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Date: November 25, 2024 Mon
Time: 9:08 pm
Time: 9:08 pm
Results for organized crimes
8 results foundAuthor: U.S. White House. National Security Council Title: Strategy to Combat Transnational Organized Crime. Addressing Converging Threats to National Security Summary: Transnational organized crime refers to those self-perpetuating associations of individuals who operate transnationally for the purpose of obtaining power, influence, monetary and/or commercial gains, wholly or in part by illegal means, while protecting their activities through a pattern of corruption and/or violence, or while protecting their illegal activities through a transnational organizational structure and the exploitation of transnational commerce or communication mechanisms. There is no single structure under which transnational organized criminals operate; they vary from hierarchies to clans, networks, and cells, and may evolve to other structures. The crimes they commit also vary. Transnational organized criminals act conspiratorially in their criminal activities and possess certain characteristics which may include, but are not limited to: ••In at least part of their activities they commit violence or other acts which are likely to intimidate, or make actual or implicit threats to do so; ••They exploit differences between countries to further their objectives, enriching their organization, expanding its power, and/or avoiding detection/apprehension; ••They attempt to gain influence in government, politics, and commerce through corrupt as well as legitimate means; ••They have economic gain as their primary goal, not only from patently illegal activities but also from investment in legitimate businesses; and ••They attempt to insulate both their leadership and membership from detection, sanction, and/or prosecution through their organizational structure. Details: Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Security Council, 2011. 38p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 2, 2011 at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/microsites/2011-strategy-combat-transnational-organized-crime.pdf Year: 2011 Country: United States URL: http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/microsites/2011-strategy-combat-transnational-organized-crime.pdf Shelf Number: 122247 Keywords: Organized CrimesTransnational Crime |
Author: Title: Moving Beyond Easy Wins: Colombia’s Borders Summary: Improved relations between Colombia and its neighbours have not alleviated the plight of border communities. For fifteen years, porous borders that offer strategic advantages to illegal armed groups and facilitate extensive illicit economies have exposed them to an intense armed conflict that is made worse by the widespread absence of public institutions. The warfare triggered a humanitarian emergency and worsened relations especially with Ecuador and Venezuela, the most affected neighbours. Spurring development in the periphery and reconstructing diplomatic ties are priorities for President Juan Manuel Santos. A little over a year into his term, his new policies have paid undoubted diplomatic and some security dividends. But the hard part is still ahead. Efforts to improve the humanitarian situation and build civilian state capacity must be scaled up, tasks that, amid what is again a partially worsening conflict, have been neglected. Otherwise, pacifying the troubled border regions will remain a chimera, and their dynamics will continue to fuel Colombia’s conflict. Border regions were drawn into the armed conflict by the mid-1990s, when they became main theatres of operations for illegal armed groups, often financed by drug trafficking. A crackdown under Álvaro Uribe, Santos’s predecessor, brought only elusive gains there. The illegal armed groups have been pushed deeper into the periphery but not defeated. Coca cultivation and drug trafficking remain significant. Violence has come down in most regions, but remains higher along the borders than in the nation as a whole, and security has begun to deteriorate in some zones, as New Illegal Armed Groups and paramilitary successors (NIAGs) extend their operations, and guerrillas gain new strength. The Uribe approach also carried high diplomatic costs. Relations with the neighbours became toxic over a 2008 Colombian airstrike on a camp of the main rebel group, FARC, located just inside Ecuador and over allegations that Venezuela was harbouring guerrillas. Fixing the border problems has been a priority for Santos. He has moved quickly to restore diplomatic relations with Ecuador and Venezuela, and bilateral platforms are in an early stage of either being revived or created. There is a strong political commitment on all sides to preserve the restored friendships, despite the continuing presence of illegal armed groups in both neighbouring countries. Security cooperation is improving. The Colombian Congress has passed a constitutional reform to redistribute royalties from oil and mining concessions, a measure that should increase funds for public investment in many peripheral regions that currently do not benefit from that bonanza. In an effort to produce tangible results fast, the foreign ministry is leading implementation of projects aimed at boosting social and economic development in border municipalities. The Santos agenda represents a substantial policy shift, but as the conflict continues unabated in the border regions and has increasing repercussions on Venezuelan and Ecuadorian soil, problems remain. Three sets of issues need to be tackled. First, more must be done to increase the