Volume 3, No. 6 June 2024 (1179-1194)
p-ISSN 2980-4868 | e-ISSN 2980-4841
https://ajesh.ph/index.php/gp
Understanding the Proxy War and Transnational Crimes and
Their Impacts on National Stability: An Introduction
Imam Subandi1*,
Muhammad Syauqillah2, Sapto Priyanto3,
Zora A. Sukabdi4, Muhamad Rum5
1,2,3,4SKSG Universitas Indonesia, Central Jakarta, DKI Jakarta,
Indonesia
5 Al-Qur'an Education Park and Al-Furqan Study Assembly,
DKI Jakarta, Indonesia
Email: imamsubandi@ui.id1*, muhamadsyauqillah@ui.ac.id2,
sapto.priyanto09@ui.ac.id3, zora.arfina@ui.ac.id4, rumroyen63@gmail.com5
ABSTRACT
This
study explains the concepts of proxy war and transnational crime and their
impact on national stability, aiming to raise awareness and contribute ideas on
anticipating these threats. Utilizing a qualitative descriptive approach, this
research draws from the author's experience as a law practitioner and relevant
secondary literature. The analysis involves comparing conventional wars and
proxy wars, as well as the relationship between transnational crimes and
national security, illustrated through case studies of the Russia-Ukraine and
Israel-Palestine conflicts. The findings indicate that both proxy wars and
transnational crimes significantly impact national stability and require
serious responses through military and law enforcement approaches. The study
underscores the importance of international cooperation in addressing
transnational crime to prevent its exploitation by certain countries as a tool
to destabilize others.
Keywords: Proxy
War, Trans-national Crimes, National Stability
INTRODUCTION
This short paper
tries to explain what proxy wars are and at the same time explain what
tans-national crimes are and how they can be used as a means of proxy wars to
"paralyze" other countries. Of course, this discussion is not comprehensive but it is enough to spark further discussion
and at least can be one of the references that have been written and published
The purpose of
this paper is simply to provide an introduction to
what Proxy War is and its examples and Transnational Crimes and examples to
simply arouse our awareness so that we understand and then can contribute ideas
on how to anticipate or mitigate it, of course at the level of thought
concepts.
The method used
in writing this paper uses a qualitative descriptive approach, where the
subjectivity of the author as a practitioner in law enforcement and has studied
law will color the discussion in this paper. The materials used are primary
materials from the author's practice in the field of law enforcement as well as
some relevant primary materials in the form of journals, papers, or documents
both printed and electronic and online
At first glance,
there is a difference between proxy wars and conventional wars where the
parties to the conflict are clearly visible, with transnational crimes or what
is often referred to as trans-national crimes which are serious crimes that are
transnational both in the sense of their locus delicti and the impact they
cause. The first is considered more dangerous because it is related to national
security and the last is related to state security
The world is
currently faced with two major events. The events that overturned the
civilizational order of the international community, namely the war between
Russia and Ukraine and the war between Israel and Palestine (read: Hamas).
Russia attacked Ukraine after deeming that Ukraine's planned membership to NATO
(North Atlantic Treaty Organizations) would endanger Russia. The justification
for Russia's attack on Ukraine is in the framework of a preemptive strike to
neutralize the national threat. Israel, too, attacked the Palestinians after
Hamas carried out a surprise attack that claimed the lives of hundreds of
Israelis and wounded and held hundreds hostage. Israel retaliated decisively by
storming and ravaging Palestine and killing tens of thousands of Palestinian
residents consisting of women, the elderly and children in
order to eradicate Hamas "terrorists". The latter is also with
the same justification, namely destroying Palestine in order
to neutralize the threat of Hamas which at any time can threaten
Israelis
The two major
conflicts have no signs of abating. Two strong countries against two weak
states, namely Russia against Ukraine and Israel against Palestine. The
difference is, the weak side, namely Ukraine in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, is
supported by strong countries, such as countries that are members of the
European Union, and the United States. While in the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict, the strong side is supported by powerful countries. There was neither
arms aid nor war training, other than calling for a ceasefire while being
somewhat "timid". There is only food aid and makeshift medicine,
because of the difficulty of access to reach victims.
This study does
not have to participate in judging or taking sides about who is right and who
is wrong. To determine who is at fault in the context of International
law let it be the domain of the International Court of Justice or the
International Criminal Court.
