State crimes Flashcards
What are war crimes and use Nazis as an example
War crimes can be committed by individuals, groups and the state they are punishable offences. Thank you direct attacks against of civilians,torture or inhumane treatment of Prisoners. War crimes trials were held at numberg To prosecute prominent Nazis after the Second World War.
Examples of why it is problematic and controversial to decide what is a war crime, and who is a war criminal & gorgebush
Some examples include the atomic bombs dropped on hiroshima and nagasaki. More recently, some commentators have argued that the war in Iraq was an illegal war, and that George Bush should be tried for war crimes because thousands of people died as a result of the conflict
What is genocide.
Refers to violent crimes, committed against national ethnic, racial or religious groups
What is a more recent example of genocide
Darfur: Where is Civil War have been raging since 1993. Wasn’t organised campaign by militants. aim is to wipe out 80 black African groups
William chambliss
Argues that sociologist should investigate, stay organised crime, as well as crimes of capitalism
penny green and tony ward
Define state crime is illegal or deviant activities. It includes or form of crime committed by or on behalf of states and government.
eugene mclaughlin four categories of state crime
One: political crimes, for example, corruption, and censorship
2: Crimes by security and police forces, such as genocide and torture
3: Economic crimes, for example, violations of health and safety
4: Social and cultural crimes, such as institutional racism
The power of the state enables it to commit extremely large-scale and widespread victimisation, for example
Cambodia, where they killed the 2 million people
michalowski & kramer Note, great power, and great crimes inseparable. They argue that we need to study…
The way is the economic and political elite can bring death, disease, and loss of tens of thousands of the single decision
The state monopoly of violence
Gives it the potential to inflict massive harm. Media attention is often on state crimes, committed by thousand watt dictatorships. Demetre Cratic states such as Britain have also been guilty of crimes such as military use of torture

Principle of national sovereignty 
States the supreme authority within their own borders, it makes it very difficult for external authorities to intervene. Despite the existence of international conventions and law against attacks, such as genocide.
The state is also the source of law argument
It is the state’s role to define what is criminal and manage the criminal justice system. The law also means that it can Avoid defending its own harmful actions, such as Nazi Germany, who created laws for their crime. 
One approach to the study of state crime is through the notion of human rights. There is no single agreed list of what constitutes human rights. However, most definitions include the following.
(Natural rights)
That people are regarded as having simply by virtue of existing. Such as rights to life, liberty and free-speech.
One approach to the study of state crime is through the notion of human rights. There is no single agreed list of what constitutes human rights. However, most definitions include the following.
Civil rights
Civil rights, such as the right to vote, to privacy, to fair trial, or to education
Crime is the violation of human rights
herman & julia shwendinger
Argue that we should define crimes in terms of the violation of basic human rights, than the breaking of legal rules. For example, states of practice, racism, or sexism or committing crimes. The view is an example of transgressive criminology, sent over steps, traditional boundaries of criminology that are defined by criminal law