civilian state presence in the destitute border areas. Militarisation of the borders has failed to deliver durable security gains, and efforts by security forces to increase their standing with local communities continue to stumble over human rights abuses and violations of international humanitarian law. With dynamics along their borders increasingly resembling the situation in Colombia, similar problems are fast emerging in Ecuador and Venezuela. The security forces of all three countries must play by the book and focus more on citizen security, and their civilian authorities must take the lead in providing services. Secondly, more effective responses to the severe humanitarian problems are needed. Colombia continues to struggle to attend to internally displaced persons (IDPs) and other victims of the conflict, a large number of whom cross the borders in search of protection. But protecting them has not been a priority in Venezuela, leaving an estimated 200,000 highly vulnerable. This contrasts with the response in Ecuador, which has recognised and provided documentation to some 54,000 Colombian refugees. But Ecuador has tightened its policy since January 2011, exposing such individuals to new risks. Governments are hesitant to give more weight to a potentially divisive issue in bilateral relations, but looking the other way will only make matters worse over the long run. Thirdly, efficient forums to solve problems jointly and promote border development are still lacking. This partly reflects the neighbours’ reluctance to acknowledge any responsibility for a conflict they consider a domestic matter of Colombia but that in fact is sustained by transnational criminal networks and is increasingly creating victims on all sides of the borders. The high diplomatic volatility has also been damaging efforts to institutionalise cooperation that needs to be grounded in buy-in and participation of local authorities, civil society and the private sector. In a region where the next diplomatic crisis is often not far away, the current improved political climate offers the governments a chance to boost civilian state presence, improve the humanitarian situation and put relations on a more sustainable footing. They should seize it. Details: Brussels: International Crisis Group, 2011. 43p. Source: Internet Resource: Latin America Report No. 40: Accessed November 4, 2011 at: http://www.crisisgroup.org/~/media/Files/latin-america/colombia/40%20Moving%20Beyond%20Easy%20Wins%20---%20Colombias%20Borders.pdf Year: 2011 Country: Colombia URL: http://www.crisisgroup.org/~/media/Files/latin-america/colombia/40%20Moving%20Beyond%20Easy%20Wins%20---%20Colombias%20Borders.pdf Shelf Number: 123224 Keywords: Border SecurityDrug TraffickingOrganized CrimesViolence (Colombia) |
Author: Zimic, Simona Zavratnik Title: Where in the Puzzle : Trafficking from, to and through Slovenia : Assesment Study Summary: Slovenia is mostly a transit country for victims of trafficking but is becoming more frequently a destination country, and in some cases also a country of origin. The aim of this research is to reflect a real picture of the scope of trafficking in Slovenia, to identify gaps in knowledge and counter-trafficking activities, and to establish how these gaps should be filled. Details: Ljubljana : International Organization for Migration, 2003. 90p. Source: Year: 2003 Country: Slovenia URL: Shelf Number: 105816 Keywords: Human Trafficking (Slovenia)Organized CrimesSexual Exploitation |
Author: TRANSCRIME Title: European Outlook on the Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products Summary: This study calls for a new direction to be taken in the analysis of, and the fight against, the illicit trade in tobacco products (ITTP) in the European Union (EU). It suggests that the focus should be trained more closely on the reduction of criminal opportunities than on crime control policies. This requires a change of mindset: from the conviction of criminals, hoping that this will eventually reduce crime, to the actual reduction of crime through specific prevention strategies. The study adopts two approaches. The first part (Framing the scene: the ITTP in the European Union) takes a "horizontal approach" and analyses selected components of the illicit cigarette market in the EU. The second part (Zooming the scene: the ITTP in the EU Member States and beyond) adopts "a vertical approach" and examines in detail the illicit markets within each EU Member State, as well as the role of selected non-EU European countries in the EU illicit market. Both the horizontal and the vertical approaches underscore the regulatory and law enforcement dimensions that influence the size and type of the ITTP in Europe and beyond. If the illicit cigarette trade is to be reduced, it is necessary to understand the trade-off between regulation of the legal market and the risk of creating criminal opportunities in the illicit market. Currently, policymakers regulate the legal market while leaving the fight against the illicit market to law enforcement. The reduction of criminal opportunities may reduce this trade-off, thus maximizing health and minimizing crime with lower costs. Details: Trento: Transcrime - Universita degli Studi di Trento, 2015. 302p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 16, 2015 at: http://www.transcrime.it/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/European-Outlook-on-the-ITTP.pdf Year: 2015 Country: Europe URL: http://www.transcrime.it/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/European-Outlook-on-the-ITTP.pdf Shelf Number: 134933 Keywords: Cigarette SmugglingCigarettes (Europe)Illicit TradeOrganized CrimesTobacco |
