Crime After Conflict

Overwhelming statistical evidence shows a correlation between conflict and crime rates, both at a structural and individual level. This is assumed by many to mean that conflict is responsible for rises in crime. This article describes an alternative approach: that conflict is conducive to organised criminality, but does not necessarily cause it. By demonstrating examples from post-conflict societies, it is shown that the causal nexus of conflict and crime is actually security, development and governance. This effect is particularly pronounced where violent crime is concerned, but the inconsistent and often contextual nature of such crime renders any attempt to draw conclusions difficult. By framing peacebuilding efforts around conflict, and prioritising the neoliberal democratic model of the Global North as a cure to security and development shortcomings, crime is actually further enabled as the symptoms of criminality are not addressed. By returning the focus to security, development and governance, critical discussion may be able to cut through the noise and provide practical solutions to the crime epidemics characteristic of post-conflict environments.

Change for the Better, or More of the Same?

This article analyses the lithium-ion Battery through a green criminological lens. It explores green criminological reasoning, particularly the framework of “ecocide,” in order to frame the renewables market as an area of emergent concern for criminologists. Two case studies are analysed in pursuit of this goal: the case of coltan Mining in the Democratic Republic of the Congo; and the case of lithium extraction in the “lithium triangle” nations of Argentina, Bolivia, and Chile. This article initially examines the issue of coltan mining through a mainstream criminological lens, before moving to explore the issues from a green criminological perspective. In doing so, the advantages of the green criminological model are highlighted, and it is demonstrated that the contemporary renewables market is an area of criminological interest.

A Durkheimian Analysis of Racialised Crime and Punishment Police Practices and the Demand for Change

The analysis of racialised police attitudes has been frequently addressed in academic articles, but the application of a Neo-Durkheimian approach has been largely overlooked. This article will apply Durkheimian theory to illuminate the need for a shift in crime and punishment policy and practices to avoid the present societal moral stagnation. In order to do so it will address both, the recent Black Lives Matter protests in America and the 2011 Riots in London. The use of the two case studies signifies the continuity of problematic police behaviour and political address. It is evident that such an article is embedded in an extremely sensitive topic, therefore it does not presume to provide a solution to the overwhelming circumstances. Rather, in illuminating the relevance of Durkheimian theory it signifies that current global circumstances demand a moral shift in societal understandings of solidarity and “the cult of the individual”, providing pivotal foundations for police practices. However, this requires participation of criminologists alongside practitioners and activists.

The Role of the UN International Drug Control Conventions in Facilitating Law Enforcement Cooperation in the Policing of Transnational Drug Trafficking

Transnational policing is an increasingly important issue in today’s globalised world. Transnational crime is an expanding industry and when crime crosses borders, cooperation between states is key. Arguably, this is most important in illegal drug trafficking, a crime of high concern to many states which almost always involves multiple countries. To this end, the UN Drug Control Conventions, introduced to tackle drug trafficking across the world, contain a number of provisions regarding law enforcement cooperation. This piece, by examining legal instruments and existing literature, will explore the role of the conventions regarding cooperation in policing the transnational trafficking of illicit drugs with a particular focus on the US, a major player in the field. Law enforcement cooperation between states existed for many years without international law obligations, however, it was often plagued by political and cultural differences and suffered when international relations were tense. By implementing obligations within the UN conventions, existing practices were codified into international law, meaning that cooperation should be a smoother, and legally-backed, process regardless of the political situation. This piece argues that, although the UN International Drug Control Conventions may not have added completely novel principles or practices to transnational law enforcement, they remain an important tool in facilitating transnational police cooperation and have made a valuable contribution to jurisprudence on the subject.

Femicide

Femicide is a relatively new area of study that was first introduced in 1976. Since then, there has been a push by many scholars to develop the field further, despite some arguments made that femicide is not as important of an issue given the relatively low rates of female homicides compared to male homicides. This article reviews three levels of analysis — micro, meso, and macro — and discusses culture and class as two contributing factors to femicide, illustrating that femicide is a complex global phenomenon that requires a multilateral and intersectional approach to be better understood. It concludes that by understanding and deconstructing certain social and institutional structures, we will be better equipped to understand femicide as a phenomenon and create more effective systems and legislation for a safer global society.

Never Again: A Legal Chimarea?

This article examines the scope of the duty that arises from Article 1 of the Genocide Convention[1] (hereinafter, the Convention) that imposes on States the dual obligation to prevent and punish genocide as an international crime. The analysis will focus on the legal problems arising from the punishable acts of Article 3 which asserts a prophylactic framework regarding the crime of genocide. This article argues that Article 3 is fundamental to the obligation to prevent as well as punish since the prohibited acts are inchoate (meaning incomplete). If an act of genocide is legally conceived as incomplete, it can, in theory, be repressed in the spirit of the Convention. [1] “Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide,” open for signature December 9, 1948, registration no. A/RES/3/260, http://un-documents.net/a3r260.htm.

Citizenship Deprivation as a Counterterrorism Measure in Europe

Since the proclamation of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) Caliphate in June 2014, an unprecedented number of jihadi supporters in Europe have left their countries to fight alongside the organisation in Iraq and Syria. Over the years, ISIS has lost much of its territory and was militarily defeated in 2019, leaving a large number of members waiting in Kurdish camps and Iraqi prisons for their fate to be decided. Instead of repatriating foreign fighters, many European countries have started to use citizenship deprivation as a tool of preventing them from returning. Under the rationale of protecting national security and deterring possible supporters, it has been argued that citizenship deprivation is nothing more than risk exportation, with notable implications for a whole international community. This article provides an overview of the rationale behind citizenship deprivation as a counterterrorism measure and highlights how, from a counterterrorism perspective, shifting the problem instead of addressing it, could be counterproductive and undermine the fight against terrorism. The article concludes that despite numerous implications, following the public pressure to harshly respond to terrorism, it is unlikely that the popularity and use of citizenship deprivation as a counterterrorism measure will be in decrease soon.

"The Worst Place in the World for Women"

This paper explores the nature of conflict-related sexual violence committed by the State Armed Forces (FARDC) in the Democratic Republic of Congo, through the application of the general strain theory. Findings show that sexual violence committed by the FARDC is commonly used as a form of personal catharsis and emotional release from perceived strains, as opposed to resulting from sexual desires or external institutional pressures. Further, the most influential contextual elements present in the local context of the FARDC, and which particularly encourage the propagation of sexual violence, include female FARDC soldiers receiving desired military positions, the centrality of strains to personal notions of masculinity and aspirations, the dismantling of social cohesion through patronage networks, and a lack of behavioural coping options. In turn, these factors reduce the efficiency of non-criminal coping strategies. Hence, interventions aimed at reducing the propagation of conflict-related sexual violence may benefit from more bottom-up and inductive approaches improving the individual circumstances of soldiers as opposed to solely focusing upon organisational change and military reform.