Raskolizm (from talk- raskol raskol - “gangster”, goes back to English rascal - “rogue”, “rascal”, “rascal”) - a criminal phenomenon common in large cities of Papua New Guinea (PNG), primarily in the capital of the country is Port Moresby , as well as in the city of Lae .
It is a special subculture and, at the same time, a system of youth gangs involved in killings , violence , kidnapping , robbery , extortion and theft in cities and villages of PNG. [1] [2]
Background of the phenomenon
APG is a country with one of the lowest living standards in the region, with up to 85% of its population engaged in traditional ( subsistence ) agriculture (see: Papua New Guinea Economy ).
The economy is primarily raw in nature, while the unemployment rate, especially among young people up to the age of thirty, is very high (only about 5 thousand out of 80 thousand young people find work each year). [one]
The state also has a high level of corruption (PNG is one of the most corrupt countries in the world). [3] Police violence, including torture by policemen of arrested and detained persons, according to UN experts, has become a “regular practice” in PNG. [four]
Against this background, the process of urbanization is underway in the APG: the urbanization rate is 2.9% per year - one of the highest in Oceania (after the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu ). [5] As noted by a Russian researcher of the phenomenon of raskolism, Professor V. N. Timoshenko , the main driving force of urbanization is the collapse of the traditional rural community and the spread of capitalist relations in the APG. [6]
Urbanization entails the outflow of the population (mostly young) from villages to cities. At the same time, not being able to find work and secure a decent standard of living, as well as adapt to an environment unfamiliar to them, such young people unite with their own kind and choose the simplest, in their understanding, path to an “easy life” - the way to commit crimes . Many members of raskol gangs admit that they got involved in crime after their parents sent them to the city to earn money. [7]
It is necessary to take into account the peculiarities of the mentality of the indigenous people of PNG, in the minds of a large number of which survivals of the communal "primitive communism" are preserved. Therefore, the appropriation of someone else’s property, from the point of view of the members of raskol gangs, sometimes does not even look like a crime as such, but represents a way of “fair” (from traditionally communal positions) redistribution of material goods. [6] As the group members themselves say, "we never think about killing people, we just want to scare them, to take what we want to take." [7]
Characterization of the phenomenon
It is believed that the first raskol gangs appeared in Port Moresby in the late 1960s. In 1968 - 1975 gangs organized and concentrated their resources, from 1975 to the early 1980s. they became more institutionalized and expanded their operations, in particular in the field of theft and drug trafficking , and by 1985 they had turned into powerful, united criminal communities. [eight]
Currently, the largest raskol gangs are so powerful that some researchers speak of a “civil war” between gangsters and law enforcement agencies, and in a number of parameters raskol gangs often surpass the latter. [2]
The gangs are armed with both melee and firearms , most of which were acquired illegally; The arsenal of bandits is extensive: from the latest factory brands to homemade knives and pistols . [9]
Raskol gangs manifest themselves in almost all types of criminal activity: from thefts from cars to robberies, murders and rape . A special type of gang activity is cooperation with international organized crime in connection with drug smuggling in the USA , Canada , Australia and New Zealand ; there is a tendency toward raskol gangs to converge with Chinese ethnic criminal groups operating in PNG. [6]
It comes to the point that raskol gangs impose tribute to small cities (such as the city of Cainantu ) or introduce their own rules and regulations there. [6] It is also reported that the bandits terrorized and levied tribute on such an important APG transport highway as Gornoye Shosse ; while the leaders of the bandits boast that they will shoot any policeman who dares to open a hunt for them. [ten]
The processes of interaction between raskol bands and the world of politics, big business and APG law enforcement agencies are noted. [eleven]
Rascolism as a kind of ideology and lifestyle attracts young people from settlements in the vicinity of Port Moresby in that they offer them an identity based not on the previous tribal status, but on the new status of members of a tribal community, as well as a sense of security, companionship, the possibility of possessing weapons and money . [11] Such people come from “traditional places” and are recruited into gangs. [9]
