Mussolini would be proud

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7500605.stm

http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2008/07/03/gypsies-fingerprinted.html

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=92529373

The right-wing Berlusconi government in Italy has decided to fingerprint gypsies living in Italy (just gypsies, not all Italians), even those who are Italian citizens. They claim it is a necessary measure to reduce crime and illegal immigration. But Italy has very low crime on average vs. the US, and much of that is due to Mafia-type home grown gangs (see Napoli garbage crisis), not immigrants.

Transient gypsies, known as "Roma" in Italy, have been distrusted, and in some cases, persecuted for centuries - especially during the WWII fascist period in Europe. But now there are over 150,000 Roma living in Italy, and 60% of them are citizens with supposedly equal rights and freedoms with ethnic Italians. Yes it is true that some Roma do engage in crime and other undesirable behaviors, just like any people. But where are the DATA that show convincingly that Romas are the chief cause of Italy's crime, and fingerprinting them will fix the problem? I suppose this is just another ignorant, xenophobic, knee-jerk backlash against a marginalized minority - unjustly blaming them for larger social anxieties and problems (like Latino immigrants in America).

Human rights activists also blame Italian media, of which Berlusconi is a major player, for playing the fear game and stirring up anti-Roma stereotypes. Some estimates suggest he controls over 50% of all Italian media, like the Rupert Murdoch of Italy or something (separation of powers, hello?). It's probably no coincidence that many hate crimes have been reported against Roma this year too.

The Italian Government claim that they are partially doing this to "help" the Roma children, many of whom live "off the grid" in dirty camps and may be abused by misguided parents - forced to pick pockets or engage in debauchery for money - instead of going to school. But if so, this is a really Gestapo-esque humanitarian effort. "Where are your papers!?!"

Already the EU has condemned this move and demanded that Italy rescind it (in a non-binding declaration of course). Many Italians and others see the decision as prejudiced if not blatantly racist, and some non-Romas got fingerprinted as a show of solidarity with their fellow Italians. Italy is a G8 nation for heaven's sake, and it is shameful that they would even consider such a plan, much less implement it.

Other related headlines...

All Things Considered, July 14, 2008 · Italy is moving ahead with plans to fingerprint the country's Roma, or gypsy, people. The government says the fingerprinting is necessary to fight crime, identify illegal immigrants and protect Roma children from exploitation. The plan has critics.

All Things Considered, May 31, 2008 · There has been a swell of anti-immigrant sentiment in Italy, including attacks on the Roma population. Italy's politicians and Rome's new mayor, a former neo-fascist, are helping fuel anti-immigrant feelings.

Morning Edition, May 19, 2008 · An immigration crackdown by Italian authorities has been accompanied by vigilante justice against the Roma — or gypsies — in Naples. Italian officials have been strongly criticized by the European Union and human rights groups for their treatment of the ethnic group. Now the new right-wing government wants to create a special body to deal with the Roma.

The Camorra

http://www.worldpress.org/Europe/2572.cfm
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,13509-2432310,00.html
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=18028075

We hear a lot about Russian Mafia, the Latino drug cartels, the Hong
Kong Triads, and the Sicilian Cosa Nostra, but maybe the biggest
organized crime gang you've never heard of is the Camorra based out of
Napoli (also the birthplace of pizza). Roberto Saviano, an Italian
journalist, wrote a book exposing the Camorra's system (and named some
high-ranking members). He now needs 24-hour police escort and lives in
a secret hideout due to threats on his life. He got inside by posing
as a textile worker and waiter at Camorra businesses. Mostly due to
the Camorra, Napoli has the highest murder rate (100 dead in 2007,
almost as bad as Oakland's 127) and drug-dealer-to-resident ratio of
any EU city. I guess it's the Baltimore of the EU - where is McNulty?
Since it's founding in the 1800's, the Camorra have killed over 3,600
people. They are in total control of slum areas like Scampia, where
the police or local government do not dare intrude.

Saviano says that the Camorra is more elusive and dangerous than the
Sicilian Mob, because it is organized horizontally (like Al Qaeda
cells, with many semi-autonomous functional units that often fight
each other), versus the traditional top-down, family-led pyramid
command structure. They also have a bizarre criminal morality: they
sell drugs to outsiders but break the bones of any Neapolitans found
with narcotics (they don't want their own neighborhoods crawling with
addicts). They also kill homosexuals and HIV-positive people to try to
"prevent" the spread of the disease. Like all criminal gangs, they are
protected by the omertà, or code of silence among locals.

Like the Sopranos, the Camorra profit from waste management. Rich
areas and companies pay them to illegally dump toxic waste (heavy
metals, leather curing chemicals, etc.) in poorer parts of the
Campania region, where Napoli is located. This hazardous waste has
probably killed or sickened hundreds more victims. The Camorra make a
lot of money off high-end fashion knock-offs too. It's an easy way to
launder drug money, and the Italian fashion designers don't really
lobby the EU and law enforcement to seriously crack down on
counterfeits for two main reasons. First, the Camorra have deeply
infiltrated many legitimate businesses like theirs. Second, the
companies won't admit it, but they benefit from the name recognition/
publicity generated from all the knock-offs in circulation. When
people around the world see the Prada or Gucci motifs (whether genuine
or not), they want to buy it too. And since the Camorra are so
entrenched in Italian commerce, it is very hard to take action against
them, especially in the modern globalized economy where goods and
money are changing hands so rapidly. Italy estimates that 100B Euros
worth of commerce runs through the 3 main Mafias, and the Camorra net
30B E's in protection money. Organized crime is the biggest business
in Italy, accounting for 7% GNP (which buys a lot of votes/
politicians)!

So if Americans are sick of Big Oil's hand in politics, just imagine
Italy's predicament. Recently there have been some big name arrests
and public rejection of the Cosa Nostra, but for now it seems that the
Camorra are untouchable. The debt-ridden Italian government did
approve 1,000 more police officers and security cameras for Napoli,
but so far it hasn't helped. Lawmakers are divided on whether to send
in the military (Prime Minister Romano Prodi says this will do no
good), or an "army of teachers" to help teach young people to stay in
school, respect the law, and reject the Camorra. Like in "Scarface",
some Italians blame a mass pardon in 2006 (aimed to relieve Italy's
overcrowded prison system) that put 7,800 lesser offenders, some with
known Mafioso ties, back in the public and probably in the employment
of Camorra gangs. I'm waiting for the Scorcese crime drama.