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PPerspectives from Nigeria • Colombia • Brazil • Malaysia • United States this issue PUBLIC SECURITY AND HUMAN RIGHTS

3 At the Table developments in the Brazilian human rights scene; Andressa Caldas, Sandra Carvalho, and James Cavallaro weigh in from the activists’ perspective. 4 Introduction 20 A View from the Inside 6 The New Face of Impunity Carlos Basombrío offers a perspective on human Rachel Neild explains the phenomenon of rising rights, crime, and police reform in Peru from his new crime and the challenges it poses to human rights position as vice minister of the interior. activists worldwide. 21 Roundtable on U.S. Civil Liberties in 8 Restricting the Right to Shoot September 11’s Wake Martin Schönteich details the life and eventual p a s s age of a controversial piece of legislation in Dialogue met with U.S. rights leaders Jamie Fellner, crime-ridden South Africa. Makubetse Sekhonyane Elisa Massimino, and Michael Ratner to learn how provides some insights from the street based on his their work has changed since September 11, and how work with officers. they are sticking to their guns in a climate of fear. Kit Gage describes how she and others organized one of the largest and most diverse coalitions of U.S. activists 11 Responding to Vigilantism ever assembled following September 11. One human rights group in Nigeria, writes Innocent Chukwuma, is working with community vigilante groups to help them fight crime—the right way. 25 Crackdown with a Blessing Activist Elizabeth K.P. Wong reports on the use and 13 “Firm Hand, Large Heart” abuse of Malaysia’s controversial Internal Security Act and its new-found international support in the According to Adam Isacson, the tough new leader post–September 11 world. Karim Raslan, a prominent of Colombia has the support of a war-weary journalist in Malaysia, finds the Bali attacks have population, making human rights work in the forced him to reconsider his support for rights in region more challenging, and more critical, than these uncertain times. ever. Jorge Rojas responds. 28 Israeli Exceptionalism? 16 Bridging Activism and Policymaking Rabbi Jeremy Milgrom explains why, as an Israeli Dialogue talked with Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro, founder human rights activist, he is isolated in his opposition and director of the Center for the Study of Violence to the widely supported policy of targeted killing. at the University of São Paulo, to learn the secrets of the center’s success and the challenges for the future. Fiona Macaulay provides insight into recent 30 Readers Respond

Carnegie Council on Ethics and International Affairs gratefully acknowl- edges the valuable contribution of the International Center on Human Rights Policy (ICHRP).As part of an ongoing research project,the ICHRP organized a workshop, “Crime, Public Order, and Human Rights,” at the Carnegie Council in October 2002. For more i n formation on ICHRP’s wo r k , v i s i t www.international-council.org.

Cover Photo: A member of the public is stopped and se a r ched on the streets of Derry. AT THE TA B L E

Carlos Basombrío is a sociologist and Since September 11 U.S. government Rabbi Jeremy Milgrom is co-founder vice minister of the Peruvian Ministry antiterrorist policies have been a pro- and co-director of Clergy for Peace, an of the Interior. Until September 2001 he gram priority. www.hrw.org I s ra e l i / Palestinian in- was director of the Institute for Legal terfaith initiative of De f ense, a leading Lima-based human Kit Gage d i rects the National Com- C h r i s t i a n s, Muslims, rights organization. www.i d l . o r g.p e mittee against Re p re s s ive L e g i s l a- and Jews working for tion and the First Amendment Founda- justice and peace in the Andressa Caldas , Sandra Carvalho , tion in Washington, D.C. She is also M i ddle East. Rabb i and James Cavallar o all work for the president and co-founder of the Na- M i l grom completed Global Justice Center, a human rights tional Coalition to Protect Po l i t i c a l t h ree years of a c t ive advocacy and training Freedom. www.indefenseoffreedom.org duty and sixteen years of reserve duty organization based in in the Israeli Army, the last eight of Rio de Ja n i e ro. Cal- Adam Isacson has worked at the Cen- which were spent as a conscientious ob- das, the center’s legal ter for International Policy, an inde- jector. He works with Rabbis for Hu- co o rd i n a t o r , has taught pendent research and man Rights on behalf of the Jahalin civil law and legal the- advocacy organization Bedouin. www.rhr.israel.net o ry at the Catholic in Washington, D.C., U n iversity of Pa ra n á since 1995. He coordi- Rachel Neild is senior associate at the and participates ac- nates a program that Washington Office on Latin America tively in the National monitors security and (WOLA). She also directs WOLA’s Civ- Network of Grassroo t s U. S. military assis- il Society and Citizen Law ye r s . Carval h o i s tance to Latin Ameri- Security Project, which the center’s re s e a rch ca and the Caribbean, focusing prima- supports research and and commu n i c a t i o n s rily on Colombia. Since 1998 his work c ivil society cap a c i t y - director. From 1997 to has sent him to Colombia seventeen building in Centra l 2000 she served as ex- times. www.ciponline.org America on issues of ecutive secretary to the p u blic security re- Commission on Hu- Fiona Macaulay is lecturer in politi- forms. Neild writes ex- man Rights of the São cal sociology at the Institute of L a t i n tensively on public security reforms and Paulo Legislative As- American Studies, University of L o n- human rights, and, in particular, on po- s e m bl y. Cava l l a ro is founder and don, and re s e a rch fe l l ow at the Centre lice reform in Haiti. www.wola.org director of the Global Justice Center for Brazilian Studies, University of and currently splits his time between O x fo rd. She is currently completing a Paulo Sérgio Pinheir o is secretary of Rio and Cambridge, Massach u s e t t s, re s e a rch project entitled “Po l i t i c a l state for human rights in Brazil. He has where he is associate director of the and Institutional Challenges of Re- also been pro fessor Human Rights Program at Harvar d Un i - fo rming the Brazilian Criminal Ju s- o f political science versity Law School. www. gl o b a l . o rg. b r tice System.” She was head of t h e at the University of B razil desk at the International Secre- São Paulo since 1985. Innocent Chukwuma is founder and tariat of Amnesty International fro m Through the university, executive director of the Centre for Law 1997 to 2000. he and Sérgio Adorno E n fo rcement Educa- founded the Center for tion in Lagos. In addi- Elisa Massimino is director of the the Study of Violence tion to his criminal Washington office of the Law ye r s in 1987. www.nev.usp.br justice work, he is one Committee for Human o f the founders of R i g h t s, wh e re she Karim Raslan is a Kuala Lumpur–based United Action fo r serves as the point of lawyer and author. His weekly syndi- D e m o c ra cy, Nige r i a ’s contact with U.S. gov- cated column is published by the Star ch i e f p ro - d e m o c ra cy ernment leaders, inter- ( M a l aysia), B u s i n e s s political party. www.cleen.kabissa.org national diplomats, T i m e s ( S i n gap o re ) , and human rights and Sin Chew Daily Jamie Fellner is di- opinion leaders and (Malaysia). Karim also rector of the U.S. Pro- decision-makers. Massimino is the or- writes articles on an ad gram of H u m a n ganization’s chief advocacy strategist, a hoc basis for Syd n e y Rights Wa t ch, wh i ch national authority on refugee law and M o rning Hera l d, t h e addresses a wide range policy, and an expert on a range of in- Nation, and Philippine of human rights abus- t e rnational human rights issues. Daily Inquirer. He maintains a home in es in the United States. www.lchr.org Ubud, Bali.

