401+The+challenges+to+society+and+good+governance+by+illegal+organizations+(e.g.+Mafia,+pirates,+terrorists)


 * Issue:** **401** The challenges to society and good governance by illegal organizations (e.g. Mafia, pirates, terrorists)

**__General Overview of the Topic__** One of the main problems in modern society is that illegal organizations pose a challenge to good governance. In order for a country’s good governance to prevail, all people in the country must abide by the Rule of Law. No one should be above the law. The three main groups of illegal organizations are mafia, terrorists, and pirates. Other less prominent illegal organizations such as gangs, triads, underground societies, mobs, and bandits also cause problems within many of the member states. The mafia organizations are currently causing global issues. Recently, global mafia is becoming a greater threat than ever due to international organized crimes. The mafia engages in the trade of raw materials in countries such as Thailand and Russia. The mafia has also gotten deeply involved with the political aspects of nations ranging from the United States to the Pacific Ocean. The crimes caused by the mafia are indeed very serious. The Roy Godson of Washington's National Strategy Information Center estimated that the annual profits earned by organized crime around the globe total one trillion U.S. dollars. One problem that makes the mafia worse is that they do not pay taxes, and many mafia bosses are above the law. For example, the well known Mafiosi Bernardo Provenzano was able to elude the grasp of Sicilian authorities for ten years. The police in many countries are reluctant to get involved with affairs pertaining to the mafia, and even some policemen are working with the mafia. The mafia in many countries jeopardizes the Rule of Law to some degree, some more than others. In some states in the U.S., the mafia buys whole police departments so that they assert sovereignty over the legal system. This helps the mafia to establish connections and become more influential. Terrorists were serious problems in the past and now they still pose a threat to the global community. Terrorists install fear into the citizens of targeted countries through means such as the newspaper, the radio, and other forms of media. Large terrorist groups such as Al Qaeda and the Taliban have been actively fighting against the governments of countries such as the US, Australia, Russia, India, United Kingdom, European Union, and Canada. The methods that they use to destabilize the government and society include creating havoc and killing innocent civilians or targeting centers of political activity. People have died by the thousands due to terrorist attacks. After the 9/11 terrorist attack in the US, ex-president Bush and the Bush Administration pledged to eliminate all terrorist groups and leaders. This became known as the Global War on Terrorism Act, and the Bush Administration even used Global War on Terrorism as a slogan for the campaign. Although the purpose of the Global War on Terrorism Act was to protect American citizens from terrorism, it resulted in the discontentment of other countries. The US was criticized for being too aggressive when troops were sent to invade Iraq. Pirates are also a problem, mostly off the coast of Somalia. Somali pirates have been active for many years. Piracy is the specific name for the illegal activities that pirates commit. According to Article 101 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea written in 1982, piracy is defined as “any illegal act of violence, detention or depredation, committed for private reasons by the crew or passengers of a private ship or aircraft on the high seas, against another ship or aircraft, and/or persons on board (Part VII High Seas from UNCLOS in 2001). These pirates capture ships and detain people to get ransom. Pirates have been getting rich from these illegal acts. The waters around Somalia teem with pirates. The main reason that these criminals are able to continue to commit piracy is that Somalia does not have a functioning central government. Since 1991, Somalia has rapidly become controlled by militants. Another current concern is whether or not the mafia, terrorists, pirates, or other illegal organizations will get their hands on nuclear weapons in the near future.

**__Definition of Key Terms__**

**Mafia** The mafia is a hierarchically structured secret organization allegedly engaged in smuggling, racketeering, trafficking in narcotics, and other criminal activities in many countries.

**Piracy** Piracy is an act of robbery, illegal violence, or plunder committed for private ends by crew or passengers of a private ship or aircraft against ships or aircraft on sea or in a place outside the jurisdiction of any state.

**Terrorism** Terrorism is the use of violence or threats to intimidate or resist a government.

**Illegal** Illegal means forbidden by law or statute

**Smuggle** To smuggle means to import or export (goods) secretly, in violation of the law, especially without payment of legal duty.

**Racketeering** Racketeering is the practice of committing crimes such as extortion, loan sharking, bribery, and obstruction of justice in furtherance of illegal business activities.

