While we must remain determined to defeat terrorism, it isn’t only terrorism we are fighting. It’s the beliefs that motivate terrorists. A new ideology of hatred and intolerance has arisen to challenge America and liberal democracy.
— Senator John Kerr, September 11th, 2001
On September the 11th, 2001, I came home from school; it was just like any other Tuesday until I put my bag down, turned on the TV to watch CBBC. Instead, I was instead confronted by the live footage of United Airlines Flight 175 colliding into the World Trade Centre South Tower. Although I was only 12 at the time, I understood that the world would never be the same again. Acts of terror, organised crime and drugs have, arguably, always been present in society, but I had not given them much thought before. However, the attack on the Twin Towers suddenly propelled these realities to the forefront of my life. I was at an impressionable age; I was old enough to know and remember what the world had been like before. I understood how it had been impacted and I witnessed the drastic changes that ensued. These events directly affected my teenage years and early adulthood, impacting my daily life and that of the Muslim members of my family, and relatives and friends in the armed forces. I was living in Plymouth, where there are large army and naval bases, and the next day, for the first time in my life, I saw guards, carrying machine guns, patrolling the walls of the naval base.
The subsequent global turmoil was both political and cultural with the West publicly targeting the entire Muslim religion. This backdrop, coupled with the start of two wars, the Afghanistan War in 2001 and the Iraq War in 2003, set the tone for the subsequent decade in terms of national and international political priorities, mass migration and a new age of crime and terrorism. It also provided the rationale for the core duties of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, an entity tasked with fighting against the illegal drugs trade, international organised crime and the implementation of the United Nations lead programme against terrorism.
With such a daunting list of duties, how does the Office of Drugs and Crime help with global security? And how does their work affect the general public at both regional and global levels?
The Creation of The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) was created in 1997 when the United Nations Centre for International Crime Prevention combined with the United Nations International Drug Control Programme. Since then, the UNODC has become a global leader in its sector, with 20 field offices world-wide, tasked with tackling major topics including corruption, organised crime, human trafficking and migrant smuggling, money laundering, firearms trafficking, drug trafficking, cybercrime, drug prevention, treatment and care, terrorism prevention, crime prevention and criminal justice. Due to the nature of many criminal and smuggling rings, the UNODC is also heavily involved with HIV and AIDS prevention and treatment programmes.
Corruption and Money Laundering
Two of the most common crimes that occur on a daily basis are corruption and money laundering. Although both of these types of crime have the exchange of money at their core, they are, in fact, two different concepts. Corruption tends to be classified as acts of bribery of (public) officials and the theft or embezzlement of public funds. This is done primarily for the private gain of an individual, a group or an organisation. An example of bribery can be seen in the 2015 Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) scandal central to which were accusations connected to the awarding of the 2018 and 2022 World Cup hosting rights; while an example of embezzlement is the 2009 United Kingdom parliamentary expenses scandal which publicly outed expenses claims made by both members of the House of Lords and the House of Commons.
Money laundering, on the other hand, is the specific criminal process of concealing profit gained through criminal activity, often masking it as legitimate. Businesses and banks have been exposed for helping legitimise illicit gains, as was seen in 2010 with the exposure of Wachovia Bank. In this example, Mexican drug cartels were able to launder almost $390 billion, made through the smuggling and sale of drugs from Mexico into the U.S., through various branches of the bank between 2004 and 2007.
NHS Foundation Trust 2023
Cybercrime
Cybercrime, as the name suggests, is carried out online, which effectively hides the true impact it has on its victims. However, it can take many different forms such as online banking fraud or identify theft, the sharing of child pornography, the trafficking of intellectual property or violating privacy. One of the most notorious examples in recent years was the culmination of Operation H in 2022, an international operation led by New Zealand which was able to identify over 90,000 online accounts that possessed, created or distributed child sexual abuse material.
Organised Crime, Human Trafficking, Migrant Smuggling, Fire-arms Trafficking and Drug Trafficking.
Organised crime, which is often romanticised in TV and film series such as The Sopranos and The Godfather Trilogy, presents many challenges both for the UNODC and for law enforcement. Organised crime is categorised as any crime that operates on a large scale, often at a local or national level, although it may also be at an international/transnational level. These organisations tend to be highly centralized and are run to make profit in many different ways. Their activities include:
- human trafficking, for example for prostitution or slave labour,
- migrant smuggling, where individuals are smuggled across state borders illegally,
- fire-arms trafficking, the illegal buying and selling of weapons through the black market,
- drug trafficking via the black market specifically dedicated to the cultivation, preparation, distribution and sale of restricted drugs and substances.
Drug Prevention, Treatment and Care
Due to the long-reaching arm of organised crime and the impact it has on certain vulnerable communities, the UNODC works hard to educate people around the world regarding the dangers of drug use and abuse. This is not done only for public health reasons but also to weaken the hold that many criminal organisations have over vulnerable people and communities. Additionally, the work of UNODC aims to strengthen both national and international action and policies against illicit drug production, trafficking, smuggling and other drug-related crimes in the hope of encouraging more effective transnational crime prevention.
