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| Tuesday, 7 December 2004 |
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Features | |
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Needed : A strategy to beat organised crime
It doesn't matter where we live, or what position in society we hold, organised criminals have a direct and negative impact on the quality of our lives. All this time we failed to recognise and acknowledge this, partially, I believe, because not enough work had been done to define the term 'organised criminal' and the activities they pursue. Everybody agree that organised crime in Sri Lanka is on the rise. Extortions, gun running, illicit trafficking in women and children, narcotics trade, money laundering, every conceivable kind of cheating and fraud spread a sense of insecurity in the common man. Cases, which do go up to the Courts generally drag on for years during which witnesses are won over or terrorised into submission. In the absence of a witness protection programme, it is too much to expect common folk to stand up to these goons and testify against them. The end result is a lack of fear of the legal system in the minds of the Mafiosi. Politics Regrettably, experience has shown that for many decades local politics had its stranglehold on police affairs. In such interferences, it was pathetic to watch the helplessness of senior police officers. No less a person than President Kumaratunga has taken cognisance of this situation and has advised the police officers to stay firm and not give into political requests. She assured protection for all officers who abide the law. All this can happen only if a strong public opinion is built up by the intellectuals and media. As awareness spreads, organised criminals would be marginalised from the political scene and hopefully more people will come forward to assist law enforcement efforts. A tall order indeed but we have no other option. Focus There has been and continues to be much debate, revolving around, whether our law enforcement authorities focus their efforts, on the criminal, or the crime. The view of the experts is that they must focus their efforts on the criminal network. The experience in other countries has shown us that if we concentrate only on commodity or on themes we become ineffective. Therefore the police must identify the core criminal networks. The Europol report informs us that most criminal networks comprise between 10-15 people and our police experience also supports that view. Firstly, we need to identify the individuals operating within these networks and bring to bare the combined efforts of the law enforcement community against them. In this way we will seek to undermine, disrupt and ultimately prosecute those individuals within the criminal justice system. Secondly we need to think strategically about how we prevent or hinder the development of these individuals to their elevated criminal status. For example, do we understand how some people go on to become organised criminals? Can we prevent or frustrate this process? There should be a crime prevention strategy that our policemen, working in the arena of serious and organised crime need to develop. USA experience We can take heart from the fact that we are not the only country faced with this situation. Even in the U.S., a few decades ago, organised criminal groups were ruling the roost till the Government decided to appoint the Kefauver Committee whose hearings awakened the public to the scale of the mob problem. A series of measures followed. The FBI, which till then had no involvement in organised crime, assumed a significant role. With bugs and wiretaps, they developed extraordinary information. The organised crime and racketeering section of the Justice Department was revitalised. This unit, comprised the best and brightest prosecutors of the day, undertook the first serious federal anti-organised crime effort. A Presidential Task Force on Organised Crime was created. The Congress enacted the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act. This was followed by the Organised Crime Control Act (OCCA). This act was to revolutionise law enforcement's approach to organised crime. Witness protection programmes, testimonial immunity, enhanced sentencing and most significantly, the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organisations Act (RICO) were introduced. RICO was a radically new legal approach to the investigation and prosecution of organised crime with emphasis on criminal syndicates rather than individuals. Through all these measures, spread over two decades, American law enforcement was able to achieve dramatic successes against the mafia and put in place a legal system capable of fighting organised crime from a position of strength. The U.S. experience has been a role model for many European countries and there is no harm in drawing from it in the Sri Lankan context as well. Our first step should be to study the phenomenon of organised crime in our country in its entirety. A high level expert committee should be appointed for this purpose. It should hold hearings in which all those connected with the problem can testify in-camera. The hearings should be held in all major cities. The committee should have well spelt out terms of reference e.g., identification of types of organised crimes prevalent in the country, the various gangs operating, their modus operandi. Networking, inadequacies in law enforcement and the legal system, and measures to be taken in the future. This study should provide an overall picture of the organised crime scenario in the country, so as to enable the Government to take a holistic view of the problem. |
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Produced by Lake House |
The Sri Lankan community is finally waking up to take steps to
neutralise the havoc the organised crime has wreaked on the politics and
economies of the nation and most importantly on the lives of ordinary
people.
