Transnational organized crime

Transnational organized crime "will be a defining issue of the 21st century for policymakers - as defining as the Cold War was for the 20th century and colonialism was for the 19th. Terrorists and transnational crime groups will proliferate because these crime groups are major beneficiaries of globalization. They take advantage of increased travel, trade, rapid money movements, telecommunications and computer links, and are well positioned for growth." --Louise I. Shelley, Director and Founder, Transnational Crime and Corruption Center. [1][2]

"Bangkok Declaration" - April 2005

"If States failed to confront the growing threats of terrorism, weapons of mass destruction and organized crime, and the thorny question of new manifestations of evil, such as cybercrime and money laundering, international criminal gangs would bring the challenge to them," Antonio Maria Costa, Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime told the Eleventh United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, April 25, 2005. [3]

"Greatly concerned by the expansion and dimensions of transnational organized crime, terrorism and any existing links between them and by the increasing sophistication and diversification of the activities of organized criminal groups, the Eleventh United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice today [April 25, 2005] unanimously adopted the 'Bangkok Declaration', addressing those matters, as well as issues such as trafficking in human beings, money-laundering, corruption, 'cybercrime', restorative justice, and the root causes of crime (document A/CONF.203/L.5)." [4]

Quotes

"While organized crime is not a new phenomenon today, some governments find their authority besieged at home and their foreign policy interests imperiled abroad. Drug trafficking, links between drug traffickers and terrorists, smuggling of illegal aliens, massive financial and bank fraud, arms smuggling, potential involvement in the theft and sale of nuclear material, political intimidation, and corruption all constitute a poisonous brew—a mixture potentially as deadly as what we faced during the cold war." --R. James Woolsey, Former Director of Central Intelligence and Transnational Threats Project Steering Committee Member, CSIS. [5]

Related SourceWatch Resources

• Al Qaeda
• asymmetric warfare
• axis of evil
• China-Iran-Russia axis
• global detention system
• global security
• gun control
• identity theft
• Intelligence Community
• maritime piracy
• National Crime Information Center
• national security
• nuclear weapons
• Opium economy in Afghanistan
• outposts of tyranny
• prison-industrial complex
• Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA)
• street crime
• weapons of mass destruction

External links

General

• Criminal Justice Resources: Organized Crime, Michigan State University Libraries website: "This compilation of resources focuses on adult gangs, gangsters, the mafia, and international gangs."
• Oranized Crime Web Links, Nathanson Centre for the Study of Organized Crime and Corruption, York University.
• Related websites and documents: Organised Crime, Transnational Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
• Resources On Transnational Crime and Corruption, The American Society of International Law.
• The International Criminal Justice Library (1995-2004), World Justice Information Network.
• Transnational Crime and International Terrorism, Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) website. Current links to joint communiques, press releases, declarations, and other documents.

Websites

• Australian Institute of Criminology website.
• Centre for Transnational Crime Prevention (CTCP), University of Wollongong, New South Wales website.
• Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia Pacific (CSCAP) website; "Transnational Crime."
• European Union's Commission on Organised Crime website: "A common EU approach to the fight against organised transnational crime."
• International Center, National Institute of Justice website: Global Crime Issues.
• Philippine Center on Transnational Crime website.
• Terrorism Research Center website. Posts Intel Reports, War Reports, Country Profiles, Terrorist Profiles, Terrorist Attack Archives, and more.
• Transnational Crime and Corruption Center (TraCCC) website.
• Transnational Threats Project, Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) website. Publishes Transnational Threats Update (May 2005 issue).

Documents & Reports

• Samuel D. Porteus, "The Threat from Transnational Crime: An Intelligence Perspective," Canadian Security Intelligence Service, Winter 1996.
• Ministerial Conference of the G-8 Countries on Combating Transnational Organized Crime, Moscow, October 19-20, 1999; posted on Federation of American Scientists website.
• Press Kit: "Fighting Transnational Organized Crime," Tenth United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders, March 2000.
• United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime, G.A. Res. 25, annex I, U.N. GAOR, 55th Sess., Supp. No. 49, at 44, U.N. Doc. A/45/49 (Vol. I) (2001), not in force (Posted on University of Minnesota Human Rights Library website.) United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime - Signatories.
• Steven Schrage, "Transnational Crime," Statement on Agenda Items 100 and 101: Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice and International Drug Control, UN Third Committee, New York, New York, September 30, 2002.
• "Transnational Activities of Chinese Crime Organizations." A Report Prepared by the Federal Research Division, Library of Congress under an Interagency Agreement with the United States Government, April 2003.
• "Combating Transnational Crime and Corruption in Europe," Hearing Before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, 108th Congress, 1st Session, October 30, 2003. Includes links to testimony by witnesses.
• "G8 Recommendations on Transnational Crime," posted on Department of Justice, Canada, website; modified February 5, 2004.
• Elizabeth Verville, "Transnational Organized Crime and Corruption." By the Special Representative to the 11th UN Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, Statement by the United States During the High-Level Segment of the 11th UN Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, Bangkok, Thailand, April 24, 2005.

Articles & Commentary

Undated or Pre-2002

• Alex P. Schmid, "Non-State Actors: Organized Crime, Human Rights NGOs and the United Nations," Universiteit Utrecht, undated (circa 1995).
• Phil Williams, "Drug Trafficking and Organized Crime in Belarus: Threat and Response," Belinfo Center, undated.
• "Arresting Transnational Organized Crime", U.S. Department of State, undated.
• Yuri A. Voronin, "Transnational Organized Crime," Ekaterinburg 1997 (World Justice Information Network website).

2002

• "Transnational Policing: A Practical Approach for the Future," U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, U.S. Department of Justice, January 2002.
• Tamara Makarenko, "Crime, Terror and the Central Asian Drug Trade," Harvard Asia Quarterly, last updated September 30, 2002.
• Peter Reuter, DRAFT: "Transnational Crime: Drug Smuggling" (Abstract), School of Public Policy, University of Maryland, October 14, 2002.
• Louise I. Shelley, "Transnational crime: The case of Russian organized crime and the role of international cooperation in law enforcement," Demokratizatsiya, Winter 2002.

2004

• Louise I. Shelley, "Organized Crime, Terrorism and Cybercrime," Computer Crime Research Center, September 24, 2004.
• "Report warns Papua New Guinea could become transnational crime base," AP, December 14, 2004.

2005

• Alex Schmid, "Links between Terrorism and Drug Trafficking: A Case of 'Narco-terrorism'?" (The Madrid Agenda for the International Summit on Democracy, Terrorism and Security, March 8-11, 2005), safe-democracy.org, January 27, 2005.
• "Warning of crime, terrorism in Pacific," The Age (Australia), January 31, 2005.
• Ron Corben, "UN Looks for Cooperation on Transnational Crime and Terrorism," Voice of America News, April 21, 2005. Link to the report on page.
• "Eleventh UN Crime Congress Concludes with Adoption of Bangkok Declaration Calling for Action Against Organized Crime, Terrorism," I-Newswire, April 25, 2005.
• Louise I. Shelley, "The Unholy Trinity: Transnational Crime, Corruption, and Terrorism," Evening Post, May 2, 2005 (Brown Journal of World Affairs, Winter/Spring 2005, Vol. XI, Issue 2).
• "Transnational crime 'huge problem'," The Australian, June 7, 2005.