To provide
understanding for the younger generation, especially students and university
students, the theme is "Understanding the Proxy War and Transnational
Crimes; an Introduction, to Waken the Sleeping Young Generations" is
intended as a trigger mechanism for their critical thinking, so that they
"wake up from their slumber" and quickly realize that many conflicts
seem to be related to religious issues, but are not.
Many conflicts are drawn or wrapped up in religious issues in
order to attract sympathy in the context of "media warfare".
Especially in countries with a certain religious majority, religious sentiment
is an attractive means of gaining sympathy or justification. In fact, any
religion and ideology can be used as a "proxy" for the extension of
outsiders in order to intervene in national problems
with the intention of obtaining benefits in whatever form they want, usually in
the form of domination, exploitation or other forms of
"colonization". Transnational crime can also be used as a proxy for other
countries to profit from the loss or destruction of a country
RESEARCH METHODS
This research employs a literature review method with a
qualitative descriptive approach to elucidate the concepts of Proxy War and
Transnational Crime and their impact on national stability. The primary data
sources include the author's experience as a law practitioner and secondary
literature such as journals, papers, and relevant documents. The data
collection procedure involves identifying and selecting credible and relevant
literature, followed by a conceptual analysis and case studies like the Russia-Ukraine
and Israel-Palestine conflicts to illustrate the real-world impact of Proxy
Wars and Transnational Crimes. The data analysis focuses on comparing
conventional wars and proxy wars, as well as the relationship between
transnational crimes and national security. The conclusion emphasizes that
Proxy Wars and Transnational Crimes significantly affect national stability and
require serious responses through both military and law enforcement approaches,
while also encouraging further research for deeper exploration.
RESULTS AND
DISCUSSION
Proxy War
According to Britannica, proxy war is
a military conflict in which one or more third parties directly or indirectly
support one or more state or non-state combatants in an
attempt to influence the outcome of the conflict and thus to advance
their own strategic interests or to weaken the interests of their opponents
Then the third party in the proxy war
did not participate in the actual combat to a certain extent,
and was not even involved at all. Proxy wars allow great powers to avoid
direct confrontation with each other as they compete for influence and
resources. The means of direct support by third parties consist of military
assistance and training, economic assistance, and also
limited military operations with replacement forces. Indirect means of support
have included blockades, sanctions, trade embargoes, and other strategies
designed to thwart the ambitions and interests of opponents
According to the Cambridge
Dictionary, a proxy war is a war that takes place between small groups or
states that each represent the interests of another great power,
and may have the help of support from it
In short, proxy wars are a substitute
for states and non-state actors who seek to advance their own strategic
interests but at the same time avoid engaging in direct, costly and bloody
warfare. Such a response is based on the perception of intrinsic risk, in particular that direct intervention in conflict would be
unjustified, too costly (whether politically, financially or materially),
unavoidable, illegitimate, or infeasible
Another explanation of proxy wars is
wars waged by other parties (through representatives) or mediated wars. It is
very important here to distinguish between proxy wars as wars by
representatives and wars run by coalitions composed by partners of different
weights and influences
A further explanation is given
by the RAND Corporation which states
that proxy war refers to war (especially civil war) in which external state
sponsors provide at least one warring domestic party with support that could be
useful for conducting an armed conflict, such as funding, weapons, equipment,
advice, training, intelligence and/or troops, for the purpose of achieving some
strategic objective
Nour Ghantous,
editor of Fair Planet, explains that proxy warfare is a conflict of war by one
or more major powers that are not directly involved. This warfare was
characterized by the involvement of powerful states that avoided direct
military confrontation and organized battles through surrogate forces. These
significant forces strategically support local factions to advance their
interests without risking open warfare, fighting not on the battlefield but
through alliances and covert maneuvers with inevitable casualties
Ghantous went on to explain that proxy wars are a common global
phenomenon and often occur in non-Western or developing regions with ties to
richer and stronger countries. Perhaps the most famous proxy war in history
occurred during the Cold War period between 1945 and 1991, where a dispute
between the United States and the Soviet Union that did not lead to direct
bloodshed between the two but occurred between two regions stretching from Cuba
to Korea
Ghantous further mentions that as many as 20 million people died
in warfare during that period. Only 1 percent of them lost their lives in
Europe, the area from which the Cold War confrontation originated. Where 99
percent of other victims died on the battlefields of developing countries. The
most significant death toll during the Dingiin War
was in Vietnam during the Indochina War period which claimed 3.8 million lives
between 1955 and 1984. With the United States supporting South Vietnam against
northern communist forces backed by the Soviet Union and China, this conflict
encapsulates the broader clash between capitalism and communism
In the context of this proxy war,
conflicts that occur do not have to involve two or more countries,
but can also occur by utilizing conflict situations within a country,
for example between rebels and the mother country or with the central
government. For example, during the PKI rebellion in 1965, many parties
considered that the event could not be separated from the role of the United
States in order to take advantage of the political situation in Indonesia to
destroy the power of communism which began to expand its influence to the Southeast Asian region. The fall of Sukarno's Old
Order government was the victory of the influence of Western capital sponsored
by America over Communism. So is
terrorism. In the context of proxy warfare, the issue of terrorism can also be
used as a proxy for one country to destroy another.
