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2. Deadly Rio de Janeiro: Armed Violence and the Civilian Burden
- Author:
- Bhavani Castro and Julia Links Franciotti
- Publication Date:
- 02-2023
- Content Type:
- Commentary and Analysis
- Institution:
- Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED)
- Abstract:
- The public security situation in Brazil is complicated, and particularly in Rio de Janeiro state, which has high levels of violence and criminality. The presence of multiple different criminal groups fighting for territory, coupled with abusive government measures to tackle criminal activity, has created a deadly, high-risk environment for civilians in the state. In 2021, Rio de Janeiro registered 27 violent deaths per 100,000 inhabitants, a rate lower than states like Bahia and Ceará but significantly higher than the national average of 22. Rio de Janeiro also ranked first among Brazilian states in the number of deaths recorded during police interventions, with at least 1,356 people reportedly killed.1 In May 2021, for example, a police operation against drug traffickers in the Jacarezinho community in Rio de Janeiro city resulted in 29 reported fatalities. While authorities claimed that all those killed in the operation were linked to criminal groups, witnesses reported that police officers entered civilian houses and carried out extrajudicial executions.2 The Jacarezinho operation was the deadliest single event recorded by ACLED in Brazil in 2021. A year later, in May 2022, military and federal police forces clashed with the Red Command (CV) in the Vila Cruzeiro community in the Penha Complex, resulting in at least 26 reported fatalities, including civilians. These are not isolated incidents, but rather indicative of the increasing lethality of violence in Rio de Janeiro in 2021 and 2022, and the rising threat to civilians.
- Topic:
- Crime, Elections, Violence, Civilians, Militias, Gangs, and Public Security
- Political Geography:
- Brazil, South America, and Rio de Janeiro
3. Accountability for Crimes against Peacekeepers
- Author:
- Agathe Sarfati
- Publication Date:
- 03-2023
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- International Peace Institute
- Abstract:
- Since 1948, more than 1,000 UN personnel have been killed in malicious acts while serving in UN peacekeeping operations. Since 2013, the vast majority of fatalities have taken place in the Central African Republic (CAR), Mali, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). To address this trend, the UN Secretariat and member states have increasingly focused on strengthening the policy framework on accountability to peacekeepers. They have also increasingly focused specifically on how to pursue justice for peacekeepers who have been victims of attacks. This paper focuses on advancing justice for crimes against peacekeepers as one aspect of the overall effort to enhance accountability to peacekeepers. It provides an overview of the role of UN peacekeeping operations in investigating and prosecuting crimes against peacekeepers and the UN’s growing focus on advancing and prioritizing accountability for these crimes. It then examines case studies of criminal cases supported by the UN missions in CAR (MINUSCA), Mali (MINUSMA), and the DRC (MONUSCO) in their respective host states and provides an overview of cross-cutting challenges they have faced. The paper concludes with recommendations to help the UN Secretariat, peacekeeping operations, the Security Council, and other member states accelerate the investigation and prosecution of crimes against peacekeepers in a consistent and balanced manner: The UN Secretariat should maintain a comprehensive approach to accountability, develop a common definition of crimes against peacekeepers, ensure that host states adhere to human rights standards when engaging with those accused of crimes against peacekeepers, and improve internal and external coordination in this area. UN missions should pursue a comprehensive approach to accountability, continue to support host-state investigations and prosecutions of those accused of crimes against peacekeepers, advocate for host-state authorities to pursue accountability, and ensure sustained documentation of and follow-up on cases. The Security Council should reinforce peacekeeping mandates to build the host state’s capacity to pursue accountability and encourage legal clarity on the nature of crimes against peacekeepers. UN member states should use the group of friends to offer new ideas on ways to promote accountability and use the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations to discuss ways to improve coordination in this area.
