Digital Commons Network^™

“Ya Me Canse”: How The Iguala Mass Kidnapping Demonstrates Mexico’S Continued Failure To Adhere To Its International Human Rights Obligations, Justin A. Behravesh

Justin A. Behravesh

This article addresses the recent kidnapping and disappearance of forty-three college students from Iguala, Mexico (the “Iguala Mass Kidnapping”), under the lens of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (the “Convention”). While Mexico’s reporting documents on its compliance with the Convention paint a positive picture of how that country is adhering to Convention, any notion that the country was in compliance with the Convention was completely shattered through the Iguala Mass Kidnapping. The article concludes that the actions of state officials during the Iguala Mass Kidnapping violated articles one, six, and twenty-three of the …

Violence As An Obstacle To Livelihood Resilience In The Context Of Climate Change, Beth Tellman, Ryan Alaniz, Andrea Rivera, Diana Contreras

Ryan C. Alaniz

Central America continues to be a violent region and is prone to increasing climatic shocks and environmental degradation. This paper explores the non-linear feedback loop between violence and climate shocks on livelihood resilience in El Salvador and Honduras, two countries experiencing high rates of violence. The nature of this complex feedback loop is examined by analysing case studies on the community scale, which include challenges in reconstructing community social capital post-Hurricane Mitch (1998) in Honduras and the importance of social capital in community resilience to Hurricane Ida (2009) in El Salvador. We conclude that social capital is central in communities …

North America Time For A New Focus, Daniel Cassidy

Daniel Cassidy

The United States, Canada, and Mexico are bound by a shared geography, history, and environment. In the twenty years since the passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement, the continent’s three economies and societies have become deeply intertwined, making relations between the United States and its immediate neighbors more important than ever. In 2005, in conjunction with counterpart organizations in Canada and Mexico, the Council on Foreign Relations published Building a North American Community, which proposed the establishment of a North American economic and security community by 2010, the boundaries of which would be defined by a common external …

International Drug Trafficking And National Security Of Turkey, Doç.Dr. Behsat Ekici

Ekici Behsat

Drug trafficking is an ever growing international security conundrum. Transnational crime syndicates have proved to be extremely resilient to counter-narcotics initiatives. Despite the efforts of national and international institutions, enormous amounts of drugs are produced, trafficked and consumed throughout the world. Transnational crime syndicates manufacture new psychoactive substances when the governments increase controls over existing drugs. Annual number of drug-related deaths has increased to 250,000 globally. Illicit drug trade proved to be an insidious threat that finances terrorism, instigates corruption, undermines economic development and erodes state authority. Turkey is exposed to massive flows of narcotics as it lies at a …

Remaking Mexico: Law Reform As Foreign Policy, Deborah M. Weissman

Deborah M. Weissman

This article, Remaking Mexico: Law Reform as Foreign Policy examines the practice of promoting rule of law programs abroad as a matter of a foreign policy subgenre. It argues that U.S. law reform projects as foreign aid conditionalities preempt the political discourse from substantive debates about justice systems. The arguments are developed through an assessment of the Mérida Initiative (also known as Plan México) which is a product of U.S. policy efforts to shape the legal systems of select foreign countries. The article reviews the circumstances in Mexico as they relate to U.S. efforts to export law and legal systems. …

Demon At The Back Door: Rise Of The Mexican Drug Cartels, Oliver T. Beatty

Oliver T Beatty

This article addresses the rise of the violent Mexican drug cartels and searches within the legislative and law enforcement toolbox on how to dethrone the epidemic of violence on the border. The Mexican drug cartels rose from the ashes and structural framework of the Colombian cocaine cartels which gave these new criminal empires their routes, connections, and ease at taking over Pablo Escobar’s monopoly on the drug trafficking game. In addressing the origins of the cartels this article explores the trajectory of cocaine from imported medical remedy to criminalized substance. Additionally this article explores how the Italian mafia was dismantled …

A Criminal’S Path To The American Dream: Extradition As A Drug Enforcement Policy Tool, Laura A. Gavilan

Laura A Gavilan

This article explores a little-known avenue of immigration to the United States: the path that criminals from other nations embark on when they are extradited to the United States and, through cooperation agreements with law enforcement, are able to obtain immigration benefits and legal status. To illustrate this phenomenon, this article outlines the case of the United States’ war on drugs, which has led to the extradition of hundreds of Colombian drug traffickers and paramilitary leaders to the United States during the past two decades. While many of these extradited individuals have been deported back to Colombia after fulfilling their …

