Terrorism and Transnational Crime - Essay Example

College Transnational crime Question one Argument From a definitive point of view, involvement in crime is basically for economic gains while terrorism involvement is mainly to mean to satisfy beliefs.in both of these cases, there is use of violence but the degree to which violence is applied is dependent on the situational factors surrounding the perpetrator. For instance, in crime, if the culprit is faced with a lot of insecurity whereby he risks being arrested or killed, chances are high that they will use a lot of force so as to escape the situation in which they are. For a terrorist, on the other hand, the fear of being caught is none of their business but what they value more is the completion of the mission. An individual who chooses to be involved with terror activities is not just religiously involved with terrorism but is also ready to bear the psychological changes that come along with it. Approaching terrorism from a definitive perspective is not a reliable move since it does not consider the different situational circumstances under which terrorists use force to achieve their objective. Most importantly, the definition of terrorism is very subjective. In terms of approach, crime does not give a clear bench mark regarding how and when to treat terrorist consequences as being beyond crime (Reichel, 2005). For instance, when a terrorist is involved in mass murder, he will be prosecuted in the same way as another criminal who has committed murder, depending on the counts of murder. In both cases, the situational factors surrounding the murders are not very much looked into but rather the outcomes of the motivating factors in each of the individuals. In order to prevent terrorist activities it would be important to consider the approaches used to commit each of the offences so that the gravity of each circumstance is clearly spelt out in the policies taken in treating each one of them as a criminal, provided the motives are established. With approach, it would be clear that terrorism is not quantifiable and therefore it appreciates the fact that it is a dynamic affair (Reichel, 2005). Prevention of terrorism from a criminological perspective may not give a wholesome solution in dealing with terror. This is because crime is more concerned with application of the rule to deal with the outcomes of an offence but does not really cater for the situational factors leading to terrorism (Reichel, 2005). Involvement in terrorism is a dynamic effect and will tend to take different shapes in different scenarios, especially depending the political environment in which the terrorism act is expected to be carried out. Furthermore, when they are arrested they are not charged with terrorism but the crimes that they commit. Using a criminological argument to prevent terrorism is just a cosmetic step to dodge the real factors surrounding terrorism. Criminological approach is therefore a short term solution to terrorism because it only addresses the results of terrorism but does not factor in the root cause of the driving force to terrorism (Reichel, 2005). Argument 2 From a political angle, terrorism is used to make political statements based on the political landscape in which the terror activity is performed. The extremity of the terror activities depends on the gravity of the message that terrorists intend to pass across. Crime is intertwined with terrorism because terrorists have to get involved with criminal activities in their quest for political desires (Reichel, 2005). It means that violence in support of political ambitions is what constitutes terrorism. However, not all violence in support of politics is terrorism but rather violence on innocent civilians falls in this group. Ideological and terrorists used anticolonial rhetoric to challenge Western society. What emerged was the left wing and ethnic violence in the 1960s through to the1970s. In the process, an international ethos of revolutionary terrorism emerged against the West. Through this ideological reasoning, the terrorists target the social and economic symbols of the westerners. Revolutionaries claimed to transcend nationalism while the conservative adversaries believed in their support to have come from nation states in support of terrorism. This resulted in the fall of the ideological movements. Religious terrorism is the belief that a terrorist dies for a cause in the process of killing people which is to become a martyr. With this kind of terrorism, violence is compulsory in order to purify creation from evil. Failure of the holy war is equal to God’s failure and so more people who are willing to continue with the holy work have to be looked for. It is for his reason that suicide bombers exist, to fulfil their obligation to the most high (Reichel, 2005). Of these three perspectives, political and religious terrorism gives a better in depth as to what constitutes terrorism but depending on the landscape in which the act is perpetrated. Most of the terrorism acts are committed on religious grounds. Question two The government and NROs define human trafficking as the forceful transfer of an individual for service form one place to another regardless of the age of the victim. The basic elements of human trafficking include exploitation of labor, harboring of the victims and cohesion (Lee, 2011). Exploitation of labor can take the form of sexual service, manual labor or servitude. Harboring of the victims will involve recruitment, transport or receipt. Cohesion is achieved through deception, force or threats. On the other hand, human smuggling is the voluntary involvement in the reasons for human trafficking (Lyons & Ford, 2014). In essence, human smuggling is actually human trafficking but without force which is an indication of the thin difference between human trafficking and human smuggling (Naim, 2013). Transnational