The New Faces of Victimhood: Globalization, Transnational Crimes and Victim Rights

ISBN-13: 9789048190195 / Angielski / Twarda / 2010 / 343 str.

Jan Van Dijk; Rianne Letschert

Opis

Globalization is changing the victimological agenda by generating new types of victims, raising awareness of global responsibilities for their protection and eroding the capacity of states to offer it. Examples are victims of transnational organised crime including human trafficking, victims of cyber crimes, terrorism and cross-border environmental crimes. The concept of human security has been introduced as an analytical tool to understand how growing international interdependencies produce a need to protect new categories of victims regardless of national borders. Whereas the concept of national security focuses at threats to the sovereignty of the national state, human security looks at threats to the sovereignty of individuals. In this context, the individual human being is not just defined in terms of vulnerabilities, but also of strengths and capabilities to act as agents of change (victim empowerment). New international arrangements to protect victims in the emerging global arena are under development. Several international treaties have been elaborated in recent years to address the new global security threats. Modern concepts about victim involvement from national criminal law have been transposed into new international criminal law. In many of the treaties, victims of crime have been given procedural rights, transposed from national criminal law (eg. the UN Convention on Transnational Organised Crime and its three protocols have incorporated several elements of the UN Victims Declaration of 1985). It remains to be seen how these individual or collective rights will work out in practice in trials against maffiatype organisations or companies engaging in corrupt practices. Developments at the global or UN level are replicated at the level of the European Union. Although the development of European criminal law is resisted by many member states, there are incremental trends nevertheless. The European Council's framework decisions on human trafficking and on victim rights and the directive on state compensation for victims of violent crime are important instances of victim protection in the framework of EU-based criminal law. The further development of such EU legislation on crime victims as well as its implementation can illustrate how state formation at the European level impacts on victim issues. A related recent trend is the growing attention for international humanitarian law and specifically for the procedural role of victims therein, eg. the inclusion of an elaborate set of victim rights in the Statute of the International Criminal Court. This set of rights stands in stark contrast to the exclusion of the victim in the Neurenberg en Tokyo trials. It can be understood as the fruit of growing awareness of the responsibility of the world community for the protection of private besides collective interests against state violence regardless of national borders. It remains to be seen how these transposed rights, such as the right of reparation, will work out in the setting of the International Criminal Court and whether they will strengthen or weaken prosecution by the new, fledging international structures. A third implication of globalisation is the emergence of arrangements for liability for environmental damage across borders. Recent attention for the responsibility of Dutch companies and authorities for environmental damage caused in Africa by cargo departing from the Amsterdam port illustrates the emerging of new types of victims in the international legal arena. Still largely unchartered territory are the victimological dimensions of cyberspace, perhaps the most radical manifestation of globalisation. The weak roles of traditional national states as well as international structures in cyberspace may explain the absence of a discourse on victim protection in this domain so far but such discourse seems long overdue. The internationalisation of criminal law is in full swing and the emergence of rights and entitlements of victims in international criminal law treaties on crime, corruption and terrorism and in supranational settings such as the International Criminal Court, merits academic reflection. Equally topical seems reflection on the role of victims in international environmental law. Finally, there is an obvious gap in victim protection in cyberspace that calls for critical exposure and debates about remedies from state-of-the-art state authorities or public- private- partnerships. The leading theme of a collection of papers from Intervict researchers will be the relationship between processes of globalisation, emerging threats to human security and the development of new national and international arrangements to protect and empower victims.

Spis treści

Preface.- Information on the Authors.- Part I Introductions and Overviews.- Chapter 1 New Faces of Victimhood; Reflections on the Unjust sides of Globalization; Rianne Letschert and Jan Van Dijk.- Chapter 2 Global Governance and Global Crime – Do Victims Fall in Between?; Rianne Letschert and Marc Groenhuijsen.- Chapter 3 Human Security and the Emergence of a Global Conscience; Ralf Bodelier.- Part II Victims of Transnational Crimes.- Chapter 4 Trafficking for Sexual Purposes as a Globalized Shadow Economy;Human Security as the Tool to Facilitate a Human Rights Based Approach; Conny Rijken and Renée Römkens.- Chapter 5 Transnational Organized Crime, Civil Society and Victim Empowerment; Jan Van Dijk.- Chapter 6 Victims of Environmental Pollution in the Slipstream of Globalization; Jonathan Verschuuren and Steve Kuchta.- Part III Victim Protection in Cyberspace.- Chapter 7 The Challenge of Identity Theft in Multi-level Governance; Towards a Coordinated Action Plan for Protecting and Empowering Victims; Nicole van der Meulen and Bert-Jaap Koops.- Chapter 8 International (Cyber)Stalking; Impediments to Investigation and Prosecution; Suzan van der Aa.- Chapter 9 Digital Tools: Risks and Opportunities for Victims; Explorations in E-victimology; Corien Prins.- Part IV Victims of Conflicts and Wars.- Chapter 10 Al Qaeda and Vicarious Victims; Some Victimological Insights into Globalized Terrorism; Antony Pemberton.- Chapter 11 Protecting the Victims of the Privatization of War; Willem Van Genugten, Marie-Jose Van der Heijden and Nicola Jägers.- Chapter 12 Globalization and Victims’ Rights at the International Criminal Court; Jo-Anne Wemmers and Anne-Marie de Brouwer.- Part V Conclusion.- Chapter 13 Reconstructing Victim-centered Justice on a Global Scale; Jan van Dijk and Rianne Letschert.- Bibliography.- Index.

Blurb

Besides generating wealth, globalization makes victims, including victims of new forms of crime. In this edited book of scholarly essays, international lawyers and criminologists reflect on the legal challenges posed by these dark sides of globalization. Examples include transnational organised crime, human trafficking and corruption, cyber crimes, international terrorism, global corporate crime and cross-border environmental crimes. The authors reflect on the limits of domestic systems of justice in providing protection, empowerment and redress to the victims of these emerging forms of global insecurity. They argue for the need of better international or supra-national institutional arrangements such as legal instruments and actions of the United Nations or regional organizations such as the European Union.

These well-researched and deeply disturbing essays trace the globalization of victimization. Human trafficking, terrorism, cybercrime, and the exploitation of immigrant workers and war refugees are among the criminal activities examined in this highly-recommended volume whose victims fall largely outside the current scope and jurisdiction of domestic and international law. These detailed and compassionate expos reflecting the ongoing research and policy reform efforts by legal scholars and human rights advocates at the International Victimology Institute (INTERVICT) in the Netherlands, aim at informing the international community about these continuing atrocities, while posing sensible reforms to bring their victims under the protection of the rule of law.

George R. Lucas, Jr.

Class of 1984 Distinguished Chair in Ethics, U.S. Naval Academy (Annapolis, MD)

This compelling collection of essays challenges scholars and practitioners alike with its innovative look at what is owed the victims of global crimes. Contributors address some of the most difficult cross-border or transnational topics such as toxic dumping, human trafficking, environmental crimes, and cyber piracy. Skillfully utilizing the most important recent research in global justice as well as international law and policy, this collection offers a careful scrutiny of the dark side of globalization. Timely and engaging, the book is a valuable contribution to the Global Justice Series and indeed to the burgeoning literature on human security and human rights.

Sally Scholz

Professor of Philosophy, Villanova University,

Co-Editor, Journal for Peace and Justice Studies