**Trafficking** Trafficking means trade in some specific commodity or service, often of an illegal nature. For example, trafficking could include human trafficking or trafficking of narcotics.

**Narcotics** Narcotics are any of a class of substances that blunt the senses, as opium, morphine, belladonna, and alcohol, that in large quantities produce euphoria, stupor, or coma, that when used constantly can cause habituation or addiction, and that are used in medicine to relieve pain, cause sedation, and induce sleep.

**Taliban** The Taliban is a fundamentalist Islamic militia that controls a majority of Afghanistan.

**Al Qaeda** Al Qaeda is an organization of Islamic militants that has declared war on Americans, Jews, and their allies.

**__Background to the Topic__**

**Mafia** Historians believe that the mafia originated from Sicily, a city-state in Italy. The mafia came into being in the late 1800s. It is true that the mafia has grown its roots so deep into Italy that they are almost impossible to completely weed out. The name “mafia” started out with only describing Sicilian mafia, but has gradually begun to include other branches in other countries that do not have an Italian origin. The name “mafia” was adopted from the title of a play in year 1863, called //I mafiusi di la Vicaria//. There is also a large mafia organization in the U.S. These mafias do not have a Sicilian origin, and they call themselves by a different name. They call themselves //Cosa Nostra//, which is in Italian and means “this thing of ours.” The members of the mafia organizations have to pass tests to prove themselves worthy. Mafias also had to abide by strict laws. The structure of the mafia clans is basically that at the top, you have a boss and his advisors. Then there is the under boss who carries out orders from the boss. The under boss then has command over several group leaders, who are in charge of soldiers of the mafia. Then at the very bottom of the pyramid, there are associates that the members of the mafia look down on. Up to this day, there have been several types of common organized crimes that the mafia performs. One way in which they make money is to make people buy protection. In Sicily, Italy, a majority of the businesses pay monthly fees to the mafia to buy protection from them. What buying protection actually means is that the mafia wants businesses to pay money so that they do not get hurt by the mafia. When intended targets do not pay the fees asked by the mafia, then the mafia sends people to physically hurt the business by means such as damaging property. Another organized crime that’s almost worldwide is the trafficking of narcotics. The Sicilian mafia has made billions of dollars just from trading narcotics. The mafia and other underground organizations have made a great sum of money (measured in billions of dollars) from the illegal drug market. The Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance estimated that in 2005 drugs were responsible for the deaths of 20 percent of teenagers and young adults. The Sicilian mafia has also gotten involved with the illegal arms trade, selling illegal weapons to gain profit. They also loan money to businesses or others in need of money, and ask a large increase from the original sum in return. People who are unable to pay back the required amount are sometimes physically assaulted. The mafia also receives large sums of money from helping businesses win contracts by illegal means such as attacking or threatening people or property.

**Pirates** The earliest recorded documents that had information about pirates were in 1200 BC. At that time, the first pirates made most of their profit by capturing people to sell to other countries. During the middle ages, there were Scandinavian pirates, Muslim pirates, Greek pirates, etc. There were piracy incidents in Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean. Pirates are not history. Piracy has continued throughout the centuries. Currently, most of the piracy is committed by pirates in locations such as: in the waters in between the Indian Ocean and the Red sea, in the waters off the Somali coast, in Singapore, and in the Strait of Malacca. The United States now leads a number of nations to patrol the waters in which pirates appear. Each year, more than 13 billion U.S. dollars are lost to piracy. In a balanced society, it is essential to have an equitable distribution of resources. Piracy and illegal organizations affect many countries due to the fact that they amass vast fortunes Pirates mostly target merchant ships, preferably international ships. Large merchant ships may have protection against piracy. Some forms of protection are helicopter patrols, anti-piracy weapons (ex: less lethal guns or sonic devices), vessel boarding protection systems (ex: electrical walls), and calling upon warships when in an emergency.

