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Date: November 25, 2024 Mon
Time: 9:11 pm
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Results for militarization
6 results foundAuthor: Prouse, Carolyn Title: Framing the World cUPP: Competing Discourses of Favela Pacification as a Mega-Event Legacy in Brazil Summary: In November of 2010, Brazilian military and police officers rolled through the streets of Complexo de Alemao, Rio de Janeiro's largest favela, in an effort to 'take back' the community from notorious drug traffickers in time for the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympic Games. Given the pervasive rhetoric that the occupation of favelas by the 'pacifying' Unidade de Policia Pacificadora (UPP) program is for these mega events, what are the effects of this framing, and how is it used and contested by multiple actors? What subjects are called into being as a 'threat' through discourses regarding the UPPs, and how does this rhetoric legitimate violent practices of security by the state? Employing Judith Butler's concepts of framing and the constitutive outside, I argue that there are multiple and competing discourses that frame UPP military police interventions, which have important legacy ramifications for Brazil's mega events. In general, many international popular media accounts highly decontextualize and exoticize the space of the favela, constituting a site of threatening, yet consumable, Otherness. The state tends to construct simplistic dichotomies of space and subjects as threatening in order to legitimate its own actions. However, many favela inhabitants are reframing these constitutions to undermine the state's attempts at legitimation and bring into relief the historical and socio-political continuities of Brazilian militarization. Details: RASAALA, Vol. 3, No. 2 (2012): 17 p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 21, 2014: https://journal.lib.uoguelph.ca/index.php/rasaala/article/view/2219/2714 Year: 2012 Country: Brazil URL: https://journal.lib.uoguelph.ca/index.php/rasaala/article/view/2219/2714 Shelf Number: 132723 Keywords: Crowd ControlDrug TraffickingFavelas (Brazil)MilitarizationSlumsSporting Events |
Author: Haugaard, Lisa Title: Honduras: A Government Failing to Protect its People Summary: With a population of just over 8 million people, Honduras is home to some of the highest poverty rates in Latin America and most violent cities on earth. The deep roots of organized crime, government corruption and abuses by state forces, and impunity for criminals reverberate throughout the small Central American nation, where 97% of murders go unsolved. These factors have forced many Hondurans to flee towards the United States in hopes of finding an income, security and hope for the future. In response, the Obama Administration has proposed a $1 billion aid package to Central America, which Vice President Biden emphasized in his Central America visit last week. Last December, the Latin America Working Group Education Fund (LAWGEF) and Center for International Policy (CIP) traveled to Honduras for a first-hand look. What we found was a security situation in shambles and a country in dire need of reform. We have compiled our findings into this report which paints a picture of the most alarming issues facing Honduras today, including mass migration, the disturbing and highly visible militarization of law enforcement, grave threats against human rights defenders, and a lack of an effective and independent justice system. The report also examines the role U.S. assistance has played, and can play, in the plight of the Honduran people. In addition to describing the depth of the problem, the report points to the elements of a solution, including the development of a more effective, independent judiciary, and a thoroughly reformed civilian police force. The ultimate solution must include tackling the underlying issues of poverty and lack of education that help create an environment in which crime and violence flourish. But this requires what we did not see in Honduras - a government deeply committed to respect for human rights, with a vision of more broadly shared prosperity and a will to protect all Honduran citizens. The report concludes that carefully crafted international aid programs can help address these problems, but that, "political will from the Honduran government to protect and respect its citizenry must come first." Details: Washington, DC: Center for International Policy, 2015. 26p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 13, 2015 at: http://www.ciponline.org/images/uploads/publications/Honduras-failing-to-protect-its-people.pdf Year: 2015 Country: Honduras URL: http://www.ciponline.org/images/uploads/publications/Honduras-failing-to-protect-its-people.pdf Shelf Number: 135627 Keywords: Crime (Honduras)Law EnforcementMilitarizationSocioeconomic Conditions and CrimeViolenceViolent Crime |
Author: Lieblich, Eliav Title: The Case Against Police Militarization Summary: The police and the military are different. That much is common ground. Yet, in recent times the police have become increasingly militarized. Unsurprisingly, many find this process alarming and disconcerting, and call for its reversal. However, while most of the objections to police militarization are framed in instrumental arguments, these are unable to capture the fundamental problem with militarization. This Article remedies this shortcoming, by developing a novel and principled argument against police militarization. Contrary to arguments that are preoccupied with the consequences of militarization, we argue that militarization undermines our basic understanding of the nature of the liberal state. Consequently, the real problem with police militarization is not that it brings about more violence or abuse of authority - though that may very well happen - but that it is based on a presumption of the citizen as a threat, while the liberal order is based on precisely the opposite presumption. A presumption of threat, we argue, assumes that citizens, usually from marginalized communities, pose a threat of such caliber that might require the use of extreme violence. Viewed through the prism of the presumption of threat, the problem of police militarization becomes apparent. Perceived as threatening, the policed community is subjected to militarized forces, and thus effectively marked as an enemy. This mark, in turn, leads to the policed community's exclusion from the body politic. Crucially, the pervasiveness of police militarization has led to its normalization, thus exacerbating its exclusionary effect. Indeed, whereas the domestic deployment of militaries has always been reserved for exceptional times, the process of police militarization has normalized what was once exceptional. Details: Unpublished paper, 2016. 74p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 28, 2016 at: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2840715 Year: 2016 Country: International URL: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2840715 Shelf Number: 146108 Keywords: Civil RightsMilitarizationPolice MilitarizationPolicingWar on Drugs |