human rights dialogue Fall 2002 3 AT THE TA B L E I N T RO D U C T I O N

Michael Ratner is president of the n Febr u a r y 2000, a public poll in Argentina revealed an Center for Constitutional Rights and a al a r ming tren d : when asked to chose between publi c p racticing attorn e y. While he has Ior der and freedom, nearly half the respondents said wor ked at the center most of his twen t y - they favor ed combating crime with a strong hand, even s even years as a law ye r, his other though this might entail abuses against suspected crimi- positions have included special counsel na l s .* This is a surprising fact, especially in a country that to President Aristide to assist in the has a history of abuse and brutality. It is a ref lection, how- prosecution of human rights crimes in ever , of a growing trend worl d wide: people are placing their Haiti (1995–96) and instructor at Yale Law School’s security abo ve all else, protection of human rights inclu d - International Human Rights Law Clinic (1990–94). ed. In the wak e of the September 11 terrorist attacks , citi- www.ccr-ny.org zens in countries as diverse as France, South Africa, Colombia, and the United States have indicated a similar Jorge Rojas , president of the Consul- tancy for Human Rights and Displace- willingness to trade rights for enhanced security. In this ment, is a sociologist and social com- issue of Di a l og u e , we exp l o r e the ways in whi c h public tol- municator. He is the author of a num- er ance for suspending civil rights in the face of th r eats to ber of publications on human rights, pu b lic security—both criminal threats to personal security displacement, refugees, peace, and mi- and terrorist threats to national security—has created new gration in Colombia and Latin Ameri- cha l l e n g es for the human rights commun i t y . ca. www.codhes.org.co Public fear is the common link between these secu- rity threats, resulting in increased support for a strong Martin Schönteich and Makubetse hand and falling trust in the rights perspective both in Sekhon yane are both senior research- societies with a long rights tradition and in societies for ers in the Crime and Justice Program at whom rights are newly won. Critics say that the most the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) pressing social agenda for activists is no longer advoca- in Pretoria, South Africa. Befo re cy on behalf of political prisoners and defense of polit- joining ISS, Schönteich was a public ical openness, but fighting for fairer rules and institu- p rosecutor with the Department of tions that can ensure that people who happen to be Justice. For two years he managed the born in poorer, weaker states are not thereby cut off South African Institute of Ra c e from economic opportunities and political power—fac- Relations’ parliamentary affairs office, tors that breed crime and terror. Conventional tools of wh e re he undertook policy - re l a t e d research on the criminal justice system. human rights organizations may not add ress these S e k h o n ya n e ’s back ground incl u d e s salient issues, nor bring about improvement in the daily work as a researcher at the Human lives of the citizens they strive to protect. But is it the Rights Committee of South Africa, role of the human rights organization to create a secure where he examined state policies and and stable society, or is it to point out injustice and hold legislation to ensure state compliance with the perpetrators accountable? constitution and international human rights treaties. Contributors to this issue of Dialogue address the www.iss.co.za tensions between the public’s demand for security and the priorities of the local human rights communities, Elizabeth K.P .Wong is secretary- providing insight into the innovative ways human rights gen e r al of the National Human Rights advocates have adapted their traditional strategies to Society in Malaysia and board member address what has become for some groups a crisis of of Su a r a Rak yat Malaysia (Suaram), a public legitimacy. Rachel Neild leads off the issue by human rights organization. Wong is explaining the complex phenomenon of rising crime currently researching the changing worldwide. Neild pays particular attention to newly perceptions of rights and security democratic societies, where the collapse of authoritari- in Malaysia post–September 11 as a anism, which had guaranteed public order through Carnegie Council fellow. www.suaram.org and repression, has left a void of responsibility. www.cceia.org/programs/2002wong.html The lag in human rights activists’ re c ognition of these pro blems has ge n e rated considerable public criti- cism that, in their preoccupation with the rights of p e r-

4 Fall 2002 human rights dialogue p e t ra t o r s, they have ignored the rights of victims or There has been much discussion of how the world potential future victims and are thus failing to adva n c e has changed post–September 11. In the United States, social justice. M a rtin Schönteich p rovides a case study the fear felt in the wake of the attacks has resulted in f rom South Africa, a country with a frighteningly high widespread public support for repressive government crime rate, on its “right to shoot” legislation. Despite tactics such as increased censorship, wiretapping, mili- the fact that mu ch of the population experienced first- tary tribunals, indefinite detentions, and even the via- hand the military police’s brutality under ap a rt h e i d , bility of torture as a means of obtaining “good infor- the public has been reluctant to place limits on the mation”—policies that the United States has long criti- p o l i c e ’s right to fire upon any fleeing suspect. cized in less-developed countries as violations of basic Sch ö n t e i ch ’ s colleague at the Pretoria-based Institute human rights. Michael Ratner, Jamie Fellner, and Elisa for Security Studies, Makubetse Sekhonya n e, pre s e n t s Massimino join Dialogue in a discussion of how their the results of their study of police in South Africa, respective New York–based groups—the Center for wh i ch points to ways of reducing police vulnerab i l i t y Constitutional Rights, Human Rights Watch, and the on the stre e t s. Lawyers Committee for Human Rights are dealing with In some countries, fearful publics have taken the this new env i ronment. Kit Gag e o f the National l aw into their own hands—with dange rous conse- Committee against Repressive Legislation explains how quences. As Innocent Chukwuma writes, vigilantism groups from the left, right, and center came together in has become widespread in Nigeria, leading activists like the immediate aftermath of September 11 to warn him to teach neighborhood vigilante groups how to Congress against taking extreme measures that would fight crime in a way that is consonant with human compromise fundamental rights. rights. In other contexts, groups have held their ground Many observers have noted that advances made by against public criticism and continue to act as thorns in human rights activists are among the casualties of t h e the sides of governments. Such is the case with human wo rl dwide campaign against terrorism. Malay s i a n rights groups in Colombia, re p o rts Adam Isacson, human rights activist Elizabeth K.P. Wo n g d e s c r i b e s where the collapse of the peace process has opened the h ow the campaign has bu t t ressed Prime Minister way for a war-weary populace to turn to a heavy-hand- Mahathir Mohammad’s longstanding support for the ed new president for hope. Activist Jorge Rojas argues c o u n t ry ’s Internal Security Act, a focal point of that human rights groups need to stay the course. M a l aysian activism since 1960. Wong is especially con- This issue of Dialogue includes contributions from c e rned that some of her activist colleagues are now t wo Latin American activ i s t s - t u rn e d - g ove rn m e n t - c owing to a new, gove rnment-led rhetoric of s e c u r i t y officials—a sign of the changing times. Paulo Sérgio in calling for a revised law, when in her view any such Pinheiro, co-founder of the Center for the Study of l aw puts human rights in dange r. To Malaysian jour- Violence in São Paulo and also Brazil’s secretary of state nalist and opinion-maker Karim Raslan, who was per- for human rights, and Carlos Basombrío, Peru’s vice sonally shaken by the terrorist bombing in Bali in minister of the interior, are among the first human October of this ye a r, a re c o n s i d e ration of s e c u r i t y rights advocates to take on the problem of crime. In an needs is justifiable. interview with Dialogue, Pinheiro describes the contri- While the rise in crime and the U.S . war on terror i s m bution that his university-based research center was able ha ve brought the question of pu b lic security to the for e, it to make to Brazil’s crime policy while simultaneously is by no means a new issue. In conflict zones like India, criticizing the government for rights violations. Fiona Pakistan, Ireland, the Philippines, and Israel whe r e cros s - Macaulay reports that in Brazil the number of universi- bo r der or internal conflict has been looming for decades, ty-based centers has grown, supplying the government human rights activists have cut their teeth in the struggle to with much needed expertise in criminology and human pr otect human rights befor e a public that has run scared. In rights, while Andressa Caldas, Sandra Carvalho, and the case of Is r ael, writes Rabbi Jere m y Milgrom of Rabbi s James Cavallaro present a more sanguine view of the for Human Rights, the level of pu b lic fear is so high that its results of engagement with the government. Basombrío human rights culture has eroded, a fact that is highlighted reflects upon an essay about the crime challenge in Latin by widespread support—both from the public and from America that he penned for Dialogue back in 2000 Is r aeli human rights grou p s — f or his govern m e n t ’ s policy (w w w. c a rn e g i e c o u n c i l . o rg / t h e m e s / h r dw i n t e r 1 9 9 9 . h t m l ) of ta r geted killing. ■hrd when he was deputy director of the Institute for Legal *F or more details on this poll and other public opinion Defense in Lima, and reports on his new insights on the polls rev ealing this trend, see the special res o u r ces fea t u re s problem “from the inside.” of our on-line ver sion at www.c a rn eg i e c o u n c i l . o r g

