The United Nations marks the International Day for the Prevention of and Fight against All Forms of Transnational Organised Crime. Proclaimed by the General Assembly in March 2024 through Resolution 78/267, the day aims to raise awareness of the dangers of organised crime and strengthen international cooperation to combat it. 15 November was chosen to coincide with the anniversary of the adoption of the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, known as the Palermo Convention, in 2000.
On this occasion, Alkarama recalls that this issue cannot be reduced to a purely security or judicial concern. The resolution establishing the day pays tribute to all victims of organised crime and recognises the essential role of civil society and non-governmental organisations in preventing and combating it. The Palermo Convention and its Protocols are directly relevant to the protection of human rights, particularly through the Protocols on trafficking in persons and the smuggling of migrants. They address the protection of victims and witnesses, the prevention of exploitation and forced labour, and the right of those affected to effective remedies and compensation. The Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime has also highlighted that further efforts are needed to ensure compensation for survivors and victims.
Across the Arab world, organised crime thrives amid armed conflicts and institutional fragility, fuelling the growth of networks involved in human trafficking, migrant smuggling, kidnapping, extortion and arms trafficking. Their victims are often caught in a cycle of poverty, displacement and lack of protection, without always being able to obtain justice.
Alkarama also draws attention to an equally serious, but opposite, danger. In several documented cases, security cooperation between States, both regionally and internationally, has been misused as a cross-border tool to pursue dissidents, journalists and activists. Such practices include intelligence-sharing, extradition requests, international notices, expulsion measures and forced returns. They expose those concerned to the risk of arbitrary detention, torture, enforced disappearance and unfair trials, often under vaguely worded charges relating to terrorism or organised crime. Such practices violate the principle of non-refoulement, enshrined in international human rights law and expressly recognised in the Convention against Torture.
For many years, Alkarama has worked to document these violations across the Arab world and bring individual cases before United Nations mechanisms and special procedures. Through its reports and advocacy work, the organisation seeks to strengthen a culture of human rights and calls on States to ensure that the fight against organised crime is grounded in clear safeguards: the prohibition of torture, protection against arbitrary detention, the right to a fair trial, the protection of victims and witnesses, and a prohibition on extraditing or returning anyone to a country where they face a real risk of human rights violations.
Alkarama reiterates that genuine security cannot be built at the expense of fundamental rights. The fight against organised crime can only be legitimate and effective if it protects victims rather than targeting individuals on account of their opinions, and if security services and their cooperation are subject to judicial oversight and accountability.