Author: Friesendorf, Cornelius Title: Militarized versus Civilian Policing: Problems of Reforming the Afghan National Police Summary: It is difficult to establish the right relationship between military and civilian elements when reforming the police forces in conflict and post-conflict regions. Principles of civilian and democratic Security Sector Reform (SSR) emphasize the need to separate the military and the police. Nevertheless, everyday reality in many places does not allow the realization of this ideal type. The police must adopt a robust stance in order to close security gaps and proceed against well organized armed criminals or insurgents. In the context of police-building and police reform in fragile states, this means that the police must be as civilian as possible and as military as necessary - with regard to their equipment, approach, structure and duties. The rapid militarization of the police can cause problems. It can lead to a rift between the police and the public which prevents the development of a relationship of trust that is so important for police work. External actors in Afghanistan are in the process of transferring the responsibility for security to Afghan institutions. By the end of 2014, the Afghan security forces are to combat insurgency and protect the state and its citizens. Donors are therefore investing huge sums, not only in training and equipping the Afghan National Army (ANA), but also in building the Afghan National Police (ANP). This report studies the transition from civilian to military-dominated police-building in Afghanistan. From 2002, Germany was the lead nation responsible for coordinating international assistance for police-building. The German police programme in Afghanistan was designed as a sustainable project with a civilian approach. However, Germany only invested relatively little funds in the building and reform of the ANP. This reflected the initially rather limited involvement of the international community as a whole in Afghanistan. The United States' Afghanistan policy relied on cooperation with the warlords as well as on the military regime in Pakistan. This policy served to strengthen the armed opposition forces. Once it became clear that the building of the ANP was not progressing quickly enough, the USA de facto assumed the lead role in police-building in Afghanistan. This meant a change of paradigm from a civilian-based police reform to a military-based police reform. Militarization was accelerated by the USdominated change of strategy in favour of counterinsurgency in 2009. The report refers to the problems of the dominance of military elements in building the ANP. It is not clear whether the militarization of the ANP has significantly improved the chances of survival for members of the Afghan police. What is certain is that militarization cannot solve the problem of the weak legitimacy of the Afghan state. There is still a lack of trust between the public and the police, especially as the ANP is inadequately equipped to prevent or solve crimes. Moreover, the possible long-term consequences of militarization are problematic: It is easier to militarize the police now than it will be to drive out the spirit of militarization at a later date. The militarization of the ANP is therefore at the best ineffective and at the worst counterproductive. Only a police force which the people trust can be effective. Apart from describing the shift away from a civilian police model and studying the reasons for this transition, the report also has a normative aim: It emphasizes the need for advancing civilian police-building. The preconditions for this in Afghanistan are everything but ideal. The argument that police reform - and SSR in general - must take second place to strengthening the ANP is wrong, however. After all, it was precisely the neglect of police reform that contributed to the deterioration of the security situation in the first place. Police reform can only be sustainable if it is linked to reforms in police administrative structures and supervisory authorities. The rapid, militarized build-up of the police can only create stability in the short term, if at all. The regular police force - the Afghan Uniformed Civilian Police (AUCP) - should concentrate on preventing and solving crime. Admittedly, in Afghanistan this calls for certain military elements in training and equipment so that the police are able to protect themselves from attacks. However, only an understanding of civilian police work can establish an atmosphere of trust between the public and the police. Various steps are necessary to realign police reform in Afghanistan. Civilian police experts, not soldiers, should dominate the strategic approach to police reform. Furthermore, measures must be taken to tackle the shortage of civilian instructors, partners and mentors as quickly as possible. It is also important to support the ANP in the long term. The two to three-year project cycles that are normal for international cooperation are usually not sufficient for sustainable police reform, among other things because they do not give local stakeholders sufficient planning security. Many further steps are necessary to improve police work in Afghanistan. These include the reform of the Ministry of Interior Affairs, the clear demarcation of areas of responsibility vis-a-vis other security players, and closer intermeshing with the justice sector. Furthermore, the difficult balancing act between (military) self-defence and the openness of the police towards the public requires regional adjustments. These must be accompanied by training contents and police work that are in touch with the people, as well as by literacy campaigns. This report does not call for a new police strategy but for a gradual realignment of the reform of the Afghan police that will serve the needs of the Afghan people better than efforts to militarize the police. Details: Frankfurt: Peace Research Institute, 2011. 43p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 30, 2016 at: http://www.hsfk.de/fileadmin/HSFK/hsfk_downloads/prif102.pdf Year: 2011 Country: Afghanistan URL: http://www.hsfk.de/fileadmin/HSFK/hsfk_downloads/prif102.pdf Shelf Number: 147751 Keywords: MilitarizationPolice ReformPolicing |
