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- Volume 2014, Issue 9, 2011
Freedom from Fear - Volume 2014, Issue 9, 2011
Volume 2014, Issue 9, 2011
This journal aims to contribute to the advancement of knowledge and awareness of the international community’s priority issues in the field of justice, crime prevention and human rights. The Magazine pursues the promotion of innovative dialogue by spreading awareness, creating consensus and a sense of shared responsibility of the problems that affect the global community. As a forum for long-term change, the Magazine endeavors to promote democratic values, civil stability, and aid the international community in developing actions towards greater peace, justice and security for all members of social, civil and political society.
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Are “drugs” the consequence of economic and political destabilizing factors?
Author: Doris BuddenbergEvery society and culture has the stimulants and intoxicants it deserves, needs and tolerates. Since hallowed antiquity, alcohol has been THE intoxicant for the western culture. Alcohol is so much part of the culture that few can imagine life without it. Aside from stating this fact, can the link between drugs and culture be developed further? Some examples might help to clarify the concepts and categories that would allow a closer look at the interdependence between drugs and culture.
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When citizens start destabilizing the power of mafia
Authors: Renato Accorinti and Federico AlagnaThe impact of the mafia on our societies is complex and multidimensional: it affects our politics, our economy, our culture, our development and our opportunities. In other terms, it affects our society as a whole.
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The value of natural capital: a risk or an opportunity?
Author: Franca RoiattiWhat is the value of a forest? And that of a river? The answer depends on whom you ask: indigenous people who depend on the forest and consider trees and water streams to be sacred surely have a totally different idea than the manager of a timber company.
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Illicit trafficking of precious metals and its destabilizing factors in systems of affected countries
Author: Peter H. BishopIllicit trafficking in precious metals is an integral part of a growing international trend, of which the continued existence depends on organised crime, corruption and developmental inequalities. The problem of illicit trafficking in precious metals entails organised criminal groups exploiting loopholes in national and international legislation as well as gaps in the trade monitoring procedures.
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Environmental crime and instability: the role of criminal networks in the trafficking and illegal dumping of hazardous waste
Authors: Valentina Baiamonte and Elise VermeerschAmongst environmental crimes, trafficking and illegal dumping of waste has become a significant source of revenue, attracting growing interest of unscrupulous brokers as well as criminal networks. This crime poses not only a serious prothreat to the environment and human health, but has also become one of the causes for social and economic instability.
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Contemporary racism across Europe
Author: Veronica BajtDevelopments in a number of countries worldwide show that the power of racist ideas remains strong, even forging movements and political parties that can result in deadly consequences. Various daily manifestations of racist hate speech and discrimination are a reminder of the persisting importance of this phenomenon as a social and political issue in the contemporary global environment, for racism remains a vibrant influence on current social and political movements, even on state policies. As one such timely example, the virulently anti-Semitic and racist Greek political party Golden Dawn combines both legal (running for elections) and illegal action (violently assaulting migrants) with a heavy nostalgia for the Third Reich. In Hungary, the Hungarian Guard, which is a paramilitary militia of the Jobbik party, terrorises the Roma people, even murdering some, forcing them to flee the country. A myriad of other examples could further be listed, which is why it is essential to develop a common culture of stigmatization of racism and promote a proactive role of community actors who can not only recognise and report these phenomena but also actively contrast racism, xenophobia, and related forms of intolerance throughout Europe.
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Destabilizing factors in urban settings: explaining violence and social disorganization in Ciudad Juarez
Authors: Robert Muggah and Carlos VilaltaThe most visible manifestations of urban violence encompass physical and psychological harm against persons – from homicide to other forms of victimization. For more than a century social scientists have also studied the ways in which violence reconfigures social and spatial relations and triggers cycles of insecurity and fear that span generations. There is also evidence that “structural” forms of urban violence arising from the degradation of urban economies and austerity measures can equally contribute to a “break down” in social life leading to new forms of violence. An especially disconcerting manifestation of urban violence is found in Mexico.
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The death penalty: a child rights issue and a public health issue
Author: Helen Kearney2013 saw the first ever United Nations Human Rights Council panel discussion on Children of Parents Sentenced to Death or Executed. The author summarizes new research on this neglected topic.
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Webcam child sex tourism: stopping the growing number of predators
Author: Raffaele K SalinariAmong many others the Webcam Child Sex Tourism (WCST) is one of the emerging crimes against children and represents a violation of the United Nations Conventions on child rights. WCST is illegal in most countries. Some have laws prohibiting adults from conversing with minors about sex. Others prohibit “enticing” a minor to engage in sexual conduct. Other countries outlaw showing obscene images to minors, and most countries prohibit viewing sexual images and sexual performances involving minors. Thus, Governments should adopt policies that give their law enforcement agencies the mandate to proactively search for predators seeking to engage in WCST on public online places known to be hotspots for child abuse.
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The last stop
Author: Prableen KaurViolent extremism is the last stop in a long process. It is the most visible type of extremism and it creates deep and painful traces in many people’s lives. With hindsight we ask ourselves over and over what we could have done differently. It is not necessarily wrong if we do it to learn, but if we do it to undo what cannot be undone, our starting point is wrong. We do not have time to regret. We have time to act and we must do that all the time, because violent extremism is about people’s lives. It is about the fate of people who we might be able to help. The debate about violent extremism is not necessarily merely about what we are left with in the aftermath of a tragic event, but about what forms people who are willing to take to violence to express their opinions.
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China’s commitment to the United Nations Convention against Corruption
Author: Giovanni NicoteraIn its 2012 survey covering 178 countries, Transparency International ranked China at 3.5 in what is called the Corruption Perception Index, the 80th country, together with Serbia and Trinidad and Tobago. To see things from another point of view, China was the fourth-lowest ranking of G20 nations with only Argentina, India, Indonesia and Russia scoring lower. At such levels, corruption poses a threat to China’s political stability and sustainable development, especially at a time when China’s ‘Gini’ coefficient, a statistical measure of income inequality, is at 0.47 close to that 0.5 threshold where inequality is severe and calls for immediate action. Many experts believe that this widening wealth gap is partly the result of large amounts of “illegal income” resulting from corruption.
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Rethinking security governance: a new security architecture
Author: Francesco MarelliSecurity risks are a constant for any human society. Human beings and human societies have always strived to create an order that secures their lives, jobs, properties and the future of their children. The risks that prevented the achievement of this goal have mostly been similar throughout history and include wars, famine, economic crisis, climate change, natural disasters, technological catastrophes, terrorism, and crime.
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