PUBLIC SECURITY AND HUMAN RIGHTS human rights dialogue Fall 2002 5 tunities. Other studies indicate that rapid and high- The New Face density urbanization cultivate violence, while a World Bank study of fifty countries found a clear relationship between inequality and incre a s i n g of Impunity homicide rates. Expanding global trade in arms and drugs also creates opportunity and means for vio- lent crime. In transitional contexts, specific political factors Rachel Neild also come into play. Armed groups can metamor- phose into criminal gangs. Criminal justice systems molded by authoritarian regimes for the purposes of social control and regime protection are poorly he end of the twentieth century witnessed equipped to tackle crime. Efforts by police and historic transitions to peace and democra- politicians to confront crime often lead to proposals Tcy—albeit often tentative and partial—in that undermine rights, such as the expansion of Latin America, Eastern Europe, Africa, and Asia. police powe r s, a tolerance of t o rt u re, and the For the global human rights movement, it might increasing of penalties—including reintroducing the have been a time for ushering in a new era focused death penalty. Even as the state again resorts to on securing the national and international mecha- repression, private responses may erode the state’s nisms of accountability that would be the founda- sphere of influence. The boom of private security tion for a new culture of rights within and across companies and, in some cases, the appearance or b o rd e r s. Yet, in many countries, human rights expansion of vigilantism and lynching are out- groups barely had time to draw breath before find- growths of state incapacity to deal with crime. ing themselves facing a new set of threats to human Some analyses posit a continuum of v i o l e n c e rights in the growth of common crime and social f rom authoritarianism through the transition to violence, and, in particular, in the public and politi- d e m o c ra cy, with state violence replaced by priva t e cal reactions to these crime waves. violence. State impunity for political crimes under- Crime and violence appear to be rising in a wide goes a perverse metamorphosis into criminal range of countries. In its examination of available i m p u n i t y. In developing countries already strug- data, the World Health Organization found a stag- gling with economic, social, and political ch a l- gering 50 percent increase in homicides around the l e n ge s, crime and the ineffe c t ive and authoritarian world between 1985 and 1994. Regionally, Africa responses to it further reduce the expected “democ- and Latin America vie for first place with the high- ra cy dividend.” This dynamic has a pro fo u n d l y est homicide rates in the world. The growth in vio- n e ga t ive impact on public support for human lence crosses all regions, but while industrialized r i g h t s. Surveys sometimes show massive support countries saw a 15 percent increase, the jump was for abu s ive responses to crime, even among the more than 80 percent in Latin America and 112 per- poor who bear the brunt of both crime and police cent in the Arab world. abuse. In some cases, people’s support for democ- Overall, low- and middle-income countries have ra cy itself has eroded. homicide rates more than double those of high- For human rights organ i z a t i o n s , the obvious strat - income countries. Such data hide tremendous varia- eg y might be a rel a t i vely strai g h t fo r wa r d effor t to stand tions among gender and age cohorts, urban and up against policies that violate human rights norms rural or rich and poor communities, and ethnic and and to take up the banner for due process rights and an racial groups. While poverty does not necessarily end to police violence. In many tran s i t i o n s , however , correlate with high crime, many demographic, eco- human rights groups have not immediately rec og n i z e d nomic, and social trends are feeding real increases in the cha l l e n g es crime waves and abus i ve state res p o n s e s crime rates. The youth factor is particularly clear pose, perhaps expecting or hoping that democrat i c (globally, violence is the cause of 14 percent of male go ver nments would rein in violent police and improve deaths between the ages of 15 and 44) and deeply the courts . Often, groups wer e fighting other authori- troubling for the many developing countries with tarian legac i e s , or moving on to confront underly i n g “youth bubbles” and few youth employment oppor- socioeconomic injustice. As a result, in many coun-

6 Fall 2002 human rights dialogue tr i e s , rights organizations have stopped systematically is time consuming, frustrating, exp e n s i ve, and often documenting individual cases of police violations. leads to nothing; at worst, cooperation with unsympa- The new victims of police abuse are common crim- thetic or hostile officials can be psycho l o gically trau m a t - inals—both perpetrators and victims of crime—in con- ic (parti c u l a r ly in cases of violence against women) or trast to the past when the people whom human rights even danger ous when there is no protection against vio- organizations defended were victims of state repres- lent rep r i s a l s . Some organizations are starting to exa m - sion. It is clear that the idea of defending the new ine the treatment of crime victims and advocate for more “guilty victims” is increasingly discomforting to them. attention and sensitivity to their needs, parti c u l a r ly the This is another reason why human rights organizations ver y poor whose livelihoods are desperately fragi l e . are moving away from their role as police watchdogs. Others seek to increase access to justice through legal aid They face denunciation by politicians for coddling and other mecha n i s m s . Thr ough this wor k, advoc a t e s criminals and must contend with the argument that co n f r ont the rem o t e n e s s , lack of co n s i d e r ation, and irrel - tough-on-crime policies entail a necessary trade-off in evance of for mal justice to the lives of the poor. the abrogation of some rights. In transitional societies, Another fundamental challenge—and perhaps the where rights are fragile in both public consciousness area in which most work remains to be done—lies with and political discourse, this hard - l i n e appeal threatens a loss of public support for hard-won rights values. In many countries, human rights groups When human rights groups do resume barely had time to draw breath be fo r e facing the wa t ch d og role, security info rm a t i o n th r eats of common crime and social violence. tends to be classified and inaccessibl e . Human rights groups must then develop new strategies to obtain information on the full range the police. The abysmal lack of public trust in and of victims of police abuse. Rights groups in Argentina cooperation with the police has been well documented have used leyes de amparo—a kind of habeas corpus across Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Human rights instrument—to obtain data from the police. In Brazil, activists have far more experience with the workings of groups have mapped police abuse. In both countries, the courts than with the closed, sometimes military- groups have analyzed patterns of abusive police prac- dominated, and often-hostile police forces. Yet the tice by using press accounts to build databases of police police are on the frontline of crime fighting, and, abuse. Other organizations have chosen to work on despite research indicating that abusive and discrimina- miscarriages of justice in which the defendants are tory policing reduces effectiveness, efforts to introduce clearly wrongly accused. The cases of the new innocent community policing and other responsive and preven- victims of the war on crime generally have far greater tion-oriented approaches often collapse, criticized as media and political resonance. being “soft on crime.” The ch a l l e n ge of c ra f t i n g At the same time, human rights activists have come reforms that can address both police accountability and to understand that denouncing only the criminal justice effectiveness lies at the heart of human rights engage- system ignores the ver y real suffering of crime victims ment with the need to confront both crime and ongoing and other citizens whose lives are ever more constrai n e d state violence. by both real and perce i ved threats of crime. One impor- Few criminal justice policies are made on the basis tant strat e g y for rights organizations ref lects a lesson of consultation or debate with broad sectors of society, le a r ned earlier in struggles for transitional justice. Just as and few are informed by solid data and analysis. All too ea r ly truth commissions wer e criticized for their focus on often, perceptions and emotions dictate policies. of fenders and neglect of the rep a ra t i ve needs of the vic- Human rights groups can and should play a role in ti m s , criminal justice systems also often pay little heed to shaping the tone and content of policy debates, shifting the needs and rights of crime victims. Rights grou p s , for the model of criminal justice from the retributive to the their part, have also sometimes focused on violations of re s t o ra t ive and engaging with institutional refo r m due process without sufficiently rec o gnizing the plight of processes. Without intervention by the human rights crime victims. Many victims and witnesses refuse to community, it is more likely that policy responses will co o p e r ate with criminal proceedings because, at best, it undermine rights and perpetuate injustice. ■hrd

PUBLIC SECURITY AND HUMAN RIGHTS human rights dialogue Fall 2002 7 Restricting the Right to Shoot

Martin Schönteich

y global standards, South Africa has extraor- In its 2000 annual re p o rt, the Independent dinarily high levels of violent crime. Complaints Directorate (ICD)––a statutory body BA c c o rding to data for ap p roximately 100 with the responsibility for investigating police con- countries collected by Interpol, South Africa has the duct and offenses committed by members of the highest per capita rates of murder and rape and the police service––described a “dramatic” hardening of second highest rate of robbery and violent theft. In p u blic attitudes towa rd the rights of c r i m i n a l s. 2000––the last year for which figures have been “There seems to be a growing popular perception released––an average of sixty people were murdered that the constitutional rights of criminals are being every day. protected above those of their victims,” the direc- Unsurprisingly, respect for the rights of crimi- torate reported. It is not uncommon that crime sus- nals in the country is low. In 1998 a parliamentary pects are killed by members of the public, as a result move to restrict the right of police to shoot at fleeing of either vigilante activity or citizen action to bring crime suspects (Judicial Matters Second about an arrest. Amendment Act no. 122) was condemned by the There are no available figures on the extent of p u blic and bl o cked by the Ministry of Ju s t i c e . such killings, but ICD does record the number of Three-and-a-half years after that move, and with a crime suspects killed by members of the South record of nearly 2,000 suspects having died at the African Police Service (SAPS), and it is worryingly hands of the police, the Constitutional Court limit- high. According to ICD, between April 1997 and ed the right to shoot this past May. March 2001, 1,980 people were killed as a result of police action in South Africa—an average of 500 per year. Of these, almost 90 percent died from gunshot wounds, half of which were inflicted in the course of an arrest. The numbers are comparable to the Brazilian city of São Paulo, where police killed 481 civilians in 2001. By comparison, some thirty to forty civilians are fatally shot every year by members of the New York Police Department––down from more than sixty in the 1970s. The high fatality fig- ures in South Africa drew the attention of human rights organizations to the laws that permitted the use of force to bring about an arrest. A c c o rding to the original “right to shoot” law (Section 49, Criminal Pro c e d u re Act no. 51 of 1977), if a police officer is unable to effect an a r rest or prevent a suspect from fleeing by means other than killing, the killing is “justifiable homi- cide” in either of t wo situations: if a person is being arrested for a listed offense, or if an arre s t o r has re a s o n able grounds to suspect that such an o ffense had been committed. Listed offe n s e s i n clude serious violent crimes, but also cover mali- cious damage to pro p e rt y, fraud, and theft. Th i s m e a n s, for example, that a police officer is lega l l y Murder, rape, armed robbery, and assault are just some of the scenes the South African Police Service are called to every minute of every day.

