Policing and the Legacies of Wartime State Predation: Evidence from a Survey and Field Experiment in Liberia

2021 ◽  
pp. 002200272110130
Author(s):  
Robert A. Blair ◽  
Benjamin S. Morse

How does violence during civil war shape citizens’ willingness to trust and rely on state security providers in the post-conflict period? Can post-conflict security sector reform restore perceptions of state security forces among victims of wartime state predation? Using a survey and field experiment in Liberia, we show that rebel-perpetrated violence is strongly positively correlated with trust and reliance on the police after conflict is over, while state-perpetrated violence is not. Victims of wartime state predation are, however, more likely to update their priors about the police in response to positive interactions with newly reformed police officers. We also show that abuses committed by police officers in the post-conflict period are negatively correlated with citizens’ perceptions of the police, potentially counteracting the positive effects of security sector reform. We corroborate our quantitative findings with detailed qualitative observations of interactions between civilians and police officers in the field.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
vaheel jabbar chalabee

الملخص بناء السلام بعد انتهاء النزاع عملية طويلة الامد، وتستوجب تظافر كل الجهود وعلى جميع المستويات وصولا الى حل الأسباب التي أدت الى نشوب النزاع ووصول أطرافه او حصولهم على حقوقهم، كي نكون أمام حالة سلام ايجابي دائم، وهذا يستلزم القيام بالعديد من الاجراءات وفي مقدمتها الاجراءات الأمنية والانسانية وهذا ما ركز عليه بحثنا، حيث قمنا بدراسة مفهوم السلام ومستوياته في المبحث الاول، وفي المبحث الثاني قمنا بتوضيح الاجراءات الأمنية والاصلاحية كنزع السلاح واصلاح القطاع الأمني كالشرطة، ونزع مخلفات الحرب كالألغام، نظراً لخطورة الوضع بعد انتهاء النزاع مباشرة والذي يستوجب معالجة سريعة لهذه الامور، كذلك بحثنا في الاجراءات الانسانية والاعمارية المتمثلة بتقديم المساعدات الانسانية واعادة النازحين والمهجرين والبدء في بناء البنية الاساسية والاقتصادية، والتي تعد ركائز لديمومة السلام وتحقيق المصالحة بين الفئات المتناحرة، وتوصلنا في ختام البحث الى جملة من الاستنتاجات والتوصيات.الكلمات الدالة: بناء السلام، النزاع، الاجراءات الامنية، اعادة الاعمار، مستويات السلام، نزع السلاح، ازالة الالغام.AbstractSecurity And Humanitarian Procedures To Build Peace In Post Conflict Period Building peace in post-conflict is a long-term process. It requires concerted efforts at all levels to resolve the causes of the conflict and giving the parties their rights to be in a state of lasting positive peace. This requires a number of measures or procedures, We discussed the concept of peace and its levels in the first topic. In the second, we explained the security and reform measures such as disarmament, security sector reform such as the police, and the removal of remnants of war such as mines, for the big risk of the situation in post conflict period, it demands immediate handle. And we also discussed in our research the humanitarian and reconstruction measures of providing humanitarian assistance, the return of the displaced, and the start of building the infrastructure and economy, which are the pillars of lasting peace and reconciliation between the conflicted groups. At the end of the study we reached a number of conclusions and recommendations. Key words: peacebuilding, Conflict, Security procedures, Reconstruction, levels of peace, Disarmament, Demining.


Author(s):  
Sugito Sugito ◽  
Tulus Warsito ◽  
Achmad Nurmandi

Liberal peace strongly believes that security sector reform (SSR) can strengthen the structure of peace and security in post-conflict countries. However, this approach is not always successful in several countries including East Timor. Based on the institutionalism approach, this study found an interesting fact that Falintil's veterans' toxic role in their relations with state security institutions had weakened the function of state security institutions and caused the insecurity of the state and people of East Timor from 2000-2008. These results were obtained through field research using qualitative-quantitative mix method research based on primary data obtained from interviews, surveys, and official documents from the United Nations and the government of East Timor.


2011 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 103-117 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Lewis

AbstractSecurity sector reform — including police reform — has been an important element in international programmes in many post-conflict and so-called 'fragile' states. In Central Asian states — mostly ruled by authoritarian regimes — the OSCE has been engaged in a variety of programmes to help reform the police, which have often been accused of abuses of human rights. There has been a significant police assistance programme in Kyrgyzstan, and smaller initiatives and activities have been implemented in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and Tajikistan. Most of these initiatives have failed to achieve their objectives; in certain cases they may have had a negative impact on the OSCE's credibility in the region as an organization that promotes a comprehensive view of security, including attention to human rights and civil liberties. The article suggests that external assistance to the security sector in authoritarian political systems poses particularly difficult challenges, if there is no parallel process of political democratisation. In addition, a complex relationship between state security forces and organised crime poses additional challenges to police reform programmes. The article suggests that the OSCE might usefully review its policies to improve its effectiveness in this area and to ensure that its approach remains consistent with its basic principles.


Author(s):  
Hendrik Quest

When it comes to understanding how peacebuilding affects violence-centred masculinities that emerge during civil wars, the literature on gender and post-conflict reconstruction reveals large gaps. To address this shortcoming, the article analyses the way in which security sector reform (SSR) in Liberia has changed institutional practices of masculinity within the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) and the Liberian National Police (LNP). Based on interviews conducted during field research in Monrovia in 2017 and the analysis of policy documents, the author shows that, indeed, SSR has contributed to a change of violence-centred masculinities in both institutions. Women are now, to some extent, accepted as part of both organisations. Sometimes they are even regarded as crucial for mission success. Institutionally, citizen orientation has replaced the practice to abuse civilians and, in the case of the AFL, there are now procedures in place that allow for a prosecution of sexual violence. The Liberian case shows that for changes to occur, especially disarmament and demobilisation, vetting, and the development and reinforcement of new institutional cultures via training and legislation are essential.


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