crime is crime that is conducted across borders and have potential effects on the countries in which the crime is conducted. Human smuggling should not be classified as transnational crime as such because of the voluntary involvement in the crime (Naim, 2013). Individuals who choose to be involved in the crime are very much aware of the potential risks and consequently if the facilitators are trusted to keep their end of the deal then it becomes voluntary. In the case of human smuggling, the government is not at a position of protecting the victim given their initial voluntary involvement in the crime. With human trafficking, use of force gives the whole new process in the sense that security is a key concern. These two process are all part of the same transnational phenomenon because the probability of switching from one form to another is high and is dependent on the criminal objectives (Lee, 2011). Not until the participants in human smuggling reach the end of their deal, they cannot really be sure whether they are being trafficked or they could be participating in a business venture of their choice. The implications of this difference in the process of preventing and responding to these crimes by states is that in human smuggling it would be difficult to protect the participants because of their voluntary involvement in the crime. Suppose the states concerned were to act on the crime perpetrated in human smuggling then it would only take action after the participants find themselves in a hard situation (Lyons & Ford, 2014). This is because they will be acting on the results rather than addressing the symptoms. On the other hand, if the states were to act on human trafficking they have chances of dealing with the crime based on evidence and they will also be acting on what they already know (Barnett & Canada, 2011). For instance, in the use of force it would be possible to foresee the threats involved because the individual who finds themselves in human trafficking is already a victim implying that they are not party to the consequences in which they find themselves (Naim, 2013). Question three Human smuggling human trafficking There is voluntary consent of the participant to be involved in the business Individuals are cohered to be involved in the business The individual could be aware of the potential consequences of being in the business The individual is completely aware from the onset that danger is looming because of the use of force or threats It is difficult for the state to control or limit the crime because of the voluntary involvement of the participant. The state can find it easy to control the crime because individuals are very willing to give information of the account of what transpired. It is more attractive because the motivating factor is money. It is feared because there is no motivating factor. It has two face values, what the individual expects and what the perpetrator expects to do with the victim. Each of the individual’s intention is very clear from the beginning. Gun smuggling Organ smuggling Involves weapons Involves organs There is voluntary involvement of the participants The individuals do not participate voluntarily Security is the biggest issue at stake. When guns are smuggled it implies that more people can be killed in the destination of the goods. Losing life becomes a concern. If the victim is not handled by a professional the risk of losing life is very high. The transfer of such goods can take a very long time depending on the efficiency of the connectivity network. The transfer of the victim has to adhere to the timelines given especially if the organ is meant for a patient in critical condition. There is no violation of human rights. Violation only comes in when the guns are used to kill. There is violation of human rights because surgical processes have to be consented to. Drug smuggling Property smuggling The products transferred are original Can involve the transfer of both original and second hand goods Is expensive to conduct. The production and successful transfer of the goods requires security which is very expensive. Is cheaper than drug smuggling owing to the nature of the products on transit. Is risky because there is loss of lives if one fails to follow rules. Less risky because it is the security of the goods at stake. The goods are consumable In most cases the goods are not consumable, for example television sets or other electronics. It is regarded as a crime in certain countries while in others it is not since some drug are legalized in some countries. It is only considered a crime if the production of the goods is an imitation of the original products or if the destination. Similarities 1. Gun smuggling and organ smuggling Both are illegal activities and there is use of force in getting the target. 2. Human trafficking and human smuggling Both involve human beings as the main product of exchange. They are seasonal in the sense that they mostly target high seasons of specific places. In some cases, there is procedural activities to be followed to ascertain the suitability of the captives. Also in both cases there is isolation of the victim to avoid publicity (Albanese, 2005). Approach in dealing with these crimes The relevance of a solution to solving a transnational crime is relative to the country of destination or the country of origin (Albanese, 2005). Some crimes such as drug trafficking is an example of such a case. Marijuana is legal in some countries while in others it is an illegal business. This means that the market is larger in such countries and so drug trafficking would tend to be higher into such places. Dealing with this crime should consider the intensity of consequences involved since they come in varying capacities. Assuming that one size can fit all may not be appropriate in addressing the transnational crimes of when dealing with goods that are on