- Topic:
- Crime, United Nations, Peacekeeping, and Accountability
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
4. Power and path dependencies may weaken EU counter-piracy efforts in the Gulf of Guinea
- Author:
- Jessica Larsen and Stephanie Schandorf
- Publication Date:
- 08-2023
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
- Abstract:
- In 2013, West African coastal states in the Gulf of Guinea region (extending from Senegal in the north to Angola in the south) signed the Yaoundé Code of Conduct to combat maritime crime. The code promoted a trend of increasing donor activity intended to sustain the resulting Yaoundé Architecture (which includes the code, a declaration and a memorandum of understanding between regional organisations), through capacity-building and counter-piracy operations (see Box 1). A decade later, piracy in the Gulf of Guinea grew increasingly urgent as the world’s hotspot of attacks, and questions remain about whether the Yaoundé Architecture (YA) is fit for purpose.
- Topic:
- Crime, Law Enforcement, Piracy, European Union, and Path Dependency
- Political Geography:
- Africa, West Africa, and Gulf of Guinea
5. COMBATING CROSS-BORDER ORGANIZED CRIME IN THE BORDER REGION OF THE STATE: STRATEGY DEVELOPMENT METHODOLOGY
- Author:
- Oleh Farion, Dmytro Kupriyenko, Yurii Demianiuk, and Andrii Nikitiuk
- Publication Date:
- 07-2023
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Journal of Liberty and International Affairs
- Institution:
- Institute for Research and European Studies (IRES)
- Abstract:
- The article describes the methodology for the following successive stages: data collection on cross-border organized crime; analysis of the impact of PEST factors of the border region on the number of cross-border crimes committed by organized criminal groups; generalization and analysis of parameters for assessing the capabilities of organized criminal groups; assessment of the level of capabilities of organized criminal groups to commit cross-border crimes; passporting of organized criminal groups specializing in cross-border crimes; modeling of scenarios of the development of organized criminal groups illegal activities by types of cross-border crimes; selection of options for fighting cross-border organized crime by the targeted impact on organized criminal groups. The strategy envisages a complex of the following measures: rapid (operational) interventions in critical situations; anti-crisis measures of the border guard operation to neutralize threats; other regime and control measures to strengthen the protection of the state border; standard planned and preventive measures; measures of sustainable development of the border security system. Implementing the methodology in practice enables the development of a strategic approach to effectively utilize the resources of state law enforcement agencies in combating cross-border crime.
- Topic:
- Crime, Development, Law Enforcement, Borders, and Organized Crime
- Political Geography:
- Ukraine and Global Focus
6. Illegal Fishing in Southeast Asia: Scope, Dimensions, Impacts, and Multilateral Response
- Author:
- Peter Chalk
- Publication Date:
- 07-2023
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- China Brief
- Institution:
- The Jamestown Foundation
- Abstract:
- Illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing (IUUF) has surfaced as an increasingly salient offshore threat in Southeast Asia that is leading to huge losses in government revenue, adversely impacting food security, contributing to widespread environmental damage, destabilizing inter-state relations, and spurring other transnational crimes. It is an enduring challenge that affects much of the region, though it finds particular expression in the South China Sea (SCS), the Gulf of Thailand, and the territorial waters of the Indonesian archipelago. This article will analyze the scope and dimensions of IUUF in Southeast Asia, assessing its primary drivers, levels of activity, and principal impacts. It will also give an overview of the operations of the People’s Republic of China (PRC)’s distant water fishing (DWF), which several international bodies have decried as not only the single most egregious violator of sovereign fishing rights and laws in the region, but also as a de facto deniable militia that Beijing is using to enforce its self-defined territorial rights in the SCS. Finally, it will look at the “Quad” as a potential multilateral forum for addressing illegal trawling in the wider Indo-Pacific region.
