Editorials & Other Articles
In reply to the discussion: (2) How Unsolved Missing Person Cases Are Solved (Pt. 2) [View all]AmyStrange
(7,989 posts)-
Digging into Disappearances: A Guide to Investigating Missing People and Organized Crime
Journalists act as both a deterrent to this kind of criminal conduct and as public-minded investigators, particularly where the rule of law has broken down.
Millions of people disappear every year, according to the International Commission on Missing People, and organized crime is involved in many of these cases. The violence associated with drug trafficking in particular, but also wildlife smuggling, resource theft, human trafficking, and other criminal rackets, plays a key role in many of the disappearances.
At its most sophisticated, organized crime is transnational, highly organized, and often systemic. It features in everyday life, infiltrating systems and groups that are essential to society. Disappearances are often a byproduct of this criminal activity.
As corruption is frequently at play, disappearances may not be investigated thoroughly or even at all. Sometimes national or regional authorities are paid off or are unable to access information because of the power and reach of the criminal groups involved. The same can be said for enforced disappearances in which there is a level of state involvement, and where a person is abducted, secretly imprisoned or killed, and the body hidden by a government, or those acting on its behalf.
This crime can take various forms, from isolated cases to mass disappearances and multiple connected cases over time. There are even those who choose to disappear.
Journalists play an important role, acting as both a deterrent to this kind of criminal conduct and as public-minded investigators, particularly where the state and rule of law have broken down. But there are serious risks, and reporters themselves are not immune to the danger inherent in investigating these types of crimes.
[SNIP]
https://gijn.org/digging-into-disappearances-a-guide-to-investigating-missing-people-and-organized-crime/
============