transit. The variety in the constitution of states will treat the criminals differently and so if loopholes are present in the laws of a country it makes it easier for the criminal s to maneuver (Naim, 2013). This kind of approach is only suitable to transnational crimes that involve the violation of human rights .Violation of human rights comes in the form of loss of lives or even impairment arising from organ transplant. Protection of human right of human right is a universal mandate of each and every state and therefore it implies that all countries can protect their citizens in equal measure. One rule show be applied to all the countries so that all individual are equally protected regardless of the border that they cross (Allum & Gilmour, 2012). Question 4 In this section, focus will be on two transnational crimes, that is, human trafficking and gun smuggling. A discussion of the harms and the problems associated with each will be given followed by possible solutions to reducing the harms and the problems associated will also be given. 4.1 Human trafficking Human trafficking has far reaching consequences on the individual and the society at large. The individual will have to bear the negative social and health impact associated with human trafficking. Form a social perspective, it undermines the safety and security precautions on the nations it touches. The citizens will always live in fear of being abducted and the criminals will also intensify their operations especially in places in which the region’s security is not strong enough to protect its citizens. To the individuals, they will always live in fear of being arrested because of a single event at some point of their lives (Allum & Gilmour, 2012). This harm can also take different forms on the victim. First and foremost, they will not be at a position to send money home due to the debt bondage. They are not able to pay their debts since it keeps piling up. The victims are also isolated and not given any medical attention and besides there is communication barrier because of the differences in languages spoken in the foreign country. Using threats and force will also make the victims to live in fear. In response to transnational crime, challenges encountered come in varying degrees. Victim identification is a major challenge because the victims fear being known. This makes it hard to access and offer support to the victims. Through early identification, it is possible to offer assistance that the victims need for their support. Repatriation of victims is also a problem that arises due to the legal modalities associated with the country of origin and the country of destination. The local authorities may not have a definitive role in repatriation process but it is their responsibility to ensure that they victims get the support they need during the entire time of repatriation. Another related issue is the point that there is no data to study the trends observed in human trafficking. It makes it hard for a state to know how much input it should give to the crime and how much resources is required to solve the crime (Edwards & Gill, 2003). In order to prevent the harms of human trafficking people should be made aware of the risks associated with human trafficking. Awareness can be enhanced through the media or on social platforms to make people aware of the potential human traffickers. Another way of handling human trafficking is by making use of reconnaissance officers who should get the background information of the crime and the data stored for reference purposes (Edwards & Gill, 2003). 4.2 Gun trafficking Gun trafficking results into increased availability of firearms therefore it increases the criminal levels of offence. Availability of more guns is a threat to the security since everybody will want to use it as protective mechanism against a potential threat. Besides, it increases the levels of corruption in a country because the gun distributors are unsilenced and sell their products to criminals (Kneebone & Debeljak, 2012). In response to the crime, the problems encountered include resistance by the state officials who take part in the business and would do anything to protect their business. Another problem is the fact that the criminals who are being sought after are already armed and so it makes the search even riskier. This even increases the incidence of gun related crimes given their availability (Thachuk & Bowman, 2007). In order to overcome challenges of gun related crimes, license fees for gun ownership should be increased to reduce the number of gun holders. It acts as a bottleneck for entering the market hence high value will be placed on the product. Another preventive measure is to ensure that gun holders achieve the requirement to hold guns and they are more knowledgeable on the usage of the gun. Governments should also aim to disarm criminal networks by constricting their gun codes (Liddick, 2004). Human trafficking Harms associated Solutions to overcoming these problems It has negative social and health impact Counselling Insecurity among the citizens Identification of residents Debt bondage Increasing awareness of the consequences of working for human traffickers Isolation Counselling Gun trafficking Harms associated Possible solutions Increased corruption More license fees to minimize on the number of people who hold guns Increased criminal activities Boosting security To address these two trans-crimes, policies should be enacted to reduce the rate of criminal offences. An executive order should establish a sanctions program to prohibit transactions and properties blocked with huge criminal networks that are a threat to national security, economic transactions or even foreign policy. An agency that will be in charge of ensuring that all potential risks to the national security should be formed. 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