The attitude of the population to raskol gangs is ambiguous. On the one hand, according to the testimony of Australian police officers involved in the fight against bandits, many of the residents of the APG experience a kind of nostalgia for the colonial times when the “kiapi” that is, Australian police officers patrolled their villages, suppressing tribal enmity and stopping the violence that prevails now. [ten]
On the other hand, part of the population in raskol gang members is inclined to see “noble Robin Hoods ”, “fighters for justice”, opponents of corrupt power and the rich. [2]
The gang members themselves, for obvious reasons, are trying to maintain in the eyes of a certain part of society their image of “fighters for justice” and “against police arbitrariness”. So, one of the gang members claims: “The police we know are very dangerous. They arrive in the village and take away food, things and beer from people. ” [7] It should be noted here that the APG police in many ways contribute to the formation of a negative attitude among the population, since many of the cops are involved in illegal arrests, torture, violence against children and adolescents, and other illegal actions. [6]
The structure and organization of group activities
To date, 4 major criminal conglomerates are known - Bomai, Koboni, Mafia, and Brigade 585 — each of which includes smaller raskol gangs. Each conglomerate is led by a leader called a “father” or “big man,” a big man whose authority is reinforced by experience and the ability to provide a “good life” for team members. [6]
Currently, various raskol groups are not at odds with each other, because they are united in the face of a common enemy - the police. [11] However, in Port Moresby the territory between the gangs is carefully divided, the boundaries of the influence of a gang are indicated by appropriate graffiti . [9]
The gangs themselves are built on the principle of neighborhood, the ethnic component does not play a role. [eleven]
The age of members of raskol gangs is from 15 to 25 years. Entering and leaving the gang is voluntary, it is not regulated by the internal “laws” of the gangs, which is why gang leaders never know exactly how many “subordinates” they currently have. [6]
Women, as a rule, do not take part in the activities of raskol gangs, but in some cases they perform for the needs of groups such functions as observation, food and alcohol delivery, crime planning, and stolen sales. [eleven]
Rascolism in Art
Photo Art
Australian photographer Stephen Dupont lived in 2004 for several weeks among members of one of the oldest raskol gang, called "Kips Kaboni". As a result, a gallery of art photo portraits of the group members appeared. [12]
Documentary
The Raskol Australian documentary (directed by Sally Browning), 1995, is dedicated to the phenomenon of raskolism. [13]
See also
- Premans
- Yakuza
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 Gingerbread P. Papua New Guinea: a gangster democratic state . inright.ru (February 28, 2011). Date of treatment January 7, 2013. Archived January 22, 2013.
- ↑ 1 2 3 Timoshenko, Valery. Raskol-Gangs or New "sandpit generals". Part 1 New Eastern Outlook (03/18/2011). Date of treatment January 7, 2013. Archived January 22, 2013.
- ↑ Papua New Guinea: Corruption threatens meaningful and sustainable development . transparency.org. Date of treatment January 7, 2013. Archived December 7, 2009.
- ↑ Level of police violence in Papua New Guinea alarms UN expert on torture . UN News Service (May 26, 2010). Date of treatment January 7, 2013.
- ↑ List of countries in Oceania - Rate of urbanization . worldstat.info. Date of treatment January 7, 2013. Archived January 22, 2013.
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Timoshenko, Valery. Raskol-Gangs or New "sandpit generals". Part 2 New Eastern Outlook (03/20/2011). Date of treatment January 7, 2013. Archived January 22, 2013.
- ↑ 1 2 3 Fickling, David. Raskol gangs rule the world's worst city . The Guardian (September 22, 2004). Date of treatment January 7, 2013. Archived January 22, 2013.
- ↑ Roscoe, Paul. The return of the ambush: 'Raskolism' in rural Yangoru, East Sepik Province . Oceania Mar99, Vol. 69. Issue 3, p. 171 (1999). Date of treatment January 7, 2013. Archived July 8, 2012.
- ↑ 1 2 3 The Criminal Environment . prosec.com. Date of treatment January 7, 2013. Archived January 22, 2013.
- ↑ 1 2 Forbes, Mark. PNG's raskols winners in police standoff . The Age (April 9, 2004). Date of treatment January 7, 2013. Archived January 22, 2013.
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 Urban Youth in the Pacific. Chapter 5 (PDF). forumsec.org. Date of treatment January 7, 2013. Archived January 22, 2013.
- ↑ Australian Center for Photography (ACP). Raskols: The gangs of Port Moresby. An exhibition by Stephen Dupont . contactpressimages.com (2005). Date of treatment January 7, 2013. Archived January 22, 2013.
- ↑ Raskols (1995 ) . IMBD Date of treatment January 7, 2013. Archived January 22, 2013.