10. Organized Crime Groups

If we will talk about organized crime groups in general, we will not have an opportunity to open this topic in appropriate way because this is a very broad topic. There thousands of organized crime groups all over the world. However, we have to focus on some particular group of criminals. One of the well known criminal groups in our region is Thieves in Law (Vory v Zakone).

There is no any particular date when this kind of criminals were organized. However, some sources claim that they created in Stalin’s Gulags. Gulags were the camps where different kinds people were put in. There was criminals as well as intelligent people. A big flow of people needed leaders in those, so Thieves in Law were chosen as those leaders. At that time, while they were criminals and leaders of organized crime groups, Thieves in Law were also some kind of opposition in the country. Later, after the Soviet Union, they fully transformed into transnational criminals. Thieves in Law always had their own customs and traditions. In addition, they had some kind of code of ethics which were pretty strict. They had their own budget and special very respected place among prisoners and other criminals. Most probably that there are still Thieves in Law in CIS countries. Yet, today, some people claim that those who want can buy the position of Thief in Law. Nevertheless, Thieves in Law were very powerful organized crime groups.

In conclusion, Thieves in Law are the most famous organized crime groups in our region. They are not just organized groups but leaders of the criminal world. They were very powerful after the Soviet Union and even now they have some level of influence not only in the CIS countries but also in the whole world as well.

11. Human trafficking

Human trafficking is the trade in humans, most commonly for the purpose of sexual slavery, forced labor or for the extraction of organs or tissues, including surrogacy and ova removal. Trafficking is a lucrative industry, representing an estimated $32 billion per year in international trade, compared to the estimated annual $650 billion for all illegal international trade circa 2010.

Although it can occur at local levels, human trafficking has international implications, as recognized by the United Nations in the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children (also referred to as the Trafficking Protocol), an international agreement attached to the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (CTOC) which entered into force on 25 December 2003. This protocol is one of three which supplement the CTOC. The Trafficking Protocol is the first global, legally binding instrument on trafficking in over half a century, and the only one with an agreed-upon definition of trafficking in persons. One of its purposes is to facilitate international cooperation in investigating and prosecuting such trafficking. Another is to protect and assist human trafficking's victims with full respect for their rights as established in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Trafficking Protocol defines human trafficking as

(a) [...] the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs;

(b) The consent of a victim of trafficking in persons to the intended exploitation set forth in subparagraph (a) of this article shall be irrelevant where any of the means set forth in subparagraph (a) have been used; (c) The recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of a child for the purpose of exploitation shall be considered “trafficking in persons” even if this does not involve any of the means set forth in subparagraph (a) of this article; (d) “Child” shall mean any person under eighteen years of age.

The Trafficking Protocol was adopted by the United Nations in Palermo in 2000 and entered into force on 25 December 2003. As of March 2013 it has been signed by 117 countries and ratified by 154 parties.

In 2004, the total annual revenue for trafficking in persons were estimated to be between USD$5 billion and $9 billion.