8 Fall 2002 human rights dialogue entitled to kill a shoplifting suspect who could outrun t h e re fo re unable to determine whether a suspect poses him or her. d a n ge r. SAPS, an amalgamation of the fo rmer South When in 1998 the Department of S a fety and African Police and the police fo rces of the ap a rt h e i d - Security within the Ministry of Justice opposed the c reated bl a ck homelands, inherited the under- q u a l i- amendment passed by parliament to limit the right of fied officers in its ra n k s. As a matter of p o l i cy, SAPS is the police to use lethal fo rce to arrest a suspect, supposed to administer training courses in human then–Safety and Security Minister Steve Tshwete com- rights to new re c r u i t s. Since 1994, howeve r, there has mented, been a hiring freeze within SAPS that was only re c e n t- ly lifted. Th u s, in reality there has been almost no We are dealing with criminals who are motivat e d human rights tra i n i n g. by the understanding that human rights laws are In response, two Johannesburg-based NGOs––the tilted in their favor . If you say to the police they Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation must not take their guns from their holsters until th e y ’ r e threatened, by that time, in some instances, (CSVR) and the Institute for Human Rights and they are already down . Criminal Justice Studies (wh i ch is affiliated with Technikon South Africa, a college that offers training to The national police commissioner concurred that high police officers)––are assisting SAPS in providing human crime levels, considerations of public safety, and the many police officers killed––some 200 There is a growing popular perception that the a year––warranted the retention of the pre- constitutional rights of criminals are protected 1998 law that gave officers the right to shoot. above those of their victims. He further argued that the violent nature of South African criminal activity undeniably brings rights training for police officers. Yet it is not easy to police officers into situations in which lethal force is reach these officers. According to David Bruce, a senior necessary. CSVR researcher, CSVR’s emphasis on human rights In bl o cking the amendment, the Department of and its criticism of the high number of fatalities at the S a fety and Security also argued that 25 percent of hands of the police have not always endeared it to SAPS officers are “functionally illiterate” and are street-level officers.

Makubetse Sekhon yane on the Police in Post-Apartheid South Africa

IN MAY 1996 THE CONSTITUTION of South Africa was enshrined What is needed is a balanced policy ap p roach to crimi- as the highest law of the land,guaranteeing human rights to all nal justice that add resses public calls for greater security and people of South Africa for the first time. Since then one of the that avoids draconian measures that infringe upon civil liber- barriers to the realization of those rights has been the police . ties and human rights in general.To provide the gove r n m e n t Under ap a rtheid millions of South Africans experienced with the information to achieve this, during 2001–2002 the violence at the hands of the police; b r u t a l i t y, detention with- Institute for Security Studies, in collaboration with SAPS, i n i- out trial, and forc i b l y extracted confessions we re characteris- tiated a study at selected sentinel sites around Jo h a n n e s b u r g . tic practices. With the ushering in of the new era, S o u t h The study clearly shows that members of the police serv i c e Africans wanted police refo r m . The 1998 amendment of the a re vulnerable to violence, and their legitimate fear goes a Criminal Pro c e d u re Act limiting the police’s right to shoot long way in explaining why South Africa has such high rates of re p resented a significant step fo r w a rd in the transition of the police killings. South African Police Service (SAPS) from an occupational M a rtin Schönteich explains that the police lack training a r my to a democratic police organization. Unfortunately, with in a number of are a s , p a rt i c u l a r ly in conducting searc h e s , the rampant rise in crime the public did not view the amend- entering pre m i s e s , and stopping ve h i c l e s .The study also finds ment in this light; instead, it was fearful that it would mean a that police have few alternatives to lethal fo rce at their dis- less effective police force to protect it. p o s a l , making their jobs even more dangero u s . In the period

PUBLIC SECURITY AND HUMAN RIGHTS human rights dialogue Fall 2002 9 In Feb r u a ry of this ye a r, the parl i a m e n t tion. “Any significant limitation of any of t h e s e announced that the amendment to the “right to rights would for its justification demand a ve ry shoot” law would finally come into effect. However, compelling countervailing public interest,” the this decision was once again overruled—this time by c o u rt concluded. The court stressed that its ruling did If you tell police they cannot take their guns from not limit the right to self-defe n s e . their holsters until they’ re threa t e n e d , by that time, Nevertheless, the front-page headline of the Citizen, one of the country’s largest th e y may already be down . c i rculating dailies, announced: “Po l i c e Blast Shooting Ban.” The article quoted President Thabo Mbeki, who asserted that further an unnamed senior police officer: “Why are they debate was needed. The impasse was resolved by the [the Constitutional Court justices] protecting the Constitutional Court, which decided unanimously rights of criminals? I think the court has no idea in favor of the parliament and the amendment. what it is doing. Maybe they should come and work The court ruled that the use of p o t e n t i a l l y as policemen for a while––then they will sing a dif- deadly fo rce to bring about an arrest should be ferent tune.” The same report quoted the official limited to cases in wh i ch a suspect either poses a opposition Democratic Alliance stating that the violent threat to persons at the scene of the arre s t safety and security minister “must not allow the or is re a s o n ably suspected of h aving committed a Constitution to be a suicide note for the SAPS.” crime involving the infliction or the threat of Six months after the Constitutional Court’s rul- i n fliction of serious bodily harm. The court agre e d ing, much public misunderstanding persists. SAPS is with the Department of S a fety and Security arg u- developing an internal campaign to inform its offi- ment that it is unfair to expect police officers to cers of their rights and obligations when using force d e t e rmine whether a suspect poses a serious future to apprehend crime suspects. And for its part, CSVR p hysical threat, but interp reted this as pro o f o f t h e and Technikon South Africa are planning similar need to limit, rather than to extend, the right to public education campaigns that will serve the pri- shoot to under- t rained and ove rt a xed police off i- vate security industry. These steps cannot assuage c e r s. Furt h e r, the court argued that the rights to the public’s fear of violent crime, which still urgent- l i fe, human dignity, and bodily integrity are essen- ly needs to be addressed. But they are at least steps tial to the value system prescribed by the constitu- in the right direction. ■hrd

b e fo re the transition to democracy, South African police of the study, we interviewed a number of police officers in had access to sufficient nonlethal equipment, i n c l u d i n g the Crime Prevention Unit.They complained that new laws n i g h t s t i c k s ,tear gas canisters, and back-up guns.To d ay they are not adequately explained to them. Moreover, they do c a rry only their work-issued pistol—a change that not have a working knowledge of the constitution nor, re f l e c t s , in part , the desire to project an image of a shift most critically, Section 49 on the use of force.The officers f rom a military-type police fo rce to a civilian-type one in worried about how they would carry out their duties if the which the police are part of the commu n i t y. law restricted their right to shoot. Police also lack proper protective equipment. The In the face of escalating crime, ci t i z e n s , li k e the police, vests they are given are outdated,designed to stop bullets ar e beginning to see human rights standards as impeding from AK-47s, not close-range 9mm pistols that a criminal police work and protecting criminals.Th e r e is a disjuncture would typically use. They are also heavy and uncomfort- be t w een what the law says and what the police do.To pre- able, especially in hot weather—as a result, officers tend vent the undermining of a rights culture, SAPS needs training not to wear them. Members of the police told us they in matters of human rights. Officers should know the new were reluctant to investigate crimes in progress in which legislation and rec e i v e instructions on how to adhere to it. firearms were used and that they often do not have hand- cuffs or the hand-held radios needed to call for back-up. For more information on this study and the Institute for Security The problem is further exacerbated by the absence of Studies’ work with the police, visit the Criminal Justice Monitor clear policy guidelines regarding the use of force. As part online at www.iss.co.za ■hrd