**Terrorists** There are different types of terrorism, and there are different meanings to terrorism. The main definition of terrorism is the use of violence to affect politics. Terrorism isn’t recent. Terrorism started in the first century when Jewish people killed Romans who ruled their land. Terrorism started to become an international problem during the late 1960s. Terrorists began to favor hijacking airplanes since the 1970s, and they were used to create mass destruction, often killing people and definitely damaging property. Terrorist bombing incidents were also called suicidal bombing, because in most cases, the terrorist himself dies during the process. During the 1990s, religious terrorism became a large threat to the international society because religious groups turned violent. Religious terrorism may have begun with religious groups’ discontentment with the government. However, over time, some religious leaders begin to “manipulate religious concepts for their own purposes.” After what was considered one of the most serious terrorist attacks in the United States on September 11th, the UN Security Council Resolution 1373 was adopted. This resolution is an anti-terrorism measure. The goal of this resolution is “to place barriers on the movement, organization and fund-raising activities of terrorist groups.” The problem with this resolution was that it only called to attention a number of terrorist groups, but did not define what terrorism was. Although the UN Security Council Resolution 1373 (which was adopted on September 28, 2001) ordered all member states to refute the terrorist organizations within their borders, this resolution was not strong enough because according to US reports, countries such as Sudan, Iran, and Cuba are still providing aid to terrorist organizations in forms such as money, arms, and safe haven. The most recent resolution on counter-terrorism was the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1566, which was adopted on October 8, 2004. This resolution “follows the UN Security Council Resolution 1373” and it identified terrorism as a serious threat to international peace and security. This resolution serves to further coordinate and strengthen international efforts to combat terrorism.

**__Major Countries and Organizations Involved and Their Positions__** The Russian mafia first emerged from the Soviet Union. The Russian mafia is recognized by many nations as one of the largest mafia groups around the world. The Russian mafia has at least a hundred thousand members worldwide. The Russian mafia is involved in a range of organized crimes such as trafficking weapons or explosives, smuggling, or phishing. The Sicilian mafia (also called Cosa Nostra in America) does not have its history as far back as the Russian mafia. The Sicilian mafia originated in Sicily, Italy, and it has only about 3500 proper members, but their associates far outweigh the number of members. The members have to abide by strict codes of conduct. Usually, if a person wants to be a member, he needs to commit murder, so that’s why there are fewer proper members. In Asia, the Chinese Triads have anywhere from a few dozen to thirty thousand members. This mafia group is involved in smuggling drugs, contract killing, making fake money, and stealing. The Japanese mafia group called the Yakuza is also a prominent criminal group. They have at least a hundred thousand members and they are involved in illegal immigration, prostitution, and protection rackets. In the United States, the Mexican mafia is also a large group with over thirty thousand members. They are involved in protection, and pry the money out of victims by threatening to kill them. The Israeli mafia is a violent criminal group that is involved in smuggling drugs and prostitution. The Israeli mafia is known to murder innocent civilians who stand in their way.. The Serbian mafia has groups in almost a dozen countries around the world, and they are involved in a wide range of criminal activities such as smuggling, illegal narcotics trading, contract killing, protection rackets, gambling, and thievery. The Albanian mafia is another criminal group. The Albanian mafia originated from Albania, but began to spread worldwide several decades ago. The Albanian mafia ruthlessly uses violence and murder to get what they want, like the Israeli mafia. The last mafia group is the Jamaican-British Yardies. They are not as politically powerful as other types of mafia, but they mostly use guns to commit crimes. Italy is facing a looming mafia organization problem because the Sicilian Mafia controls 80% of the businesses in Sicily. Italy has combated the mafia for a long time, but has never been able to completely eradicate them. There are a number of countries accused of harboring terrorist organizations. Currently, the United States still views Sudan as a pro-terrorism country. The Sudanese government said that they would collaborate with the global community’s efforts in counter terrorism, but they still view terrorist groups in their country as freedom fighters and not terrorists. Also, the former Sudanese President, Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir, was charged for being responsible for the genocide in Darfur. Iran is another country that continues to aid terrorist groups. Iran is sponsoring terrorist groups by several means such as providing arms, allowing them to stay in Iranian territory, and providing money for terrorist groups. Some terrorist groups such as the Taliban and Hamas still remain in Iran. Cuba is a country that also sponsored terrorism several years ago by providing safe land for terrorist groups to reside in. The current problem with Somalia is that pirates off the coast of Somalia have been actively aggressive against passing ships. The World Food Programme and the International Maritime Organization have spoken against piracy, but to no avail. Somalia lacks a strong functioning central government to restrict unlawful actions off its coast.

