Academic Community for International and Transnational Crime Studies (ACITCS) is a non-profit and independent think tank focusing on three main activities: internal courses on international crime, democracy & human rights, and transnational crime; research; and regular panel academic discussions.
Scholarly implies all activities in this community are staunchly based on the scientific way and academic truth.
Ideational means all duties are addressed to forming ideas.
Humanitarian denotes all elements of this community strongly respect to ethics, values, and principles of human rights and dignity.
Why is transnational (organized) crime essential?
Various academic literatures reveal that these particular activities are breaking the (domestic, regional, and international) laws. They are economically, physically, and psychologically harmful and destructive as well. TOC is operated by various transnational organized criminal groups like, among others, Yakuza (in Japan), Triad (China, Hong Kong), Sicilian Mafia (Italy), Mafia (Russia), narcotic Cartels (Mexico-USA). Their networks are complex and underpinned by using extreme violence.
TOC happens and operates across the continents. In Europe, women trafficking for sexual exploitation broadly appears after the collapse of communism. Prominent aspects triggering TOC have been poverty, inequality, and state weakness (Jeremy Haken, 2011); these determinant factors then yield various forms of TOC in Southeast Asia: sexual trafficking (Loise Shelley, 2010: 158), people smuggling, and drugs trafficking; while maritime piracy occurs in Somalia. Other kinds of TOC also embrace global political corruption, global slavery, cybercrime, identity theft, counterfeits, fraudulent medicines, global environmental crime, illegal trade in wildlife, human organs trafficking, arms trafficking, money laundering, and terrorism.
Globalization enables us to efficiently communicate, interact, and negotiate without strictly being limited by nation-state borders. Interconnectedness supported by the cutting-edge technologies also make capital, goods, and services move/flow very rapidly. Nevertheless, we should acknowledge that globalization contains the dark side since numerous illegal and illicit activities are worldwide involved. These facts are then extracted into a term: transnational organized crime (TOC). Within the term transnational crime, the adjective organized is subsumed. It is, according to Howard Abadinsky (2010), because the characteristics of organized crime itself which are hierarchical (vertical power structure), and monopolistic (within specific geographic area), has economic goals (money and power – not motivated by social doctrine, ideological sense, and political focus), and has exclusive membership (limited due to specific qualifications based on background, race, criminal record, etc. – they must keep secret), perpetuates itself (utilizing continuing criminal conspiracy), has unique subculture (‘underworld’, unlike common society), uses illegal violence (to achieve goals).
International community has tremendously concern on fighting against TOC by using numerous legal international instruments such as conventions and protocols.
Why is international crime crucial?
Unlike transnational crime, international crime refers to various crimes linked to at least four main forms: crime against humanity, war crime, genocide, and violation of human rights. International crime is usually committed by authoritative entities, especially state or government, and sometimes is also done by a group of people.
Russia’s military invasion to its former member (Ukraine) is the contemporary important case. Meanwhile, Pope’s visit to Canada to apologize for indigenous abuses becomes the crucial issue.