10 Fall 2002 human rights dialogue Responding to police. Another part calls for outright disbandment of vigilante groups and trial of their operat i ves , who take delight in judging potential offenders without trial and in administering brutal punishment—and who are Vigilantism un d e r mining our progress towar d democrac y. I am sympathetic with this view. Yet it is also a fact that the police alone cannot adequately protect citizens’ safety and security without the involvement Innocent Chukwuma of neighborhood watches, community guards (ndi nche), or even vigilante groups. Furthermore, it is he transition from military dictatorship to doubtful that the Nigeria Police Force and justice elected civilian government in Nigeria has system as presently constituted could fully enforce Tbrought in its wake a surge in crime and dis- the disbandment of ever y vigilante group in the thirty - order that threatens to undercut public support for six states of Nigeria and bring their operatives to democracy. Since the inauguration of the Obasanjo trial. Even if the police were able to outlaw vigilan- government on May 29, 1999, safety and security tism, it would be tantamount to telling inner-city have become scarce commodities. communities and rural areas, often not protected by In spite of the govern m e n t ’ s promises to tackl e police patrols, that they have no right to organize crime, Nigeria continues to have high rates of arm e d and protect themselves against criminal attacks. ro bb e ry, political assassinations, ethno-re l i g i o u s Human rights groups and policymakers must ki l l i n g s , and other for ms of violent crime. From the find a way to ensure both that due process is pro- Ni g er Delta, whe r e res t i ve youths fighting envi ro n - tected and that the rights of communities to organ- mental despoliation and decades of ne g lect had per- ize and protect themselves are respected. The first fected the act of abd u c - step is to differentiate tion and hostage- t a k - b e t ween vigilante ing of oil company groups that employ wor ker s , to the south- “mob justice” in their west, wh e re ethnic o p e ra t i o n s — wh o s e militia from the Odua modus operandi can- Peoples Congre s s not be tolerated in a swo re to defe n d democratic society and Obasanjo (whom they wh i ch should be dis- did not elect), the com- banded—and those mon language was vio- whose activities are lence in its goriest amenable to the rule of for m. In the north e r n l aw and due pro c e s s and eastern parts of and that could wo rk the country, Sharia vio- Bands of this volunteer army, known as the Zamfara State Vigilante Group, (and do work) under patrol the streets,arresting anyone suspected of committing offenses. lence in Kaduna and its close police supervi- reprisals in Aba and Umuahia have left hundred s , if sion. Many groups that promote racial discrimina- not thousands, dead. Furth e rm o r e, violent robb e r y tion, religious persecution, and state-sponsored vio- and rampant theft have left Nigerians in ever y com- lence operate under the guise of vigilantism. These munity feeling unsafe. groups not only offend sensibilities, but also violate Fr u s t rated by the inability of the police to every human rights treaty that Nigeria has ratified. respond adequately to their safety and security needs, One of the most enduring examples of these kinds citizens have res o r ted to self-help measures . The most of groups is the “Bakassi Boys,” active in the three co n t r oversial of these is the for mation of mi l i t a n t eastern states of Abia, Anambra, and Imo. They vigilante groups—some of whi c h have made lynchi n g began as an initiative of traders in Aba, but were and torturing criminal suspects their stock in trade. later hijacked by state governments, which added Pu b lic opinion of vigilante groups is divided. A partisan political ends to their objectives and armed pa r t of the public argues that vigilante activities should them with dangerous weapons (including firearms) be regulated and closely supervised by the national without police checks. The Bakassi Boys make rou-

PUBLIC SECURITY AND HUMAN RIGHTS human rights dialogue Fall 2002 11 tine public spectacles of some of the criminal suspects of the community policing forum program, it has they capture, often parading them naked through the become routine for communities to hand suspects over streets, chopping body parts into pieces, and later burn- to the police for investigation and prosecution. Some ing them to the cheering of crowds. These kinds of community members are unhappy when the police groups cannot be tolerated, and human rights groups grant bail to suspects they arrest. The community should advocate forcefully for their disbandment. policing forums can address these concerns by serving The largest share of vigilantism in Nigeria in terms as platforms for community education on why suspects of both numbers and reach is not of this type. It is of minor offenses are released on police bail prior to instead made up of neighborhood vigilante groups, a arraignment in courts and, more important, by making strong and popular force in community security, with sure the community understands that granting of bail one group on virtually every street corner in lower- does not mean that the suspects have been let off the income neighborhoods and rural commu n i t i e s hook. Furthermore, the program appears to have been throughout the country. These are the groups with a factor in the declining crime rates in the nine local which both the government and human rights groups government council regions in which it is operating. need to engage. To make sure vigilante groups are obeying due The Centre for Law Enfor cement Education (CLEEN) process procedures and the rule of law, CLEEN has in Lagos has begun to take up the cha l l e n g e. In 1999, as part proposed a process of registering them with both the of our wor k to promote respect for human rights and coop- local police division and the local authorities. In the er ation among civil society and law enfor cement agen c i e s , process of registration, the police would screen their CLEEN began a police-community partnership program . members to prevent criminal elements from infiltrating The program, modeled after the South African Commun i t y their ranks and would issue clear regulations to guide Policing For u m s , seeks to incorpo r ate community concerns their involvement in crime prevention and control. The in the determination of policing priorities in Niger i a local authorities should provide those who play by the rules with such items as flashlights and batteries, rain- Ou t l a wing vigilantism would be tantamount to coats, and boots. Human rights groups, for their part, telling inner-city communities and rural area s would include them in their training programs. One organization alone cannot do the job of recon- that they have no right to organize and protect necting the police with their communities throughout th e m s e l v es against criminal attacks Nigeria. To strengthen the effort, in 2000 CLEEN facil- itated the establishment of the Network on Police th r ough police-community interac t i ve forums set up to dis- Reform in Nigeria, a coalition of twenty-two organiza- cuss common crime and disorder prob lems and encourage tions working on issues of police reform and crime pre- joint prob lem-solving app ro a ch e s . The forums invol v e all vention. Because of the effort of the network, this past co m m unity stakeh o l d e r s , including elected councilors, divi - M a rch the new ch i e f o f police in Nigeria, Ta f a sional police and crime offi c e r s , religious leaders, district Balogun, included community policing as part of his he a d s , wom e n ’s grou p s , development unions, civic associa- eight-point strategy of transforming the Nigeria Police ti o n s , and other rel e vant interest grou p s . Force, which the Nigerian public welcomed. Through this consultative process, communities in We are still in the early stages of our wor k and have the localities where the demonstration programs are no guarantee that there will not be a rel a pse––as there being executed have come to appreciate better the func- was in South Africa. Still, the communities that have tions of the police and the limits of the powers of citi- pa r ticipated in the program now know that the civi l zen initiatives in crime prevention and control. Before society groups of this networ k care about their daily we started the program, neighborhood vigilante groups co n f r ontation with crime and fear and are wor king with used to take crime into their own hands, brutalizing them to develop lawful ways of channeling commun i t y and sometimes lynching crime suspects rather than en e r gy against crime—instead of res o r ting to either handing them over to the police. Now, with the advent mob justice vigilantism or armc hair criticism. ■hrd

For more on the challenges for human rights activists and peace wor k ers operating in the fragile democracy in Nigeria, see “T aking the Reconciliatory Route” by Ivana Vuco in the peace work issue of Human Rights Dialogu e . On-line at ww w. c a r n e g i e c o u n c i l . o r g / t h e m e s / h rd w i n t e r 2 0 0 2 . h t m l .

12 Fall 2002 human rights dialogue “Firm Hand,Large Heart” Adam Isacson

his year has been a difficult one for activists have forced out human rights workers from some of the wo rking to improve U. S. policy towa rd country’s most brutal conflict zones, making them vir- TColombia. My organization, the Washington- tual black holes of information about abuses. based Center for International Policy, has seen its advo- The political climate in Colombia has compounded cacy of nonmilitary alternatives lose ground in the these diffi c u l t i e s . Gover nment attempts to negotiate with wake of the September 11 attacks. The Bush adminis- both the FAR C and the ELN ended bitterly this yea r . As tration has made counterterrorism a paramount goal in the guerrillas, app a r ently unconcerned with their publi c Colombia, increasing assistance to Colombia’s trou- im a ge, increased their actions against the civilian popu- bled security forces to complement its failing drug war. lation, mainstream Colombia became increa s i n g ly angry Our Colombian colleagues and counterparts, how- and frustrated. A majority of Colombians came to eve r, face mu ch greater ch a l l e n ge s. Fo l l owing the em b r ace a harder line, supporting a greater military rol e February collapse of peace talks between the Bogotá and reductions in civil liberties to res t o r e law and orde r . government and the country’s largest guerrilla group, Many came to view human rights groups––with their C o l o m b i a ’s decades-old confl i c t – – wh i ch kills more attempts to punish military exce s s e s , their opposition to than four thousand people a ye a r – – h a s d e graded furt h e r. Fighting is intensifying among two leftist insurgencies founded in the mid-1960s—the Colombian Revo l u t i o n a ry A rmed Fo rces (FA RC) and the National Liberation Army (ELN)—a growing network of rightist anti-guerrilla paramilitaries known as the United Self-Defense Fo rces of Colombia, and government forces. The para- militaries, which are responsible for about 80 percent of noncombatant killings, continue to benefit from local-level military support and collaboration. Though it is the site of the hemisphere’s bloodiest conflict, Colombia also hosts one of the most sophisticated communities of human rights defenders. Their work entails publicly denouncing abuses, monitoring and United States Defense Forcesof Colombia paramilitaries control this village and patrol reporting on national and local human rights openly with automatic weapons,like in this pool hall. situations, issuing early warnings and urgent actions, offering legal assistance to victims and whistle-blowers, militaristic solutions, and their constant appeals to con- initiating cases against abu s e r s, supporting off i c i a l stitutionality and international law––to be a nuisance, or investigations, and working with UN and Organization even a support to the guerrillas. of American States human rights institutions. The main beneficiary of this new public mood is In a country where more than 95 percent of crimes Ál va r o Uribe Vélez, the over w helming winner of th e go unpunished and the powerful go to great lengths to pr esidential elections in May. Uribe, a for mer gover nor of protect their impunity, this is challenging and often the populous Antioquia province, had been rel e g ated to dangerous work. A human rights defender is assassi- the country’ s right-wing political fringe as recently as nated about once every month. Dozens of the country’s 2000. At that time, he was rem e m b e r ed as a sponsor of a most effective activists and experts have been forced di s a s t r ous attempt to organize legal civilian vigilance into exile in recent years. Threats and targeted violence groups in Antioquia (whi c h ended up committing doze n s