A Criminal’S Path To The American Dream: Extradition As A Drug Enforcement Policy Tool, Laura A. Gavilan

Laura A Gavilan

This article explores a little-known avenue of immigration to the United States: the path that criminals from other nations embark on when they are extradited to the United States and, through cooperation agreements with law enforcement, are able to obtain immigration benefits and legal status. To illustrate this phenomenon, this article outlines the case of the United States’ war on drugs, which has led to the extradition of hundreds of Colombian drug traffickers and paramilitary leaders to the United States during the past two decades. While many of these extradited individuals have been deported back to Colombia after fulfilling their …

Montes-Lopez V. Holder: Applying Eldridge To Ensure A Per Se Right To Counsel For Indigent Immigrants In Removal Proceedings, Soulmaz Taghavi

Soulmaz Taghavi

Part I of this Comment reviews the historical and current state of procedural due process and its role in Immigration Law, specifically removal proceedings. Part II extends certain legal arguments in the opinion of Montes-Lopez v. Holder, which held among divided federal Circuit Courts that an immigrant in removal proceedings has a statutory and constitutional right to appointed counsel. Last, Part III demonstrates how a non-citizen in deportation hearing has a per se right to counsel outlined by the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) and brought to life by the Fifth Amendment’s due process clause.

The Security Culture Of A Global And Multileveled Cyber Security, Zenonas Tziarras

Zenonas Tziarras

This paper seeks to argue for the development of a global and multileveled management of cybersecurity. To do so we first define cybersecurity by situating it within the broader framework of the changing concept of security. To this end we look at the evolution of the security concept, mainly since the end of the Cold War, and its relationship to cybersecurity in today’s global affairs. Then we identify the referent object of security, the importance of cyberthreats, and the need for a multileveled management of cybersecurity and cyberthreats. For such a management to be possible and effective, this paper argues …

Post-Conflict Justice In The Aftermath Of Modern Slavery, Roy L. Brooks

Roy L. Brooks

Abstract

Modern slavery is defined as human exploitation over a period of time effectuated through coercion, fraud or trickery. An estimated 12.3 million people worldwide are held in some form of modern slavery, including forced labor, bonded labor, forced child labor, and sexual servitude. Children and women bear the brunt of modern slavery. Divided into three stages—trafficking, exploitation, and post-conflict—modern slavery has attracted much scholarly interest in recent years. However, relatively little scholarly attention has been given to the post-conflict stage. This article attempts to initiate such discussion by drawing upon the reparative framework crafted in the years since the …

The Case For Mexican Asylum Seekers Fleeing Cartel Violence, Perry B. Nava

Perry B Nava

The number of Mexican immigrants filing for asylum in the United States is on the rise as cartel violence affects more people each year. The perceived increase in cartel-related, violent crime is displacing people similar to how a war forces displaced refugees out of a country; but the United States is not accepting a great majority of the applications for asylum. This paper explores the more broadly applicable law that protects persecuted people; some of the issues that have simultaneously contributed to increased migration to the United States and aggressive expansion by the drug cartels; the result of the application …

Western Balkans, Organized Crime And The Euro Crisis: Myths And Realities On The Road To Accession, Sotiris Serbos Dr.

Sotiris Serbos Dr.

By placing Western Balkans in the contemporary European economic context shaped by the ongoing debt crisis, the article discusses current strengths and weaknesses of Western Balkan countries towards EU accession. While the achievement of financial adjustment albeit the continuous presence of economic dualism along with the side effects produced by the global crisis are stressed, the article sheds light on the challenges of organized crime and corruption as a major risk factor and a barrier in the event that Europe abandons the completion of Balkan enlargement. With the Europeans unwilling turning the Balkan question into a hard European one the …

Access To Knowledge As A New Paradigm For Research On Icts And Intellectual Property Rights, Jeremy De Beer, Sara Bannerman

Jeremy de Beer

No abstract provided.