**__Timeline of Events__**

**Mafia** **1963:** The first mafia war happened in 1963. It was between the Sicilian mafia and one of its rivals. Missing opium was what triggered the first mafia war. In this battle, many innocent people were killed along with the mafia and their associates. **1975:** The mafia in the U.S. began to exert their control on refining and trading heroin in 1975. Through the heroin trade, the mafia in the U.S. (also called Cosa Nostra) became more influential, wealthy, and powerful. **1981:** At about year 1981, there was a second mafia war. This war was between rival mafia groups. A clan of mafia called the Corleonesti wanted to dominate the American Cosa Nostra. Mafia and innocent people were killed by the hundreds during this war. **1987:** In year 1987, the Maxi Trial charged almost five hundred Mafiosi, and about 350 of whom were found guilty by the Italian Supreme Court. **01 December 2009:** The Italian police broke up a prominent mafia clan in Bari, arrested 83 people, and accused them of crimes including “attempted homicide, drug trafficking, loan-sharking, interfering with the bidding process for public contracts and money laundering.” (Bookmaker News)

**Pirates** **1982:** The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) was concluded in year 1982. It was the agreement reached by nations that participated in the third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS III). **1985:** In year 1985, a cruise ship was hijacked off the Egyptian coast and some people aboard were murdered. Recently, the surge in piracy has caught multinational attention. **2008:** In year 2008, the //MV Faina// and a Ukrainian ship were the victim of pirates. **17 November 2008:** Somali pirates captured a supertanker called the MV Sirius Star, which was the largest vessel ever captured by pirates.

**Terrorists** **January 1858:** Felice Orsini, an Italian, tried to assassinate Napoleon III the French Emperor. This stimulated the growth of Russian terrorism. **11 September 2001:** Four passenger airplanes were hijacked by suicidal terrorists from al-Qaeda. Two of the planes toppled the Twin Towers, killing all on board and many other people around the World Trade Center in New York. The third plane hit the Pentagon in Virginia. The fourth plane crashed into Pennsylvania. There were no survivors in any of the four planes. **28 September 2001:** United Nations Security Council Resolution 1373 adopted by UN as a response to the September 11 terrorist attacks. **8 October 2004:** United Nations Security Council Resolution 1566 adopted by UN, following the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1373.

**__Important, Relevant Documents__** The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) is an important document that talks about maritime piracy. The U.S. Constitution, Art. I Sec. 8 cl. 10 authorizes criminal prosecution of piracy in the United States. The International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism and The International Convention for the suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism are also two relevant documents that delegates should look at. For further information on terrorism, delegates should read resolution 1566 and resolution 1373.

**__Previous Attempted Solutions: Analysis of Their Failure/Success__** Pertaining to piracy, some ships that go on long international trips are equipped with means of protection that they can use to successfully protect themselves against pirates. Electrical walls and slippery foam have been successfully used on multiple occasions to stop pirates from boarding larger vessels. These pirate attacks are only the ones that are reported, which implies that there may have been many more that haven’t been brought to attention. Pertaining to terrorists, there has been ongoing multinational efforts to stop terrorist groups from terrorist bombings and such activities, but they continue despite the opposition. For example, the anti-terrorism resolution 1373 was adopted by the UN, but it failed to eradicate terrorist groups in many countries. The resolution 1566 was stronger, but the result was not satisfactory. The Taliban was greatly diminished by the Operation Enduring Freedom, which was coordinated by NATO. However, they regrouped in year 2004 and continued to battle the Pakistani and Afghani government as well as the International Security Assistance Force. Pertaining to the mafia, the mafia is a large problem because they have such a deep understanding of how to bypass laws and governments that they are hard to completely eradicate. The Italian police force and government have acted against the mafia groups within Italy. However, the underlying industries and businesses that co-exist with the mafia groups are also a large problem.

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**__Appendix (Useful Links)__** -CIA World Fact book- https://www.cia.gov/library/ publications/the-world- factbook/ -Global Policy Forum- http://www.globalpolicy.org -Kyoto Protocol- http://unfccc.int/resource/ docs/convkp/kpeng.pdf -Oxfam International- @http://www.oxfam.org/ -THIMUN- @http://www.thimun.org/ -UN- http://www.un.org -BBC news- http://news.bbc.co.uk -Newsweek- http://www.newsweek.com - http://www.terrorism-research. com/