Narcotics as "proxies"
The smuggling of large quantities of
narcotics or narcotic materials from a country, for example, at some stage may
be an attempt at "mental destruction" of the younger generation of a
country where drugs are massively distributed. Therefore, it should be
suspected or suspected that these narcotics have directly or indirectly been
used as proxies, namely transnational crimes committed by crime groups that may
be known by certain state authorities to destroy other countries through the
circulation of narcotics to weaken the resilience of a nation or a country.
The above statement does seem exaggerated, but does not the purpose of third parties who
carry out proxy operations with various means and mechanisms at first glance
seem to be just getting benefits, but have an impact on the (long-term)
destruction of a country or nation or at least take advantage of a country's
downturn to its economic system or to the country's political system.
The important point is that when
there is a systematic attack of organized crime against a country, it is
possible that the criminal organization is driven by a third party in order to benefit or in order to paralyze, without having
to be directly involved in carrying out the attack through military operations.
If it is possible to destroy a nation without having to be directly involved in
conducting armed conflict or conducting wars that may be more expensive or
risky, why not, choices using means and infrastructure as a method of
destroying any opponent will be made in order to
achieve a goal of dominating or subduing a country. This can be done for the
short-term or long-term strategic objectives of a country that uses a
particular issue or a particular issue as a means of proxy warfare. In other words, narcotics or other crimes
including terrorism are a proxy of another country in order
to destroy a country without being directly involved.
Religious-based terrorism as a proxy
Terrorism that uses jargon or in the
name of certain religious teachings can also be used as a proxy to destroy
countries, especially those that still apply religious teachings rigidly or are
"black and white". The phenomenon seen recently, especially since the
emergence of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria preceded by the Arabs Springs,
is the fact how terrorism can destroy a state and nation.
When a
terrorism event occurs, people will immediately focus on how the role of
religion in coloring an activity or act of terrorism in a country. In other
words, people will associate with the role of religion in influencing someone
to behave or become a terrorist. It is an undeniable fact that there is an
element of the use of harsh religious interpretations that influence a believer
to commit a criminal act of terrorism, because they certainly do not feel they
are committing a criminal act of terrorism, but rather carry out worship as
they believe. The problem is that the concept of religion is so exclusive that
it always or often sees other groups outside its group or faith as different,
as "infidels" as worthy of enmity or combat.
That there is a statement that my
group or our group is a group of believers, certainly believers in whatever
religious context the person or group of people behind which the person or
group of people views other groups of different religions as "infidels"
or as "enemies".
Almost all of us are focused on how
to use counter-narrative and counter-radicalism approaches by exposing one to
narrative concepts about different religions to moderate the harsh and radical
religious interpretation of a particular group or stream within a
religion. In fact, even until the end of
time, religion always justifies itself and blames others. It is undeniable,
therefore, that rigid and violent and exclusive religious interpreations
are prone to be used by interested groups both in the context of the state and
non-state actors to provoke and use religious jargon as a proxy to mobilize
people in the name of religion to commit violence and crimes that can be
categorized as criminal acts of terrorism, which at a certain time can weaken
the system in a state and threaten the resilience of a country. In this
situation, outsiders who use the issue of terrorism by utilizing the situation
of religious radicalism as a proxy have been able to paralyze a country without
having to be directly involved in physical conflicts.
Even terrorist groups will have
supporters who feel that the terrorist act represents their dissatisfaction or
when the enemy of the victim is also their enemy. Especially when terrorists
show identity or succeed in using religious jargon that is embraced by the
majority, it is certain that the actions of the terrorists will get support
from the community who agree with the actions of the terrorists.
