fact, it was necessity for any foreign assistance, which was set by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
Some countries were forced to streamline their civil service by retrenching staff in order to pave way for structural adjustment. This encouraged free flow of goods and services, as well as outsourcing of production. The third world benefited because companies were relocated from Europe and North America to poor countries, which hard cheap labour and raw materials.
Following this, the tourism sector received a major boost since visas were readily available at reduced prices. In the transportation sector, the prices of air tickets went down. When viewed from a cultural sense, expansion of the internet services and reduced calling rates facilitated globalization in a way.
Goods and services in the modern international system can be accessed online meaning that consumers need not to travel to places where products are manufactured.
As globalization is being felt in many quarters, the government has failed to move with the needed pace, which gives criminals an opportunity to conduct their activities unnoticed6. The conditions of the globalized world allow criminals to move easily and only states have the power to control them.
Unfortunately, the state does not have proper mechanisms that would help in preventing the free movement of criminals. Many countries have no policies that protect their water bodies meaning that criminals can easily utilize them in executing their heinous acts. Reports of the air industry globally shows that air travels have grown by an approximated five percent in the last thirty years.
This is facilitated by the development of high capacity jets referred to as the Jumbo jets. Apart from the introduction of high capacity jests, many countries do not regulate the air industry since it is perceived to interfere with local investment. As the capacity increases, the prices of travelling and even communicating reduce.
One of the studies conducted in the United States proved that regulation of travelling impedes economic growth. Moreover, the study noted that modern developments in the air sector have facilitated travels in the regions previously perceived as remote and inaccessible. The growth in the air industry facilitates civil aviation, which in turn encourage illicit activities in the world.
Even though air travel is relied upon in moving people from region to the other, goods are transported through the sea. As earlier noted, many countries are yet to control the goods entering their countries through the sea. Illegal goods would most probably enter the country through the sea. It is common for state security officers to incept illegal goods, such as drugs, at the airport, but not at the seaport.
Grey and Black Markets
Just like the licit trade, illicit trade is affected by the dynamics of the world economic environment. This means that illicit trade flourishes mainly because of the availability of the stable market. The fall of the Soviet Union and the abolition of the Berlin Wall gave organized criminals a chance to carry out their criminal activities.
After the Cold War, the type of governments formed in various parts of the world was supportive of the illicit trade. For countries emerging from communism, it was very difficult for them to adapt to the new provisions of the market, which demanded expertise and experience. Such societies were used to highly controlled markets.
There was a gap since individuals were supposed to abandon the old economic order and adopt the new order, which was unknown to them. In communist countries, organized crime existed, but it took a different shape referred to as consumer goods smuggling. The security services controlled the form of organized crime that existed in the communist era. For them, transcending to new form of organized referred was very easy7.
The security forces and other members of the ruling class took advantage of the confusion in society to engage in transnational organized crime, such as child trafficking and dealing in drugs. To do this effectively, they needed security so they collaborated with the state.
Current studies suggest that new changes in the economic order could perhaps affect established financial systems while transnational organized crime have a possibility of impacting negatively on the formal economy. In Japan for example, the building bubble in the late 1980s presented various chances to the Yakuza. The yakuza were used in resolving land problems since they had established communal structures.
This affected the economy since many potential investors were unwilling to engage in real estate development. The yakuza were in charge of any real estate development, which affected the economy of the country to an extent of causing an economic meltdown and recession.
In Jamaica, the case was not any different since the country was seriously affected by organized violence that was always under the control of transnational organized criminals. Cocaine was transported easily from Jamaica to the North-eastern part of the US with the help of organized criminals.
The Jamaican citizens controlled trade in the northeastern part of the US. In 1990s, the trade was taken over by Mexicans in the United States, which affected the Jamaican economy greatly. In both countries, Jamaica and Mexico, the rates of crime were very high as cocaine trade dominated.
In the two countries witnessed increased cases of murder and violence since peoples life depended on the cocoa plant. Transnational organized crimes will always engage in luxury goods meaning that their trade is rarely affected even if the government designs strict policies on distribution.
Young, Urban, Foreign, and Poor Population
The young individuals mainly execute transnational organized criminal activities. This is true particularly in developing countries, which face serious challenges regarding employment. The UN report reveals that over eighty-five young individuals in the world live in developing countries. The figure is even expected to go up by over four percent in the year 2025.
Hard economic conditions force the youth to engage in crime and other crime related activities. The report revealed further that many young people in developing countries commit suicide because of the difficulties in social life. Instead of killing themselves, others try their luck in illegal trade by coordinating with foreign individuals who provide technical assistance.
This is facilitated by the developments in the communication sector since an individual can easily link up with an individual in developed countries. A large number of poor individuals are brought up in the urban centres, which predispose them to all forms of social injustices. The developing countries are incapable of sustaining the urban population, forcing others to seek alternative means of survival.
The urban life demands cash, yet it cannot be easily accessed in developing countries facing high rates of unemployment. The young people are compelled into using drugs before committing certain forms of crime, such as robbery, carjacking, and kidnapping.
With time, the ghetto youths form criminal gangs that would carry out criminal activities beyond their borders8. In almost all countries, insecurity in urban areas is in the increase due to the presence of idle and jobless youths.