Author: Swiss-Romanian Cooperation Programme Title: Trafficking in Persons for Begging -- Romania Study Summary: Romania is one of the states that have explicit domestic legislation on trafficking in persons for forced begging. The victims of forced begging are not punished, irrespective of their age. Assistance to victims of trafficking is granted irrespective of the form of exploitation. Hence, a victim forced to beg is entitled to and receives the same type of assistance as other victims of trafficking. Moreover, through child protection mechanisms and legal proceedings, Romania determines all the possible situations that involve child begging. This also includes the situation when a child is forced to beg by another person, including the children's parents. Vulnerability to trafficking for begging is not particularly gender biased. Factors such as low levels of schooling, lack of employment opportunities, dysfunctional or absence of social support networks, poor conditions of living and also other elements all acting together, favour the coercion of the victim and indirectly their victimisation. Family-related dysfunctions, such as: violence, alcohol abuse, tense relations between the family members, the absence of a parental model or an inappropriate one, and the lack of effective support, may represent factors that increase an individual's vulnerability to trafficking. Regarding the methods used by traffickers and also the abuses that victims suffer during the trafficking period, there are no different particularities comparing trafficking for begging to other forms of trafficking. Trafficking related to forced begging has mainly developed abroad. This evolution has been associated with the large profits obtained in trafficking for begging, in countries with high living standards, but also with the weak legislation of such countries, which mitigates the traffickers' risk of being identified. The traffickers operating abroad generally consist of individuals with criminal records, who have over time, oriented themselves towards this type of criminality, based on the significant volume of income that can be obtained, compared to the low level of risk undertaken. Interviews of both victims and experts related that most of the time, trafficking related to forced begging only represents one of the criminal actions performed by the traffickers operating abroad, such that traffickers also force victims into sexual exploitation or various street-related criminal offenses. In some cases, the traffickers were also involved in drug trafficking or car theft. Domestic trafficking constitutes a small percentage of trafficking for forced begging. Domestic trafficking shows specific features, compared to the external trafficking. The victims are generally disabled persons, institutionalized minors or homeless children. The victims are forced into begging under the pretext of 'protection', yet most of these victims were already practicing begging in order to obtain a minimum daily living. The study shows the situation of children who are exploited through begging by their own parents as a problem, which must be taken into account. The causes associated with trafficking by parents, include the lack of resources needed for decent living conditions as well as educational and cultural problems that prevent this group from being able to benefit from the social assistance that the Romanian state provides. With respect to the characteristics of traffickers, those operating domestically generally operate individually or in small groups, by exploiting a low number of victims. Generally, no other criminal actions are envisaged, although sometimes, trafficking for forced begging is correlated with trafficking for sexual exploitation or with petty street crimes. The ratio of women to men is equal amongst domestic traffickers, with women and men being involved in both recruitment and exploitation. The evaluation of the vulnerability of persons who are practicing begging, indicates that proper identification and referral of those victims to adequate assistance could break the chain of this particular type of trafficking. If the beggars could be removed from the streets and assisted in a proper manner, the traffickers would lose their assets and the victims could be assisted to exit the trafficking cycle. The assistance process however must be focussed, as an increasing percentage of victims being re-trafficked for forced begging is evident, as opposed to other forms of exploitation. Details: Bucuresti, Romania: National Agency against Trafficking in Persons, 2013. 86p. Source: Internet Resource: accessed March 18, 2015 at: https://ec.europa.eu/anti-trafficking/sites/antitrafficking/files/trafficking_in_persons_for_begging_-_romania_study_0.pdf Year: 2013 Country: Romania URL: https://ec.europa.eu/anti-trafficking/sites/antitrafficking/files/trafficking_in_persons_for_begging_-_romania_study_0.pdf Shelf Number: 134962 Keywords: Child TraffickingForced Begging (Romania)Human TraffickingOrganized Crimes |