Terorime as a proxy
is certainly not as simple as we imagine. There are a series of role divisions,
whether realized or unconscious by all parties, especially those at the
outermost layer, namely the implementers in the field or followers and supporters. There are those who
play a role in providing interpretations of certain religious teachings so as to make motives or motives for actors in the field who
act as executors, so as to believe that what they do is in the name of religion
or to defend religion. The role of
providing interpretation can be as a moving idiologist
so that the executor in the field as an executor is only a proxy or means to
carry out the ideologue's big plan. Likewise, the ideologue may or may not
realize that they are proxies of certain parties who want to destroy a country
or want to dominate a country for certain reasons. These parties may be
associated with the same religious ideology as the perpetrators of terrorism on
the ground or simply use religion as a proxy or means to pit religious
believers against each other and eventually they will destroy each other or
there will be certain formal forces that will destroy them in the name of law
enforcement or in the name of anything that is lawful, For example, with the term "war on
terrorism".
So the point is that
the actors in this field are just proxies, just puppets driven by ideologues
and it is possible that behind all that there is a force behind all these
events either in the form of states or non-state actors as the main invisible
actors who aim to destroy a country or make a country dependent on other
countries. It is certain that all perpetrators, both executors, supporters,
followers and ideologues who have been identified during the identification
process, investigations and investigations by the police are just proxies
driven by invisible hands of power. They are proxies who move or are moved or
exploited by behind-the-scenes masterminds who cannot be identified through the
process of investigation and investigation by the police. They can be perceived
but cannot or are very difficult to prove.
The above explanation requires
further research to find out whether in the context of proxy warfare, terrorism
is really used as a technique of destruction of the opponent or is an
intelligence technique to create certain conditions in the ranks of intelligence
operations. This is very possible where
the process of creating conditions and the process of destroying opponents by
means of raising or by creating a situation moves, so that parties who do have
the potential to contradict each other open conflict and destroy each other.
Thus, the party behind the scenes benefits either in the form of domination or
colonization of new forms whatever the name. When a country becomes dependent
and under the domination of another country, either directly or indirectly, has
not the process of destruction taken place? Indeed, the proof process is very
difficult, especially if it involves a large country or involves actors who are
difficult to track or invisible hands, powerful actors and untouchable.
According to critical thinkers
(theorists of the Frankfrut School), religion is actually used to dissuade defeated and marginalized people
from rebellion because they will assume that their defeat or decline is due to
God's destiny. But it turns out that religion also has another side, which is able to be an excuse for someone in the name of his
religion to resist rebellion. This requires the role of other parties, namely
groups or actors who are able to "wrap"
injustice or wrap crime with religious issues or jargon. When these defeated
and marginalized people are broken up or frustrated, when actors emerge who
will use them as proxies, then these actors will exploit religion as a basis or
justification for them to fight and violence in the name of defending their
religion. That is what we then know as acts of
terrorism. Where terrorism is actually an act of
desperation from a group of people who because of the injustice he feels do not
find a way. These desperate people will be easily dictated and controlled by
invisible parties (invisible) to move in the name of religion to commit
violence which then among the violence results in the emergence of criminal
acts that we know as criminal acts of terrorism.
Proxies as "tools" to carry out colonization in
a new form (Neo-colonialism)
Physical colonization is considered
an obsolete way that has been abandoned by powerful or developed countries.
Apart from being high-cost, the possibility of
political risk from an international perspective is not desirable. Indeed, the
fact that Russia recklessly invaded Ukraine and Israel massacred Palestine is
proof that the physical occupation is not or has not been completely abandoned.
But both countries are targets of swearing in their respective countries or by
the international community. Therefore, colonizing using proxies is an
alternative to at least save face from the international community or borrow
the Javanese term "nabok nyilih
tangan" (literally, hitting with someone else's
hand). Means or issues other than religion and terrorism that can be used as
proxies to colonize other countries are economic, cultural and other issues or
problems including technological, trade and industrial problems. Anyway,
whatever when manifested in relations between countries with an unbalanced
position and exert some kind of pressure or control over a country, it should
be suspected that the relationship is an exploitative power relationship
resulting from the use of any proxy to exploit or colonize a country by a
stronger or more developed country.