PUBLIC SECURITY AND HUMAN RIGHTS human rights dialogue Fall 2002 13 of abuses) and was viewed mainly as a fer ocious crit- Colombian Commission of Jurists points out that ic of go ver nment attempts to negotiate with the insur- ar r ests without war r ants cannot be aimed at the guer- gen t s . By 2002, however , Uribe––with the campaign ri l l a s , whose leaders already have arrest war r ants out- sl o gan of “f i r m hand, large heart” and promising a standing: they are “directed abo ve all against the civi l - fr ontal assault on armed grou p s – – w as able to win the ian population, hence the obsession with arres t i n g pre s i d e n c y easily. them without a judicial orde r .” The armed grou p s , Upon assuming power in early August, Uribe the commission notes, “must be dying of laughter” in e n e rgetically launched seve ral security initiative s the face of Ur i b e ’ s security measures . The networ k of that—while popular with Colombia’s polarized and in fo r mants and the “citizen soldiers,” many argu e , war-weary population––have alarmed the country’s will blur the line between combatants and civilians in human rights community. The new president inau- a way that plainly violates Colombia’s interna t i o n a l gurated what he hopes will be a network of a million human rights commitments. civilian informants, some of them possibly armed, With ren e wed negotiations far-o f f and guerrilla passing info rmation about potentially subve r s ive ou t r ages multiplying, mainstream Colombian opinion activity to the military in exchange for small pay- sees no short- t e r m alterna t i ves to the Uribe gover n- ments. Uribe declared a “state of internal commo- me n t ’ s policies. As of this writing (November 2002), tion,” the closest thing to a state of emergency su p p o r t for the new president and the Colombian mil- a l l owable under Colombia’s 1991 constitution, it a r y is rem a rk a bly high, nearing a 70 percent favor - under which he has decreed eased rules for wiretap- able rating in opinion polls. Meanwhile, esteem for ping, “preventive” detentions, searches of homes, human rights groups is low. Hampered by factional restrictions on travel, and some censorship of news di visions and lacking proposals to end the violence, re p o rt i n g. The interior and justice minister, Colombian human rights groups are facing their most Fernando Londoño, has expressed a desire to revive di f ficult period in yea r s . the “state of siege,” a mechanism outlawed by the So far, sever al groups have been quick to react to 1991 constitution, which would allow the armed Ur i b e ’ s policies. “Uribe will bring us back to the dark forces to interrogate civilians and try them in mili- ages, to a true dirty war,” a leading Colombian tary courts. In special “rehabilitation zones” incor- rights activist told me recently. “Of course we have to respond.” With each new official decree, the Colombian human rights groups are facing Colombian Commission of Jurists has issued a state- their most difficult period in yea r s . ment explaining why, in its view, the measure in ques- tion is a bad idea. Groups such as the Association for Al t e rn a t i ve Social Advancement and Consultancy for p o rating seve ral municipalities each, powers to Human Rights and Displacement are making an effor t search and arrest without a warrant are even greater, to monitor excesses in implementation of the state of citizens’ movements are monitored and restricted, em e r gen c y and “reh a bilitation zone” decree s . Many and the military has some judicial police powers. A groups are engaging the UN High Commissioner for proposal to create a force of “peasant soldiers” Human Rights’ field office in Bogotá, whi c h has would train and equip at least 10,000 recruits to sup- of fer ed sever al cogent ref lections and analyses—in plement police in rural areas; when off duty, these le t t e r s , press confere n c e s , and a section of its Web i n d ividuals (and possibly their we apons) wo u l d site—critiquing the new govern m e n t ’ s initiatives from return to their homes. the perspective of in t e r national human rights and Opposition to these measures has become a cen- humanitarian law. tr al aspect of se ver al human rights groups’ work . B e yond these actions, the country ’s human Citing a lack of tra n s p a re n c y in their implementation rights community has not shown any evidence, so and the weakness of the judicial system and other far at least, that a major change in strategy is under- no n m i l i t a r y institutions, critics expect sever al of way. It is hard to say, however, that human rights Ur i b e ’ s strategies to lead directly to a dram a t i c groups are missing opportunities for more effective in c r ease in abuses with impunity. Colombia’s human action, since few opportunities are presenting them- rights defenders wor r y that, as has happened in the selves. The chief obstacle most groups face is their past, peaceful dissenters––not the guerrillas and para- s u rp r i s i n gly low standing in mainstream publ i c militaries––will end up being the main target s . The opinion. A long-standing perception that human

14 Fall 2002 human rights dialogue rights NGOs are “soft on the guerrillas”—or at least selling alternatives, the human rights community could using human rights advocacy to advance a far-left polit- serve as one of the only counterweights to the popular ical agenda––has fed public mistrust and damaged new president and his security agenda. groups’ credibility. This is highly debilitating. Popular Colombian human rights groups need to devel o p distrust and disdain limit groups’ ability to mobilize “r oad maps” to a way out of the present violence. Wit h support, block their access to the media, and reduce the peace process extinguished, human rights grou p s political space available for their activities. While an la c k proposals for guaranteeing the population’s security unpopular human rights group can still be very effec- in the short term. While they condemn the Uribe gover n- tive, a distrusted human rights group can hope to me n t ’ s proposals and the U.S .–funded Plan Colombia as accomplish little. da n ge r ous and over ly militaristic, they offer nothing in The current political climate, along with the guer- their place for Colombians who are deeply afraid for rillas’ increased attacks on poor civilian populations, their safet y . Calls for ren e wed peace talks, broa d - b a s e d has kindled greater debate on the need to address guer- social justice refo rm s , and free exer cise of rights are rilla violations, and on how to influence unaccountable im p o r tant, but the promise of a state of si e g e may do groups that routinely ignore political pressure. While mo r e to assuage the fears of the aver age Colombian. human rights groups may see the government’s actions As this arti c le is being written, the Uribe govern m e n t as the chief underlying cause of the violence, they must is only three months old. It is too early to tell whether the denounce abuses against the establishment in order to ne w hard line in Bogotá will for ce a major shift in human avoid the appearance of being less partial, and without rights groups’ strat e g i e s , or whether the Uribe adminis- alienating their base on the political left. But unpopular tr ation will amount to only another swing in the pendu- and under threat, human rights groups have been lum, a bump in NGOs’ already difficult road. The Bush unable to reach out to new constituencies, forge new ad m i n i s t ra t i o n ’s worl d wide campaign against terror i s m , alliances, or mobilize public opinion in a high-profile ho wever , may foster a climate in whi c h the Uribe model way. This is unfortunate, since by casting doubts and of security thrives for some time. ■hrd

A Firsthand Account Jorge Rojas Responds AS ADAM ISACSONEXPLAINED, the situation in Colombia today and ratify international laws , places human rights activists in a very tough spot. The cur- push for an end to the gover n- rent hard-line policies that are rolling back civil liberties and me n t ’ s military interven t i o n , other fundamental rights are supported by the public, which and demand a structural solu- joins military officials and politicians in accusing us of being tion to the prob lem of il l e ga l on the wrong side of the struggle. Particularly humiliating land use that will provide crop was a recent comment by the Portuguese ambassador, who de velopment alterna t i ves to called NGOs the “political wing” of the guerilla movement. lucrative coca production. The Uribe government has taken concrete action to limit And, because the legitimacy of the work of human rights activists. The new president has our wor k depends on publi c insisted that human rights groups align themselves with his opinion, we must also infor m policy of “Democratic Security.” This policy has been used to people about their rights. We justify illegitimate investigatory practices and the prosecution must make the public understand that failing to implement of activists and civilians. Uribe has put a bill before congress human rights will only lead to more insecurity. that, if passed, will set up a system to monitor, control, and U l t i m a t e l y, security can only come from re c o n c i l i a t i o n , restrict the autonomy of NGOs. The government has also and the gove rnment has failed thus far in meeting its obstructed international organizations that support the work re s p o n s i b i l i t y. The international commu n i t y, and especially of Colombian NGOs; for example, the government recently domestic institutions such as the Colombian Office of t h e deported visiting representatives of international organiza- High Commissioner for Human Rights, must play a more tions on the grounds that they were “participating in public a c t ive role in discussions involving the gove rnment and civ i l demonstrations.” To further restrict international NGOs, the society organizations in Colombia. And the intern a t i o n a l government has increased the bureaucratic procedures and c o m munity needs to get serious about making ch a n ges to requirements needed to obtain visas. the international institutions that perpetuate inequality Colombian human rights groups do not always agree on and pove rt y, wh i ch are the root causes of C o l o m b i a ’s secu- ho w to cope with this new situation, but we do agree on one fun- rity pro bl e m . ■hrd damental strat e g y: in order to achi e ve security in Colombia, we This article has been translated from Spanish by Ludmila must continue to focus on the implementation of human rights. Palazzo and Marina Oyuela. We need to continue to pres s u r e the gover nment to rec og n i z e