An Empirical Study Of The Underground Economy In The Kingdom Of Belgium, Shahamak Rezaei, Marco Goli, Leo Paul Dana

Leo- Paul Dana

This article investigates the underground economy in Belgium. Although several government initiatives are attempting to combat underground economic activities, we found illegal foreign workers identifying opportunities and fulfilling market needs. Underground employment thus thrives in a variety of sectors, including the building sector, cleaning houses, delivery jobs, garage business horticulture, hotels, industrial cleaning, and social work.

Honor Amongst Thieves: Organized Crime And The Illicit Antiquities Trade, Kimberly L. Alderman

Kimberly L. Alderman

Government agencies, non-profits, scholars, and advocacy groups alike assert that organized crime dominates the illicit antiquities trade. The illicit antiquities trade has been linked to money laundering, extortion, the drug and arms trades, terrorism and insurgency, and even slavery. This Article considers the connection between organized crime and the illicit antiquities trade, examines known criminal subcultures and evidence of their involvement in the trade, and analyzes lateral cooperation between loosely organized criminal groups. Finally, the Article poses the broader question of whether this lateral cooperation suggests that the antiquities trade as a whole operates as an organized criminal industry.

The Shelters In Israel For Survivors Of Human Trafficking, Daphna Hacker

Daphna Hacker

No abstract provided.

México 2010-2011. Los Últimos Años De Una Gestión Cuestionada, Benjamin (Benny) Temkin, Rodrigo Salazar-Elena

benjamin (benny) temkin

El presente artículo describe los eventos políticos y económicos más relevantes ocurridos en México durante los años de 2010 y 2011. Durante estos años la economía mostró signos de recuperación, tras la recesión de 2009, pero la violencia continuó su incremento, en parte como resultado de la política de combate al crimen organizado. El gobierno intentó, sin éxito, impulsar una reforma del sistema político. En el terreno electoral, el PRI fue el partido con mejor desempeño en las elecciones locales, al mismo tiempo que su candidato a la presidencia aparece en las encuestas como favorito.

Climate Change, Adaptation, And Formal Education: The Role Of Schooling For Increasing Societies' Adaptive Capacities In El Salvador And Brazil, Christine Wamsler, Ebba Brink, Oskari Rantala

Christine Wamsler

With a worldwide increase in disasters the effects of climate change are already being felt, and it is the urban poor in developing countries who are most at risk. There is an urgent need to better understand the factors that determine people’s capacity to cope with and adapt to adverse climate conditions. This paper examines the influence of formal education in determining the adaptive capacity of the residents of two low-income settlements: Los Manantiales in San Salvador (El Salvador) and Rocinha in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), where climate-related disasters are recurrent. In both case study areas, average levels of education …

Is An International Treaty Needed To Fight Corruption And The Narco-Insurgency In Mexico?, Stuart S. Yeh

Stuart S Yeh

Mexican government corruption prevents effective law enforcement against drug traffickers and the violence associated with drug trafficking. This article reviews the nature and scope of government corruption, including a first-hand account by a Mexican state police commander, then suggests how and why an international treaty establishing United Nation (UN) inspectors who are empowered to investigate corruption at all levels of government could be effective in deterring corruption and restoring the rule of law in the U.S.–Mexico border region. The article suggests that the Rome Statute provides a model for establishing this type of treaty and a precedent for all of …

Africa, Mark J. Calaguas

Mark J Calaguas

The Africa Committee's contribution to the 2010 Year-in-Review issue of the American Bar Association Section of International Law's quarterly journal, The International Lawyer.

Violence Research In Latin America And The Caribbean: A Literature Review, Fernando Carrión Mena Arq., Manuel Dammert Guardia

Fernando Carrión Mena

Latin America has long been a violence-prone continent. No other region of the world knows higher homicide rates nor has such a variety of violence. Political violence, guerilla movements and civil wars, bloody revolutions, brutal dictatorships, domestic violence, criminal violence, and youth violence are all well known throughout history. This article gives an overview of the historical development of violence in Latin America and the Caribbean, examining its specificities and changes. The focus is on the recent explosion of violence and crime since the 1980s. As a literature review, it summarizes the main findings of academic research on violence in …

The International Control Of Illegal Drugs And The U.N. Treaty Regime: Preventing Or Causing Human Rights Violations?, Daniel P.P. Heilmann Ph.D., Ll.M.

Daniel P.P. Heilmann Ph.D., LL.M.

