During the 2011 Egyptian uprising, protesters found evidence of a British technology firm offering to sell digital intelligence software to the Egyptian government for monitoring Internet activity.168 Moreover, in recent years, a number of Western technology companies have reportedly provided monitoring and censorship technologies to repressive regimes in the Middle East.169 Although, President Obama’s order does not clarify whether these sanctions will target American firms and individuals, this is a positive first step towards taking global initiatives for creating policies that prevent the utilisation of technologies as tools of oppression.
Mexico: The Use of ICTs in Relation to Drug Cartel Violence The Conflict The illegal drug trade has thrived in Mexico for well over a century. Mexico signed The Hague International Opium Convention in 1912, and proceeded to ban trade in opium, cocaine and marijuana. Over the early part of the 1900s, production of heroin and marijuana increased; before the 1980s, however, the issue of drug trafficking was not urgent in Mexico.170 During the 1990s, Mexican cartels’ power increased, leading to rising levels of violence and corruption in the country.171 Cartels have had an active presence in Mexico since the 1930s. In Sinaloa (now the site of much narcotics-related activity), a family founded one of the first Mexican cartels. The Sinaloa cartel, based in the Western area of Mexico, goes by a variety of names including the Pacific Cartel, the Federation and the Golden Triangle. The group traffics cocaine from Colombia, marijuana from Mexico, and heroin from Southeast Asia into the United States, and supports labs producing methamphetamines. Other active cartels include the Tijuana and the Juarez cartels, which respectively hold power in the Tijuana and Juarez regions of Mexico.172 The Gulf Cartel, supported by Los Zetas’ militarised activities, holds power mainly in the Eastern part of Mexico. Los Zetas have had conflicts with the Government of Mexico and against Sinaloa in collaboration with other cartels. Based in westcentral Mexico, La Familia Michoachana has also had conflicts with the Sinaloa and Gulf cartels.173
Thousands of members of the Mexican police and the army reinforced security in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua as part of the operation to combat drug trafficking and organized crime on 3 March 2009. Jesús Villaseca Pérez/Flickr
27