Author: Cabrejo le Roux, Amanda Title: Tightening the Net: Toward a Global Legal Framework on Transnational Organized Environmental Crime Summary: This report has been commissioned in the context of a collaboration between WWF and the Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime. The two organizations joined forces as they are both convinced of the need to open a broad debate concerning legal strategies to address environmental crime as a form of transnational organized crime. This report draws upon two previous research papers which highlighted the necessity to conduct a global legal review, exploring existing international legal frameworks and cutting-edge legal answers. The first paper was the Global Initiative's Baseline Assessment report ("The Global Response to Transnational Organized Environmental Crime", June 2014). The second paper was an internal paper prepared for WWF by the Environmental Law Centre of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) written by Lydia Slobodian ("Addressing Transnational Wildlife Crime through a Protocol to the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime. A Scoping Paper", November 2014). Large extracts of this internal paper are incorporated into the present report. In this context, a draft report was written by the lead author, Amanda Cabrejo le Roux, who is a legal consultant with the Global Initiative and a researcher in International and Comparative Criminal Law1. An expert consultation meeting was then held in Geneva on 11 March 2015 to discuss preliminary findings presented in the draft report. This report benefits from this fruitful discussion and incorporates experts' comments. To sum up, this report is the result of a cross-sectoral fertilization of ideas and it is envisioned as a thought-provoking starting point for examining legal frameworks currently available to combat transnational organized environmental crime, at the global, regional and national levels. The study seeks not to be prescriptive but to stimulate an open discussion and to explore potential avenues regarding means of moving this important dialogue forward. Details: Geneva: Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime, 2015. 51p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April2 4, 2015 at: http://www.globalinitiative.net/download/global-initiative/WWF-Global%20Initaitive%20-%20Towards%20a%20Global%20Legal%20Framework%20on%20Env%20Crime%20-%20April%202015.pdf Year: 2015 Country: International URL: Shelf Number: 135389 Keywords: Offenses Against the EnvironmentOrganized CrimesWildlife Crime |
Author: Wood, Helena Title: The Big Payback: Examining Changes in the Criminal Confiscation Orders Enforcement Landscape Summary: The UK legislation for removing the proceeds of crime from the hands of convicted criminals, governed by the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (POCA), is viewed as particularly punitive due to its ability to capture a wide pool of income and assets, some of which are not linked to the indictable offence. While this is desirable in policy terms, the broad framing of the law has created unintended consequences for those charged with enforcing the orders and the system has faced increasing criticism, most prominently in a 2013 report of the National Audit Office (NAO), regarding the disparity between the levels of orders made in the courts and the amounts eventually collected from the criminal. The NAO's report and some of the wider media coverage could be criticised for their focus on revenue-raising and 'value for money' rather than the impact on criminals, and for their failure to highlight the complexity of the law and the extent to which this (and not administrative failures) has led to the backlog of uncollected confiscation orders - currently L1.6 billion and rising. However the report did make a number of valid points, including on multi-agency co-ordination, and provided a catalyst for the government to recognise the centrality of the enforcement process to the success of the confiscation-orders regime as a whole. This paper examines the legislative and systemic changes to the confiscation-order enforcement process introduced by the government in 2014 and 2015, and examines the extent to which these offer the needed shift in priority towards enforcement to reduce the current backlog and to prevent a future build-up. The paper then makes recommendations for consideration by policy-makers. Details: London: Royal University Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies (RUSI), 2016. 34p. Source: Internet Resource: RUSI Occasional Paper, February 2016: Accessed March 14, 2016 at: https://rusi.org/sites/default/files/201602_op_the_big_payback.pdf Year: 2016 Country: United Kingdom URL: https://rusi.org/sites/default/files/201602_op_the_big_payback.pdf Shelf Number: 138223 Keywords: Asset ForfeitureConfiscation OrdersOrganized CrimesProceeds of Crime |
Author: Daniele, Gianmarco Title: Strike One to Educate One Hundred: Organized Crime, Political Selection and Politicians' Ability Summary: A central question in terms of political (self-)selection relates to the incentives leading high ability individuals to enter - or abstain from entering - into politics. In this article, we use data from Italian municipalities over the period 1985-2012 to empirically assess how changes in individuals' expected payoffs affect political (self-)selection. Identification derives from murders of local politicians by the mafia, and indicates that such a negative shock to politicians' expected payoffs induces a strong decrease in first-time elected politicians' human capital. The effect is not limited to the municipality where a political murder takes place, but also extends to nearby municipalities. Details: Barcelona: Institut d'Economia de Barcelona Facultat d'Economia i Empresa Universitat de Barcelona, 2015. 32p. Source: Internet Resource: IEB Working Paper N. 2015/37 : Accessed July 25, 2016 at: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2706594 Year: 2015 Country: Spain URL: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2706594 Shelf Number: 139823 Keywords: HomicidesMafiaOrganized CrimesPolitical AssassinationsPolitics |