PUBLIC SECURITY AND HUMAN RIGHTS human rights dialogue Fall 2002 15 Bridging Activism and Policyma king

An Interview with Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro

he indirect election of Tancredo Neves that marked with other democratic countries—excluding those experi- the advent of democracy in Brazil in 1985 may have encing internal warfare—Brazil has the highest rate of lethal Tended twenty-one years of military dictatorship, but police violence. it did not bring an end to state-sponsored violence. In its The Center for the Study of Violence (NEV) at the responses to common crime, conflicts over land, and other University of São Paulo has been at the forefront of efforts to threats to public security, the government has used strong- place Bra z i l ’s violence pro blem within a human rights arm tactics that are brutal—and sometimes even fatal. These framework. The first academic program linking human are human rights violations that differ from those of the rights research and activism, the center was founded in 1987 military period and have forced Brazilian human rights with a focus on the concrete problems facing Brazil’s new organizations to find new ways of conceptualizing rights, democracy: the absence of the rule of law; the inaccessibility developing appropriate strategies for their protection, and of the justice system for nonelites; institutionalized racism engaging effectively with state agencies. and discrimination; and the lack of a c c o u n t ability fo r To its credit, the federal government has recently begun government officials complicit in human rights abuses and to build mechanisms of accountability for human rights other crimes. abuses. But in many instances, rather than safeguarding the Human Rights Dialogu e ta l k ed with NEV’s fou n d e r , Pau l o rule of law, the state has contributed to its subversion Sé r gio Pinheiro, who was recently appointed secret a r y of st a t e through the support of torture, summary execution, vigilan- for human rights in the gover nment of ou t g o i n g - P re s i d e n t tism, death squads, and justiceiros (gunmen who kill criminal Fer nando Henrique Cardo s o , to discuss his organ i z a t i o n ’s suspects and “undesirables” like street children). Compared wor k. Di a l og u e then asked Brazil wat c hers what they think.

Dialogue: What are NEV’s greatest achievements? ing them into different research programs in a way Pi n h e i ro : What is unusual about NEV is our ability that encourages the merging of research and human to solve the tension between scholarship and com- rights activism. One of the first examples of this is mitment. In a country like Brazil that has so many NEV’s work on police killings. Through rigorous social problems, the academic community must be research, we raised awareness of the systematic committed to engaging with empirical realities. As killing of criminal suspects and the accountability of violence has become a more important part of the the state. Our approach helped to build a solid net- political agenda, NEV’s research has become more work of next-generation researchers sensitized to complex. human rights concerns. More recently, the center has Initially, NEV’s most significant impact was expanded its research to examine ways of improving within Brazilian academia itself, where, previously, access to institutions of justice and eliminating vio- neither violence nor human rights had been impor- lence against children. tant fields of social science inquiry. NEV addresses Di a l o gue: What about NEV’s cooperation with the that gap by recruiting and training yo u n g government? Do you consider this another sign of researchers, offering them fellowships and integrat- success?

16 Fall 2002 human rights dialogue Pi n h e i ro : Yes . Because of NE V ’ s pres t i g e as an aca- Pinheiro: We have not been very successful in moni- demic center and its influence within civil society, the toring the National Human Rights Plan of Action Br azilian gover nment asked us to facilitate the coop- even though we conducted nine regional seminars er ation of academics and activists in preparing a draf t for the evaluation of the first plan. We have also document for a National Human Rights Plan of failed so far to bring about much-needed constitu- Action in September 1995. We enthusiastically accept- tional reform of our criminal justice institutions and ed this offer . Most of NE V ’ s proposals wer e imple- to make the federal government accountable for mented into the plan, whi c h was enacted in 1996. gross human rights violations. The primary mission The plan made Brazil one of the first countries of the center today is to determine how to establish to adopt Human Rights Plans of Action, a provision more democratic state practices and accountability (article 71) of the 1993 Vienna Declaration. It con- for state actions while simultaneously abiding by tained a mechanism for civil society input, so when international policing standards and controlling vio- President Cardoso ordered phase two of the plan, he lence in the population. again asked NEV to coordinate the input of NGOs Di a l o gue: What do you see as the means to turn these throughout Brazil. institutions around to make them accountable? Dialogue: Yet I suspect that your relationship with Pi n h e i ro : We need an authentic human rights com- the government is also controversial. mission. We currently have the National Council for Pinheiro: We would never collaborate with a dicta- the Protection of the Rights of the Person, whi c h was torship, but since the transition to democracy there has been no reason in principle not to collaborate with the government. We are able to maintain our The center has successfully gone beyon d credibility with other groups because we have always shaming as the sole strategy for changing kept our autonomy. You see, wor king with the gover nment does not human rights practices. stop us from collabo r ating with activist organ i z a - ti o n s . NEV maintains a collabo ra t i ve rel a t i o n s h i p with Comissão Teotônio Vilela Dereitos Humanos es t a blished 1964. In my new post as secret a r y of st a t e (CTV), a human rights organization founded in 1983 for human rights, I have created special commissions by Senator Sever o Gomes—an ext ra o rd i n a r y human- on tortu r e and slave labo r . But these institutions are ist and defender of the rights of the Yanomami peo- no substitute for a truly autonomous national com- ple. After a series of police killings, we joined with mission for human rights that can serve as ombud s - CTV as co-authors of the first complaint against the ma n . Br azilian state to the Inter-American Commission on Dialogue: Where does the public stand today on Human Rights. In the rep o r t, we denounced the mas- these issues? sa c r e at the Carandiru Prison, whe r e 111 inmates Pinheiro: According to a 1999 survey that the NEV wer e killed by the police in 1992. We wer e criticizing carried out in ten major cities throughout the coun- the state at the same time that we wer e preparing the try, Brazilians prefer the law to vigilante justice and plan in cooperation with the state. the majority oppose torture and police brutality. Dialogue: How has NEV been able to walk this line The majority also accept the legitimacy of strikes where others have failed? and peaceful social protest. These results suggest Pinheiro: The center has successfully gone beyond that, despite the authoritarian legacies inherited shaming as the sole strategy for changing state from our past, there is a democratic sensibility with- human rights practices. We learned to work with in the population. Even more surprisingly, 58 per- state agencies and institutions to propose alternative cent of those surveyed were aware of the National policies and strategies for the protection and pro- Human Rights Plan of Action, and most understood motion of human rights while refusing to stop that its goal was to protect the rights of the people. denouncing the government and the dominant class In the midst of the profound inequality and endem- when they violate those rights. ic violence that continue to plague our country, these Dialogue: What setbacks has NEV faced? are hopeful signs. ■hrd

PUBLIC SECURITY AND HUMAN RIGHTS human rights dialogue Fall 2002 17 NEV is No Longer Alone Fiona Macaulay Responds

