scholarly journals Explaining disappearances as a tool of political terror

2018 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 437-452
Author(s):  
Paloma Aguilar ◽  
Iosif Kovras
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Unintended Consequence ◽  
Political Repression ◽  
Quality Of Reporting ◽  
Human Rights Abuses ◽  
Political Terror ◽  
Central Tool ◽  
External Scrutiny

Despite the widespread use of disappearances as a central tool of terror in recent decades, little is known about the emergence of the phenomenon or its underlying rationale. We argue that growing international accountability norms, coupled with the improved quality of reporting human rights abuses, paradoxically reshaped the repressive strategies of certain regimes and pushed them to deploy more clandestine and extrajudicial forms of repression, predominantly disappearances. We also explore the timing of disappearances: when a state decides to deploy a particular instrument of terror can greatly benefit our understanding of why it was used. We show that repressive regimes tend to use disappearances in the first period after a coup, taking advantage of the general confusion and opacity to secure strategic benefits and protect the regime from external scrutiny and future accountability. Our findings contribute to the growing literature on human rights and political repression by highlighting an ‘unintended consequence’ of international accountability norms: repressive regimes turn to clandestine crimes.

scholarly journals GRIPES OR GRIEVANCES? What the Independent Complaints Directorate statistics tell us (or not)

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Bruce
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Police Brutality ◽  
Human Rights Abuses ◽  
The Public

When it was created, the Independent Complaints Directorate (ICD) was seen primarily as a mechanism for investigating and deterring human rights abuses by members of the SAPS. It was motivated by evidence of high levels of police brutality, including unjustified killings and the use of torture. However, according to ICD statistics, most complaints received by the ICD are not from victims of police brutality, but from members of the public dissatisfied with the quality of policing service provided to them. ICD statistics cannot therefore be used as indicators of overall levels of police brutality.

Preface: Democratic Transition in Africa

1993 ◽  
Vol 21 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 6-7
Author(s):  
Guy Martin
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Former Soviet Union ◽  
International System ◽  
Transition To Democracy ◽  
Political Repression ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Human Rights Abuses ◽  
New Era ◽  
Supportive Environment

Since 1989, the “winds of change” have swept throughout Africa, signaling the dawn of a new era, variously referred to as the “second independence,” or the “Springtime of Africa.” After three decades of authoritarian one- (or no) party rule characterized by political repression, human rights abuses, economic mismanagement, nepotism and corruption, democracy is spreading like bushfire throughout Africa. In 1992 an evaluation of the Carter Center’s African Governance Program, noted that 9 African countries may be described as “democratic,” 4 are under a “directed democracy” regime, and 31 are in transition to democracy, with various degrees of commitment. Popular struggles for democracy in Africa are not new, they have been here since independence. But recent changes in the structure of the international system (notably successful popular struggles for democracy in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union) have created a generally favorable and supportive environment for their development and maturation.

Zimbabwe in Ruins: Mediation Prospects in a Conflict Not Yet Ripe for Resolution

2007 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 415-442 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Anstey
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Necessary Conditions ◽  
International Community ◽  
Political Repression ◽  
Failed State ◽  
Humanitarian Crisis ◽  
Human Rights Abuses ◽  
Robust Approach ◽  
The Face

AbstractA confluence of conditions made the Rhodesian civil war ripe for resolution in 1979. However a 'despotic democracy' took early root in the new Zimbabwe, largely accepted by the international community in its first phase, but now condemned by many for its human rights abuses and political repression. Zimbabwe is a failed state with a massive humanitarian crisis. In the face of pressures to adopt a more robust approach, South Africa has stuck to an approach of 'quiet diplomacy' in relations with its neighbor. In March 2007, SADC states appointed South Africa's President Mbeki to mediate between parties to Zimbabwe's conflict. This article analyzes the prospects for this mediation in terms of 'ripeness' theory. It concludes that complex internal conditions and a divided international community do not yet make the crisis ripe for resolution. However, a shift from quiet diplomacy to an approach of principled mediation might assist in inducing the necessary conditions in a manner which limits continuation of the crisis.

COVID-19 will embolden autocrats

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Quality Of Democracy ◽  
Checks And Balances ◽  
Security Forces ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Human Rights Abuses ◽  
The World ◽  
Sub Saharan

Subject Democracy and COVID-19 Significance A growing number of leaders are using the COVID-19 pandemic as an opportunity to curtail the activities of opposition parties and to expand their powers. In some cases, such as Malawi, unpopular presidents are using a declaration of emergency to prohibit opposition rallies and protests. In others, such as Hungary, emergency laws have been introduced that effectively undermine democratic checks and balances. The need for lockdown and quarantine to contain the virus has also led to a militarisation of the healthcare response -- with significant human rights abuses already reported in Kenya, Rwanda and South Africa. Impacts Further power grabs are likely as the crisis's impact is increasingly felt in Sub-Saharan Africa. Human rights violations will increase as stretched security forces enforce lockdowns on populations that have limited trust in government. The quality of democracy in many parts of the world will continue to decline.

Human Rights on the March: Repression, Oppression, and Protest in Latin America

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
James C Franklin
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Latin America ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Political Repression ◽  
Human Rights Abuses ◽  
Human Rights Movement ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Latin American Countries

Abstract This research examines the impact of human rights protests on human rights abuses in seven Latin American countries—Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. I find that protests focused broadly on human rights are associated with significant declines in human rights abuses, controlling for important factors from previous studies. Furthermore, I argue that it is important to distinguish political repression (abuses that target political activists) from coercive state oppression, which has nonpolitical targets. These two types of abuses respond to different factors, but broadly focused human rights protests are found to decrease both types of abuses. I argue further that a strong human rights movement, indicated by frequent human rights protests, discourages the police abuses associated with oppression by raising the likelihood of accountability for such abuses, including by improving the likelihood of reforms to the criminal justice system.

scholarly journals Refugees, Asylum Seekers, and Policy in OECD Countries

2016 ◽  
Vol 106 (5) ◽  
pp. 441-445 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy J. Hatton
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
Oecd Countries ◽  
Economic Conditions ◽  
Policy Response ◽  
Human Rights Abuses ◽  
Displaced People ◽  
Political Terror ◽  
Refugees And Asylum Seekers ◽  
Developed World

Refugees and asylum seekers are only a small proportion of the 60 million forcibly displaced persons. But those seeking asylum in the developed world have received much of the attention as western governments have struggled to develop a policy response. An analysis of asylum applications by origin and destination indicates that these flows are largely driven by political terror and human rights abuses. Poor economic conditions in origin countries and tough asylum policies in destination countries matter too. In the light of the findings I suggest that greater coordination among OECD countries could improve the lot of those fleeing from persecution but even this would make only modest inroads into the sum of human misery that displaced people exemplify.

Documents and Source Material

2017 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-7
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Source Material ◽  
Human Rights Abuses ◽  
Palestinian Territories ◽  
Source Materials ◽  
Israeli Occupation

This section comprises JPS summaries and links to international, Arab, Israeli, and U.S. documents and source materials from the quarter spanning 16 May-15 November 2017. Fifty years of Israeli occupation was the focus of reports by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and Oxfam that documented the ongoing human rights abuses in the occupied Palestinian territories. Other notable documents include Israeli NGO Gisha and UNSCO reports on the ten-year Gaza siege, Al Jazeera's interactive timeline of the Nakba, and an exchange of letters between the ACLU and U.S. senators on anti-BDS legislation.

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