Unequal power relations as described
above may be seen or viewed as a form of international cooperation both
bilateral and multilateral, but all forms of cooperation where the position
between country A and country B is unbalanced and tends to be exploitative is actually a form of "colonization". If a particular
cooperative relationship is balanced and there is a situation that only
benefits one of the parties, it is not cooperation but an exploitation.
Especially if there is an element of fear with force or the threat of weapons,
for example by showing off the latest weapons, then it is definitely
a form of colonization.
Basic Human Character and Capitalism
The state is composed of a set of
humans with basic characters according to Hobes as
homo hominilupus, humans are wolves to other humans.
This apparently also affects the character of the state as a building that
binds humans as citizens. As a human being, the state also has a human-like
character and considers other countries as threats, certainly not overtly. But
some secret events that come to light, for example when a country secretly
steals data and wiretaps other countries, this is a form of hidden hostility
because the country considers other countries as "wolves" for its
country.
When a country feels threatened by
another country both in the sense of physical threats and in the context of a
country's economic development that has an impact on the expansion or influence
felt by other countries so that the position is considered a threat because it
may be related to resource problems that have been the control or dominance of
a particular country can change and shift to the control or dominance of other
countries, So that there is trade competition,
for example, between one country and another. This competition is not
infrequently a competition that is not mutually beneficial because each party
is competing to increase innovation, but can also have
an impact on trade politics that harm or destroy other countries.
An example is the trade war between
the United States and China, which began in 2018 when Donald Trump took office
as President of the United States. Trump vowed to take strong action against
China, which has hurt the United States economically and politically. The US
and China are the two largest economies in the world. Trade between the two
countries is unbalanced, given that China has a large trade surplus with the
US. The US trade deficit with China is a major problem for the US government
where in 2017, the US trade deficit with China reached 419.5 billion USD
President Trump decided to impose
import tariffs on Chinese products that are considered detrimental to the US.
China then retaliated by imposing import tariffs on U.S. products. The two
countries continue to impose import tariffs on U.S. products such as soybeans,
corn and pork. The trade war has also been triggered by intellectual property
issues and forced technology transfers. The U.S. accuses China of stealing U.S.
technology and trade secrets, while China denies the allegations. In 2020, the
U.S. and China finally reached a trade deal that included China's commitment to
buy more goods from the U.S. and address issues related to intellectual
property rights and forced technology transfer
China then lobbied countries to
release the US dollar and use the yuan as an international currency. China has
joined Russia, Brazil, India, Kazakhstan, Pakistan and Laos to abandon the US
dollar. They agreed to use Yuan or the local currency of their respective
countries in international trade transactions. China is also approaching
international companies to conduct export-import transactions using Yuan, such
as Total and Aramco. One of China's biggest deals to eliminate the U.S. dollar
is trade with Brazil. In March 2023, China and Brazil agreed to use the yuan in
bilateral trade. The trade value of the two countries will exceed 150.5 billion
USD in 2023. The change in the use of the US Dollar to Chinese Yuan causes Yuan
transactions and demand to increase and the US Dollar to decline globally
This derivative of human character
that tends to exploit other humans a la Hobbes is the possibility that gave
birth to capitalism. Capitalism as an economic system is based on private
ownership of the factors of production for profit. The main characteristics of
capitalism include capital accumulation, market competition, the price system,
private ownership, recognition of property rights, voluntary exchange, and
labor based on wages. In a market economy, decision-making and investment are
determined by the owners of wealth, property, or the ability to rotate capital
for the benefit of producing or placing money in the capital market, whereas
the price and distribution of goods and services are primarily determined by
competition in the goods and services market. In a market economy,
decision-making and investment are determined by the owner of wealth, property,
or the ability to rotate capital for profit purposes
The problem with capitalism is that
the owners of capital and the rich are always at an advantage, while workers
are in the weakest position which is often at a disadvantage. The communist
ideology that emerged in Western Europe was one of the responses to the living
situation of the people there, especially the fate of the workers. The cause
was the negative perception of the workers and the inequality and social class
differences in Western society at that time, giving rise to a movement for the
liberation of the proletariat from the bourgeoisie. The idea was born from Karl
Marx, better known as the "Father of Communism" and later gave rise
to the Communist Party as an antithesis to capitalism. As for social science
terminology, communism is a Marxist doctrine that is a critique of capitalism
and liberalism by seeking revolution from the proletariat which aims to create
a new concept of society called communist society where the factors of
production are controlled by the working class so that it will create a life of
society independent of poverty and without class.