The article attempts to answer the question whether the international drug control system (i.e. the three conventions on which the U.N. regime is based) is still serviceable in light of recent trends on the illegal drugs markets and whether the regime is up to the standards of modern human rights law. In a first step, the set-up of the international control system is outlined in order to give an overview of the situation (Part II). The second step is to summarize recent trends in global drug markets and to assess the impact of the control system on illicit manufacturing, trafficking …

Recent Changes In The Armed Conflict In Colombia, Fernando Estrada

Fernando Estrada

Analyst in the strategy and operations of guerrillas and paramilitaries, have suggested that the Colombian conflict analysis should show the differences between clusters paramilitary. Not only because after the 80s, drug trafficking has played a decisive role, but because the geography of territories and control combinations have not been studied sufficiently. Geography of armed conflict should also provide tools to understand the impact of war on natural resources, for example. We sustain that while the drug economy has filtered the structure of semi-groups, promoting market competition and private security protection, drug trafficking does not explain absolutely all sources of violence …

Political Economy Of Policymaking In Paraguay, Robert Andrew Nickson

Robert Andrew Nickson

The main objective of this chapter is to analyze the public policymaking process in Paraguay, particularly with regard to the formulation and implementation of policies that affect the generation of remunerative employment. Concretely, the chapter addresses how the broad institutional (i.e., political, administrative and legal) environment influences—both negatively and positively—the potential for formulating and implementing a medium-term employment strategy for poverty reduction in Paraguay. The main policymaking focus of the employment strategy will be on the private sector. However, the potential contribution of an employment strategy for the public sector itself towards poverty reduction is also considered.

The formulation and …

Beyond The Global Summits: Reflecting On The Environmental Principles Of Sustainable Development, Stathis N. Palassis

Stathis N Palassis

Sustainable development advocates that in meeting the economic needs of the present we must not compromise the ability of the planet to provide for the needs of future generations. Sustainable development promotes a new economic paradigm integrating traditional economics with ecological economics and also requires developed States to reduce their environmental impact leaving space for developing States to meet their own needs. Beyond that, however, a more precise meaning of sustainable development is subject to competing interpretations thus making its content far from clear. The concept has been broadly utilized in areas including biodiversity, threatened species, fisheries, climate change, international …

The International Tropical Timber Organization And Conservationist Forestry Norms: A Bridge Too Far, Gerry J. Nagtzaam

Gerry J Nagtzaam

This article explores the attempts to create an global tropical timber regime and examines its underlying competing environmental norms of exploitation, conservation and preservation. It outlines a history of forestry exploitation over time and tracks the stilted development of a global tropical timber regime. It further examines the development of the International Tropical Timber Agreement and its concomitant Organisation. Legro’s test of the robustness of a norm is applied to the tropical timber regime to determine when and why, and through whose agency, normative change has not been effected within the International Tropical Timber Organisation where conservationist norms have failed …

Putting Aside The Rule Of Law Myth: Corruption And The Case For Juries In Emerging Democracies, Brent T. White

Brent T. White

Since the mid-1990’s, international donor agencies and development banks have invested millions to reform post-communist judiciaries in Central Asia and Europe. This investment has been driven by the belief that economic growth and democracy depend upon the “rule of law.” “Rule of law” in turn depends on a well-functioning and independent judiciary. After over a decade of rule of law reform, however, Central Asia is characterized by growing authoritarianism and judiciaries across both Central Asia and Eastern Europe are afflicted by rampant corruption. Both the rule of law and democracy have been elusive. Rule-of-law reform projects throughout the post-Soviet space …

Towards A New Transitional Justice Model: Assessing The Serbian Case, Roozbeh (Rudy) B. Baker

Roozbeh (Rudy) B. Baker

Given the “third wave” of democratic development and entrenchment that has taken hold around the world within the past three decades, the topic of how these transitioning societies cope with the legacy of atrocity and criminality that often accompany authoritarian rule has taken on a fresh salience. The structural, ethical, legal, and political problems faced during such transitions have become the topic of a burgeoning “transitional justice” sub-field within the fields of Law and Political Science. This Article will survey key episodes of transitional justice in various countries since the 1970s, and then apply the lessons gleaned to the transition …

Revisiting Urban Planning In Latin America And The Caribbean, Clara Irazabal

Clara Irazabal

Regional study prepared for Revisiting Urban Planning: Global Report on Human Settlements 2009. United Nations, Habitat.