Author: Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime Title: Unexplored Wars: When military assets are used to fight organised crime Summary: Tackling organised crime is hard, perhaps one of the most complicated challenges for states in the evolving global order. Both within and outside of their territories, it requires a coordinated approach across multiple areas of government responsibility. And it also often involves the military. But the use of military assets in the fight against organised crime - and the process in which a choice is made to use the military over other options - is surprisingly undocumented and under analysed. It deserves a much more thorough examination, including discussing what the implications and consequences of the use of what might be termed "war talk" against organised crime can be. Two current examples highlight how it can be easy to conflate militarised style responses (think of the shooting of drug dealers in the Philippines) in some places with the deployment of military forces in others (the deployment of warships in the fight against human smuggling in the Mediterranean). While there are interconnections between militarisation and the use of the military, these are issues that deserve a separate examination in their own right, and with far greater nuance to the distinctions. What is common between militarised responses and the deployment of military style assets, however, is political rhetoric that situates that process as a 'war on crime'. A detailed examination of an array of such cases suggests that the political rhetoric that accompanies the deployment of military assets in a crime-fighting role may be as, if not more, damaging in the longer term then the militarised response itself. Most importantly for military planners, it may lock military forces into a long-term crime fighting roles for which they are ill-prepared and which may, beyond the first joyous greetings on their arrival, may have less positive long-term consequences: it may create a costly dependency and stymie alternatives; it can undermine the efficacy of civilian security and justice institutions, and unnecessarily taint military actors in the eyes of the local population. Organised crime too, with its access to multiple resources and its tendency to seek out protectors in the security apparatus is likely to make military forces, depending on the nature of the deployment, vulnerable to corruption. These are serious considerations for both policymakers and military leadership to consider when contemplating engaging military assets against illicit economies, or declaring a war on crime. In the worst case scenario, the costs for militaries that value their legitimacy at home and abroad may be high. Details: Geneva, SWIT: The Initiative, 2017. 10p. Source: Internet Resource: Policy Note: Accessed December 6, 2017 at: http://globalinitiative.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/tgiatoc-policy-note-war-on-crime-1879-web.pdf Year: 2017 Country: International URL: http://globalinitiative.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/tgiatoc-policy-note-war-on-crime-1879-web.pdf Shelf Number: 148730 Keywords: Illicit Economies MilitarizationMilitary Forces Organized Crime |
Author: Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs Title: The Impact of Securitization on Central American Migrants Summary: Mexico is a country of origin, transit, and destination for various migratory flows. Since 2011, Mexican governmental agencies, civil society groups, and international organizations have reported an increase in the number of migrants traveling to the United States from Central America, especially from the Northern Triangle countries of Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala. A combination of factors, including high rates of violence, lack of access to basic services, and the impunity with which criminal organizations operate in the Northern Triangle countries contributes to increased outward migration to Mexico and the United States. This report evaluates Mexico's migratory policies as well as the legal mandates of government bodies whose agents regularly interact with Central American migrants. It documents advances such as the decriminalization of irregular migration and the enactment of laws that protect certain high-risk groups. It also covers backsliding, such as when migratory officials and police officers fail to comply with Mexico's migratory laws. Additionally, the report describes the abuse of authority, corruption, and high rates of impunity within the Mexican federal agencies tasked with implementing migration policy. For over a decade, Mexico's government has increasingly viewed migration policy as a national security issue. This report will examine how Mexico adopted this lens and how a national security approach affects migrants traveling through the country. Increased levels of militarization along Mexico's southern border have coincided with elevated rates of detention and deportations for irregular migrants. These policies-including the most recent Southern Border Plan of 2014-have pushed migrants away from populated areas with heavier law enforcement presences, increasing their exposure to environmental and criminal risks. This report demonstrates how restrictive migration policies affect the risks that migrants encounter during their journeys through Mexico. It draws on data obtained from transparency requests, publicly available reports, and an original Migrant Risk Database. Finally, this report makes several recommendations to various Mexican agencies and organizations involved in migration policy. These recommendations aim to improve security for migrants transiting through Mexico. They also seek to enhance institutional effectiveness in agencies that deal with migrants. They generally represent short-term steps that could be implemented by the next Mexican presidential administration to improve protections for migrants and the country's overall migratory policy. However, for significant progress, Mexico will need to better address systemic issues that endanger migrants, including corruption, rule of law and access to justice, and the control of transnational criminal organizations. Details: Austin, TX: The University of Texas at Austin, 2018. 71p. Source: Internet Resource: Policy Research Project Report no. 199: Accessed September 19, 2018 at: https://repositories.lib.utexas.edu/handle/2152/65643 Year: 2018 Country: Mexico URL: https://repositories.lib.utexas.edu/handle/2152/65643 Shelf Number: 151589 Keywords: Immigration Immigration Policy Migrants MilitarizationOrganized Crime Violence Violent Crime |