As the initiators of communism, Marx
and Frederich Engels (1888: 20) offered concepts and
theories and supported the scientific socialism movement they created as a
comparison between theories and movements of utopian or imaginary socialism. If
the analogy of the term socialism is the movement of the petty bourgeoisie,
then the term communism is the official socialism movement for the workers. The
communism that Marx described is a condition after capitalism collapses,
because the capitalist system will experience its point of destruction through
the resolution of the history of the proletariat class that continues to
develop until the social revolution, namely the process of transition of
capitalist society to communist society (Borchet,
2006: 361-363).
While Engels (1925: 6) interprets
communism more as a doctrine for the liberation or liberation of the
proletariat for the mission of realizing a communist society with the principle
of socio-economic life based on the ownership of common property that negates
social class and state. But in contrast to Lenin (1973: 122-188) as the founder
of the first communist state to describe communism with revolutionary action
and the authority of state leadership by the communist party. The members of
the communist party are professional revolutionaries, skilled and tightly
organized elites of the proletariat with high loyalties and a hierarchical
structure or rank that is constantly monitored
Therefore, Lenin (1973: 20-25) in his
work The State and Revolution, believes that social revolution will only occur
if the oppressed proletariat undertakes a revolutionary path or coups the state
by force so that the process of transmission of a new communist society can be
realized through the abolition of the bourgeoisie and opposition groups. Then
the resulting definition of the figures above is a new wind for the term
communism, which is a combination of Marx's theory of communism with Lenin's
revolutionary theory and practice better known as Marxism-Leninism.
Transnational Crimes
Transnational crime can be grouped
into three broad categories involving the provision of illicit goods (drug
trafficking, trafficking in stolen property, arms trafficking and
counterfeiting), illegal services (commercial sex and human trafficking), and infiltration
against businesses and governments (fraud, extortion, money laundering and
corruption) affecting many countries. Transnational crimes are different from
international crimes, which involve crimes against humanity that may or may not
involve multiple states. Examples of international crimes are genocide and
terrorism
While the explanation from Stanford
Law School states that transnational crime is a crime that occurs, crosses,
transcends or passes through many countries. For example, when criminals
illegally move drugs across state borders, their actions may be referred to as
transnational crimes
Unlike domestic crimes, transnational
crimes are planned or committed in many countries, or committed by groups
operating in many countries, or have substantial effects on many countries. For
this reason, crimes such as nakoba smuggling may be
transnational crimes, but they may also be purely domestic crimes. It all
depends on where the crime is planned and committed, who orchestrates it and
what the impact is. There is an important distinction between transnational
crime and international crime. In international law, international crimes
primarily concern genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. These
crimes have a very broad scope, are very serious and are generally committed by
government actors. Therefore, international crimes are considered part of the
doctrine of international law. In contrast, transnational crimes, which are
more limited in scope and committed by non-state actors do not fall under the
doctrine
According to the United Nations
Convention on Transnational Organized Crime, a crime is called a transnational
crime if: 1) The crime was committed in more than one country, 2) The crime was
committed in one country but a substantial part of its preparation, planning,
direction or control took place in another, 3) The crime was committed in one
country but involved an organized criminal group engaged in criminal activity
in more than one country. one country and, 4) The crime is committed in one
country but has substantial effect in another (UNTOC Convention, 2000).