Terrorism Prevention
Terrorism and violent extremism are not new concepts but, since 9/11, the threat of terror attacks has become a key talking point in political debates and the media as well as a driving force for policy changes. More than twenty years have passed, but terrorism and violent extremism continue to pose a threat to global security. To help counteract this threat the UNODC works closely with national ministries and agencies to help implement 19 international legal instruments against terrorism, along with the relevant United Nations Security Council Resolutions. Some examples of international legal instruments have been:
- the criminalisation of using civil aircraft as weapons to cause injury, damage or death
- the criminalisation of the unlawful possession, use, transfer or theft of nuclear material
- the creation of universal jurisdiction over the unlawful and intentional use of explosives and/or other lethal devices with intent to cause serious bodily injury, extensive destruction of any public area or the mass killing of civilians.
The accurate implementation of these recommendations and resolutions, which have all been informed by the guidance provided by the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy, helps align all UN member states allowing for better and more homogeneous counter terrorism measures.
Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice
As evident thus far, the UNODC strives to tackle the illicit drug trade, crime and terrorism prevention at both national and transnational levels, and to improve crime prevention and criminal justice systems for all member states. This is done through providing active assistance with criminal justice reforms and policies at international and national levels. Additionally, UNODC aims to promote more stable and viable criminal justice systems that effectively combat the growing threats of international and intercontinental organized crime and corruption. In 2002, the Terrorism Prevention Branch of UNODC was expanded under the directive of the General Assembly due to the circumstances faced by many member states at the time. The activities recommended by the UNODC focus on providing assistance to states, on request, in ratifying and implementing the international legal instruments against terrorism.
How Does the UNODC Impact Global Peace and Security?
Overall, the UNODC contributes to global peace and security by using a combination of policy development and implementation, alongside educational initiatives, to support member states to effectively combat organised crime, drug trafficking and terrorism. Criminal organisations do not only threaten the safety of those personally affected by their actions, but also sustainable development and everybody’s human rights.
Furthermore, sadly, the areas that suffer most are often in poor, developing countries. Education and change-enabling opportunities are showing promising results in the fight against organised crime, its ideologies and its root causes. The aims of these initiatives are to reduce socioeconomic inequalities, for example education, future employability and social opportunities, which are all factors that contribute to an individual’s vulnerability to engage in crime or be radicalised.
The UNODC does not only help individuals but also major ongoing projects that are operating at global and cross-regional levels, striving to help recipient countries to build upon their existing criminal justice systems, allowing for more effective investigation and prosecution of terrorism cases. However, there would be potential for a more homogeneous approach to tackling crime and terrorism on a global scale if all countries shared the same aspirations and worked together to formulate and enforce more effective crime, drug prevention and counter terrorism measures.
Why is Education the key to Breaking the Cycle of Violence and Crime?
Many theories have been put forward as to why individuals engage in drug use, crime and/or terrorism. One of the earliest theories, Cohen’s Status Frustration Theory, addressed individual’s frustration when living under strain. This could be manifested in poverty, unemployment, segregation and isolation from the rest of society, where feelings of aggression may manifest themselves internally (depression, self-harm, drug use and/or self-medication), or externally (deviant and violent behaviour towards individuals, groups and/or society as a whole). Although many other theories have evolved since then, Cohen’s Status Frustration Theory theoretically backs the UNODC’s programmes providing access to educational and equal opportunity projects and these have yielded more positive results at both local and national levels than only relying on the criminal justice correctional system. This is because educational and social opportunities allow individuals access to facilities they would not have been able to afford, giving them a chance to better their lives in terms of economic security and life satisfaction, a concept which has also been argued by scholars such as Machin, Marie and Vujić, and government officials worldwide including Robert Buckland UK MP and Congressman Bobby Scott.
It is also important to point out that many of the policies, reforms, projects and initiatives promoted by the UNODC are grounded in theory, creating a more focussed support system for salient issues.
UK Counter Terrorism – What is Being Done?
An example of counter terrorism tactics grounded in theory and supported by UNODC can be seen in the British PREVENT programme. This UNODC-promoted, government-led, multi-agency programme helps the police to identify vulnerable individuals who may pose a threat to themselves and others by becoming involved in terrorism. Individuals may be flagged by local authorities and community partners and referred to health, forensic mental health, housing or education programmes that step in to provide support where needed.
Additionally, the Counter Terrorism Advisory Network (CTAN), is a national stakeholder engagement forum comprised of victims and survivors of terrorism, national and international academics and researchers, leaders from a variety of different faiths, and outreach community programme members. Working closely local law enforcement, they help to identify both vulnerable individuals and communities to reduce the risk of terrorist engagement.
Working for the UNODC
Despite the UNODC’s extensive projects and mission, it only employs roughly 3000 people across all its field offices. However, they recruit individuals from many different backgrounds and specialisations. This allows them to better use all skill sets and knowledge bases to address very difficult issues.
Questions for UNODC
What further strategies could the UNODC implement to tackle growing criminal and terrorist recruitment from the increasing number of people living below the poverty line in developed countries?
Are early identification and prevention policies, such as PREVENT, enough to tackle the radicalisation of marginalised and vulnerable individuals and communities?
Will growing strain, resulting from the global economic and financial situations, lead to smaller projects in isolated communities being reduced?
Does the current global state of affairs impact the UNODC and its priorities and projects for drug and crime prevention and counter terrorism?
Criticism of prevention programmes such as PREVENT, highlighting their overly narrow focus on radicalisation risks, has been criticised. What can be done to improve existing measures?