Migrants are usually faced difficulties in their home countries, something that forces them to seek for better life elsewhere. They always hope to find a better life in foreign countries. Unfortunately, as globalization enhances capital flow, it does not encourage free flow of labour. People move to various places in search of the market for their services. The legal barriers do not allow individuals to be employed that easily in foreign countries.
Due to this, organized crime finds its way into society since drug lords and other illegal businesspersons specializing in kidnapping and carjacking misuse idlers. Foreigners are smuggled into foreign labour markets where they are forced to offer cheap labour.
They are also exposed to poor working conditions, which is very dangerous to their lives. Young people find themselves brushing shoulders with foreign governments not because they wish to, but because they are forced by circumstances.
Major Concerns and Effects of Transnational Organized Crime
In the international system, the threat posed by these transnational organized organizations is always underrated or even misunderstood. Many people over simply the issue and others tend to associate the effects with the violence witnessed in the market.
For individual to be kidnapped, violence or threat of violence must be applied. Some organizations employ violence to ensure that contracts are signed and conflicts are resolved.
Some transnational criminal gangs would not apply violence in order to allow free flow of profits, but some will always conduct their business with guns. Since transnational organized criminals do not always employ violence, the real concerns and the impacts of this form of crime could be understood in terms of the severity. There are direct and indirect impacts.
Direct Impacts
In many parts of the world, the drug market and human trafficking rely on the policy of willing buyer willing seller. Due to this, many people are injured in the process since acquisition of these goods and services is very dangerous. Some injuries are not documented since victims are unwilling to report to the police or any other law enforcement agency.
Developing countries are always disadvantaged since they face consequences while proceeds are taken to drug lords in developed countries. Producer and transit countries face numerous challenges, including murder and robbery, yet consumer countries are comfortable.
In developed countries, those using drugs face health challenges because substance abuse is known to be harmful to health. An individual under the influence of an illicit drug would likely cause an accident and engage in crime, such as rape and aggravated assault. Moreover, drug abuse reduces an individuals productivity.
Indirect Impacts
The indirect impact of transnational organized crime is that it interferes with state sovereignty. Criminals compete with the state for supremacy by funding militias to destabilize peace and security. The state is unable to execute its duties fully owing to the presence of transnational criminals. The government is the only institution in society charged with the mandate of maintaining peace and security.
In this regard, it can use force legitimately to maintain security. Criminal gangs purport to maintain security, yet their major aim is to benefit themselves. They provide some basic needs to the locals only to fool them to offer the much-needed support.
Bibliography
Caldwell, Gillian, Galster, Steve, Kanics, Jyothi, and Steinzor, Nadia. Capitalizing on Transition Economies: The Role of the Russian Mafia in Trafficking Women for Forced Prostitution. Illegal Immigration and Commercial Sex. The New Slave Trade. London: Frank Cass Publishers, 1999.
Dale, Peter, and Marshall, Jonathan. Cocaine Politics: Drugs, Armies, and the CIA in Central America. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1998.
Hammersley, Cassidy. Drugs associated with drug-related deaths in Edinburgh and Glasgow, November 1990 to October 1992 . Addiction 90.7 (1995), 959965
Salt, John. Migration as a Business: The Case of Trafficking. International Migration 35.4 (1997), 467-494.
Shannon, Sarah. Prostitution and the Mafia: The Involvement of Organized Crime in the Global Economy. Illegal Immigration and Commercial Sex 2.1 (1999), 119-144.
Taibly, Rebecca. Organised Crime and People Smuggling/Trafficking to Australia. Australian Institute of Criminology 208.2 (2001), 1-6.
Van-Impe, Kristof. People for Sale: The Need for a Multidisciplinary Approach to Human Trafficking. International Migration 38.3 (2000), 113-130.
Footnotes
1 Kristof Van-Impe, People for Sale: The Need for a Multidisciplinary Approach to Human Trafficking, International Migration 38.3 (2000), 126.
2Rebecca Taibly, Organised Crime and People Smuggling/Trafficking to Australia. Australian Institute of Criminology 208.2 (2001), 4.
3John Salt, Migration as a Business: The Case of Trafficking. International Migration 35.4 (1997), 444.
4 Kristof Van-Impe, People for Sale: The Need for a Multidisciplinary Approach to Human Trafficking, International Migration 38.3 (2000), 130.
5Peter Dale and Jonathan Marshall, Cocaine Politics: Drugs, Armies, and the CIA in Central America (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1998), 78.
6Gillian Caldwell, Steve Galster, Jyothi Kanics, and Nadia Steinzor. Capitalizing on Transition Economies: The Role of the Russian Mafia in Trafficking Women for Forced Prostitution. Illegal Immigration and Commercial Sex. The New Slave Trade (London: Frank Cass Publishers, 1999), 21.
7Sarah Shannon, Prostitution and the Mafia: The Involvement of Organized Crime in the Global Economy, Illegal Immigration and Commercial Sex 2.1 (1999), 130.
8Cassidy Hammersley, Drugs associated with drug-related deaths in Edinburgh and Glasgow, November 1990 to October 1992, Addiction 90.7 (1995), 960.