The UN has identified 18 different
categories of transnational crime. Among them are: 1) Money laundering, 2)
Terrorist activities, 3) Theft of artworks and cultural objects, 4) Theft of
intellectual property, 5) Illegal traffic in weapons, 6) Piracy at sea, 7) Top
piracy on land, 8) Insurance fraud, 9) Computer crime, 10) Environmental crime,
11) Human trafficking, 12) Human organ trafficking, 13) Drug trafficking, 14)
Bankruptcy fraud, 15) Infiltration of
legal business, 16) Corruption, 17) Bribery of public officials, and 18) Other
offences committed by organised criminal groups
Harniati in his article on the website of the Indonesian Ministry
of Law and Human Rights states that transnational crimes are crimes that occur
in more than one country's jurisdiction, but the consequences significantly
affect other countries. Transnational crimes also occur against more than one
country's domestic law, but need not be based on
international law. Although both international and customary treaties can be
relevant to issues concerning jurisdiction, law enforcement, due process,
judicial cooperation and execution of punishments. For example, related to
human smuggling, piracy at sea, money laundering, terrorism, arms and drug
trafficking
In March 2023, a Nigerian politician,
his wife and a medical middleman were found guilty of an organ trafficking plot
after they brought a man to the UK from Lagos to sell his kidney. A few months
later in Kenya, following the arrest of a televangelist on charges of mass
murder of his followers, autopsies on corpses revealed the presence of missing
organs, raising suspicions of forced organ harvesting. Then in 2020, researcher
Sean Columb revealed how many African migrants sell
their kidneys in Cairo, Egypt, in hopes of using the proceeds to pay smugglers
to take them across the Mediterranean to Europe
The WHO estimated in 2008 that 5% of
all transplants performed worldwide are illegal. Living donor kidneys are the most commonly reported form of organ trafficking. WHO
further estimates that the total number of transplants performed worldwide is
less than 10% of global demand. Of all organs, kidneys are the highest in
demand. About 10% of the world's population suffers from chronic kidney
disease. Around two to seven million of these kidney failure patients are
estimated to die annually because they do not have access to proper treatment
Meanwhile, another example of a
transnational crime case is drug trafficking. Indonesian police have uncovered
a large narcotics ring operating in Southeast Asia and have seized more than 10
tons of methamphetamine and assets equivalent to Rp 273.43 billion in a joint
operation with Thai and Malaysian authorities. The drug syndicate is led by
Fredy Pratama alias Miming who is still at large and
is believed to have managed his narcotics business from Thailand. The Fredy
syndicate is a large, even the largest syndicate because from the disclosure of
drug cases from 2020 to 2023, there are 408 case reports with a total evidence of 10.2 tons of methamphetamine affiliated
with Fredy's group network. Fredy's network of drug products have
been distributed in Indonesia, Thailand, and East Malaysia
The disclosure of narcotics cases
from January 2020 to September 2023 related to Fredy's network, more than 800
people from various provinces in Indonesia have been arrested and determined as
suspects. Police have not specified the estimated monetary value of the 10.2 tonnes of methamphetamine seized from Freddy's group over
nearly four years. But when combined with the overall value of assets seized in
Indonesia and Thailand, such as cash, hotels, land, houses, hundreds of savings
accounts, the value reaches Rp10.5 trillion. Meanwhile, more than 800 people in
Indonesia have been arrested in 408 drug cases linked to Fredy's network since
2020. The total value of drugs and assets seized in Indonesia and Thailand,
including cash, buildings and land, is estimated at US$683 million. Indonesia
has the harshest anti-narcotics laws in the world, and courts often impose the
death penalty on drug smugglers
Material losses as described above
are certainly very detrimental to the country's economy. But the potential harm
caused by drug trafficking for this nation's generation is certainly priceless,
because young people of productive age who should be able to prepare themselves
to take control of this country in the future, have poisoned their brains with
addictive substances from drugs that affect their mindset. They forget their
focus and duty as the next generation of the nation who should prepare themselves
by learning and equipping themselves with various skills so that they can
become productive and innovative resources that are beneficial for the
continuity of the existence of this country
CONCLUSION
A proxy war is a conflict in which two
opposing countries support combatants who serve their interests instead of
waging war directly. These countries provide military, financial, and
logistical support to various factions or groups in third countries, which then
fight on behalf of their supporting countries. Usually, the supporting state
denies its involvement. Proxy wars allow countries to support their strategic
interests without risking direct conflict with other major powers. These
conflicts can have devastating consequences for the country in which the
conflict occurred, including widespread destruction, loss of life, and enduring
instability. Transnational crime is criminal activity that crosses national
borders or involves individuals or groups operating in more than one country.
These crimes often involve organized criminal groups that exploit differences
in legal systems, law enforcement capabilities, and international cooperation
to facilitate their illegal activities. Transnational crime results in economic
losses and can be used as a proxy to destroy or weaken a country by others.
Examples of transnational crimes include drug trafficking, which involves the
production, transportation, and sale of illegal narcotics across national
borders. Terrorism can also destroy or paralyze a country. Transnational crime
poses a major challenge to law enforcement and national security agencies due
to its complex, cross-border nature. Tackling these crimes requires
international cooperation, information exchange, and coordinated efforts between
countries to stop criminal networks and bring perpetrators to justice. Without
these efforts, transnational crime can be exploited by certain countries as
proxies to destroy other countries.
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