- Topic:
- Crime, Territorial Disputes, Fishing, and Regional Politics
- Political Geography:
- China and Southeast Asia
7. Why El Salvador’s Anti-Crime Measures Cannot (and Should Not) Be Exported
- Author:
- Tiziano Breda
- Publication Date:
- 03-2023
- Content Type:
- Commentary and Analysis
- Institution:
- Istituto Affari Internazionali
- Abstract:
- One year has passed since El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele launched a “war on gangs”, embedded in a state of exception that has since been renewed monthly. The government claims to have arrested 66,000 alleged gang members, projecting the image of an upfront battle against criminal organisations that has yielded results in bringing down murder rates. This has earned Bukele the approval not only of most Salvadorans, but millions of citizens throughout Latin America. His methods have become a foreign policy tool and a driver of electoral disputes in the region. But are they “exportable” to other countries? And should they?
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy, Crime, Human Rights, Law Enforcement, Democracy, and Organized Crime
- Political Geography:
- South America, North America, El Salvador, and United States of America
8. Kosovo's Take on Cybersecurity
- Author:
- Vesa Kroci
- Publication Date:
- 08-2023
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Kosovar Centre for Security Studies (KCSS)
- Abstract:
- In 2014, there was a notable surge in cybercrimes in Kosovo. The advancement and widespread adoption of technology during this period brought about a more pronounced occurrence of cyber-related offenses. Fadil Avdyli, the head of the Cybercrime Investigation Sector in the Kosovo Police, reported that eight individuals were apprehended in 2012, eleven in 2013, and seven in 2014. The rising cyberattacks in Kosovo provided an impetus to build a new policy framework dealing with cyber security, resulting with the adoption by the Kosovo government of the National Cyber Security Strategy and Action Plan 2016 – 2019. Program of the Kosovo Government 2021-2025 notes that “cyber security is a growing problem, we will engage in professional capacity building for the prevention of cyber-attacks, completion of the legal framework and modernization of cyber protection equipment”. The Kosovo Security Strategy 2022-2027, puts significant relevance to strengthening cyber security capacities of Kosovo and notes that the government “will invest in the field of cybersecurity, critical infrastructure, innovation and technology and capacity-building”. The strategy also includes the Global Cybersecurity Index as an impact indicator, but Kosovo has not been included. In 2023 Kosovo Assembly adopted Law No. 08/L-173 on Cyber Security, which among others, foresees the establishment of the Cyber Security Agency as well as partially transposes Directive (EU) 2013/40 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 August 2013 on attacks against information systems.
- Topic:
- Security, Crime, Science and Technology, and Cybersecurity
- Political Geography:
- Eastern Europe and Kosovo
9. Drug trafficking in the Pacific Islands: The impact of transnational crime
- Author:
- Jose Sousa-Santos
- Publication Date:
- 02-2022
- Content Type:
- Commentary and Analysis
- Institution:
- Lowy Institute for International Policy
- Abstract:
- The Pacific “drug highway” has spilled over into domestic markets for illicit drug consumption and production in the Pacific Islands region. Drug trafficking has evolved significantly with the rise of local actors in transnational criminal networks. Capacity shortfalls and a disconnect between regional law enforcement infrastructure and national law enforcement agencies undermine trust and are detrimental to intelligence sharing and interoperability in cross-border policing efforts. The deportation policies of Australia, New Zealand, and the United States are exacerbating crime and addiction within Pacific nations. They undermine the policy objectives of development partners in the region and will need urgent review.
- Topic:
- Crime, Non State Actors, Law Enforcement, Transnational Actors, and Drug Trafficking
- Political Geography:
- Australia, New Zealand, Asia-Pacific, and United States of America
10. Piracy in the Gulf of Guinea: Those trying to curb it, and those standing in their way
- Author:
- Rina Bassist
- Publication Date:
- 03-2022
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies
- Abstract:
- In this issue of Ifriqiya Rina Bassist explains the implications of shifts in off-shore piracy around the African continent in the past decade. Piracy around the Gulf of Guinea, in particular, has been a headache in recent years, but some countries are more concerned about it than others.
- Topic:
- Crime, Law Enforcement, and Piracy
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Guinea