ON E O F T H E C H A L L E N G E S for human rights gro u p s ne t wo r ked human rights organizations have not faced with a context of rising crime and violence been able to contribute concrete proposals to refo rm . is to determine the boundaries of their va r i o u s First, Latin American academe has no tradition of a c t iv i t i e s. The Center for the Study of Vi o l e n c e cr i m i n o l o gy, by whi c h I mean an interdi s c i p l i n a r y (NEV) at the University of São Paulo has had to app ro a c h to understanding crime, social disorde r , negotiate its own multiple—and potentially con- and the institutions of the criminal justice system. fl i c t i n g — roles since its inception in 1987. On the This has ensured that the for malistic and legal i s t i c one hand, it is an impartial university re s e a rch vision of jurists has dominated all debate on rights, institution dedicated to producing high-quality crime, and punishment. Second, the fed e r al gover n- data and analyses. On the other, it also shelters a ment does not have adequate res e a r ch, policy, and human rights NGO, the Teotônio Vi l e l a planning capacity within a specialized unit—whi c h Commission (CTV), composed of eminent mem- req u i r es app r opriately trained personnel. bers of the São Paulo commu n i t y, wh i ch has peri- But this is changing. A number of criminology odically mobilized to inve s t i gate, bear witness to, institutes have been set up in major Brazilian uni- and make fo rmal complaints to the authorities versities in the past few years that have staff and about egregious cases of institutional violence. intellectual output to rival NEV’s. This expansion N E V ’s third role has been that of consultant to is very welcome given that NEV, with the best will the gove rnment, assisting it with the writing and in the world, could not on its own produce the vol- monitoring of the national human rights pro- ume and variety of analyses of contemporary gram and with the drafting of periodic imple- criminal justice institutions and criminality mentation re p o rts pursuant to a number of required to feed effectively into government policy. United Nations Conve n t i o n s. The new criminology departments will begin to NEV has taken on all of these roles at diffe r- supply highly competent graduates just as eco- ent moments out of p ractical necessity: for many nomics departments produced the country’s tech- ye a r s, it was the only nocrats in the past. u n iversity institution NEV is no longe r re s e a rching in this are a . The complex mosaic of human alone. Indeed its efforts The connection with the rights actors fortifies the case for h ave partly stimu l a t e d p restigious University of the plethora of new ini- São Paulo gave it and groups to specialize, rather than tiatives and players. Over CTV credibility and pro- diversify, their functions. the last seventeen years tection from attack by human rights gro u p s the outgoing military h ave pro l i fe rated both regime during the 1980s. outside of and within the The weakness of the fe d e ral gove rn m e n t ’s ow n government, with a presence of human rights com- c apacity in the area of justice meant that NEV mittees in the national congress, state and munici- could provide crucial intellectual re s o u rces as we l l pal legislatures, and the judiciary. Both the federal as cre d i ble interface with organized civil society. and the twenty-seven state-level governments are Combining these roles has pro b ably never been increasingly persuaded of the need for institution- easy or comfo rt abl e . al reform to strengthen the protection of human Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro is right to point to an rights and tackle crime effectively. With such a per- in c r eased consensus on both the positive value of c e p t i ble expansion on the “demand side,” the human rights and the need to refo r m the institutions “supply side” will need to rethink how it might that deal with crime and violence. But the fed e ra l best meet this demand. The complex mosaic of go ver nment has not put institutional refo r m of actors in human rights and crime policy tends, to police and courts high enough on the political agen - my mind, to fortify the case for human rights da, a situation that even Pinheiro operating from groups to specialize, rather than diversify, their within gover nment has been unable to alter. And functions, while also maintaining coalitions to because of tw o deficits Braz i l ’ s wel l - o r ganized and maximize efforts on key issues. ■hrd

18 Fall 2002 human rights dialogue Cardoso’s Record is Poor Andressa Caldas, Sandra Carvalho, and James Cavallaro Respond

PAULO SÉRGIO PINHEIRO paints a rather bright picture of revive a national security law passed during the dicta- the progress on human rights in Brazil. And, by this torship to hold and charge rural leaders involved in account, Pinheiro himself deserves much of the credit. land disputes. His vast experience as a scholar and human rights The Cardoso government also failed to implement activist won him a receptive audience in Brazilian civil its own human rights plan. Brazilian and international s o c i e t y. Indeed, well befo re joining the National civil society embraced the National Human Rights Human Rights Secretariat, for many years Pinheiro Plan of Action (PNDH) with open arms when it was advised the Cardoso government as head of the Center published in 1996. The plan, however, turned out to be for the Study of Violence, helping to draft official empty words. responses to the UN’s conventional committees—the Global Justice’s forthcoming annual report for expert bodies that oversee compliance with human 2002 shows that the overwhelming majority of the rights treaties—and pressing the government to adopt p l a n’s pro p o s a l s — even those classified as “short a more transparent human rights policy. term”—have yet to be enacted more than six years after It is true that in its eight years the Cardoso gover n- the PNDH’s release. The few measures that have been ment emphasized tran s p a re n c y and dialogue in its rel a - implemented have all been responses to high-profile tions with the human cases: for ex a m p l e , rights movement at the April 1997 home and abr oad: a key Torture Act came on ad vance. But Cardo s o ’ s the heels of a national rec o r d on implementing scandal provo ked by the refo r ms necessary to widely viewed ama- improve the human teur videos of police rights situation in the t o rt u re in Diadema, co u n t r y is poor. One of São Paulo state. At the prime indicators is the same time, critical the level of police vio- measures such as the lence. While Cardo s o unification of t h e was in office, there was police, the federaliza- little or no decline in the tion of human rights number of arbit ra ry crimes, and thorough ar r ests and the num b e r ex t e rnal control of o f c ivilians killed by the police have yet to police. From May to be adopted. September this ye a r, A view from within Rocinha Favela in Rio de Janeiro As Pinheiro notes, of ficial figures demon- in May 2002 the fed e r - st r ate that police in Rio de Jan e i r o killed an aver age of al gover nment issued a second edition of the PNDH just over 55 people per month, more than three times to mark the sixth annive r s a ry of the first plan’s the 16 killed per month reg i s t e r ed in early 1995, the first release. This second plan focuses on economic, year of Ca rd o s o ’ s administration. Figures for São Pau l o social, and cultural rights. While it is an import a n t d e m o n s t rate a decrease and leveling off in police symbolic ge s t u re to re c ognize the indiv i s i ble nature killings in the mid-1990s, but then a gradual increa s e o f c ivil, political and economic, social, and cultura l over the past two to three yea r s . r i g h t s, the second plan, mu ch like the first, contains Also under the Cardoso government, there was a no timetables and no allocated re s o u rces that a gov- practice of targeted killings to silence opposition in e rnment plan must have to be taken seriously. Like rural areas. While the killers were not usually state the first plan, it may well have been intended more agents, the government’s record on investigating and to add ress the public perception of g ove rn m e n t prosecuting these cases is dismal. More worrisome still inaction on human rights than to take tough meas- was the Cardoso government’s approach to land dis- u res to deal with difficult pro bl e m s. putes. Rather than address these conflicts as social The r e can be little doubt that Brazil continues to be problems that require policy solutions, the Cardoso pl a gued by serious rights abus e s . Official rec o gnition of government focused on repressive use of police to the gravity of these prob lems is prob a bly the greatest sin- quash landless people’s demonstrations and land occu- gle human rights achi e vement of the outgoing Cardo s o pations. In 2000 the federal police went so far as to ad m i n i s t r ation. But that is far from enough. ■hrd

PUBLIC SECURITY AND HUMAN RIGHTS human rights dialogue Fall 2002 19 A View from the most rep re s s i ve in Latin America—the Braz i l i a n , Venezuelan, Argentinean, and Colombian for ces have the Inside worse rec o r ds in human rights terms . Yet police officials in Per u — e ven those who say they respect human rights— be l i e ve that those rights are a major obstacle to their abi l i t y Carlos Basombrío to deal effec t i vely with crime. Looking at the situation now th r ough a gover nment lens I see that the pres s u r e to put into pr actice measures that violate human rights comes not only In the Winter 2000 issue of Human Rights Dialogu e , fr om the police, but also from the people. In fact, poor peo- Ca r los Basombrío, then deputy director of the Institute ple are the ones who demand the harshest measures agai n s t for Legal Defense in Lima, Peru, wrote about the human crime, as they are most frequently its victims. And since rights cha l l e n g e of dealing with crime in Latin America. they cannot affor d private security, they depend more than (w w w. c a rn e g i e c o u n c i l . o rg / t h e m e s / h r dwi n t e r 1 9 9 9 . h t m l ) other groups on the police to ensure their safet y . Since then he has continued to be at the fore f r ont of Within the Ministry of the Interior, we are devel- de veloping ways to addr ess this cha l l e n g e. As a sign of oping police reforms to address this perceived tension the changing times in Peru, in Janu a r y Basombrío b e t ween respecting human rights and ke e p i n g became vice minister of the Ministry of the Interior. Peruvians safe from crime. Some of our ideas include demilitarizing the police force—affirming its civilian y country, Peru, is the only example in Latin identity by distinguishing it from the arm y — a n d America of a failed democracy. Alberto changing the mission of the police to protecting the MFu j i m o r i — w ho as president from 1990 to 2001 rights of citizens rather than making the state “secure.” was , next to Fidel Castro, the longest-ruling head of st a t e It may take decades for these ideas to take root both in Latin America—led a regime that intentionally used the institutionally and among individual officers. pu bl i c ’ s fear of crime as an instrument to remain in power . Ov er the yea r s , I have learned three val u a ble lessons Mo r e than in any other country in the region, crime was a about how to addr ess the crime cha l l e n g e. First, in politics, legitimating argument for authoritarian measures and a it is important to win the center, and thus avoid the risk of su r e way to gain the support of the people. ma r ginalization. Human rights organizations should do Yet Peru has seen dramatic changes in the last two mo r e than just protect the rights of criminals; they mus t years. With the fall of Fujimori, the justice system is also find a way to addr ess security concerns of the publi c . prosecuting those responsible for the worst human This is critical to gain the trust of the gen e r al population. rights crimes and instances of corruption, including Second, it is also important to win the hearts of the important members of the previous regime. A new police. Human rights organizations ra rely publ i s h opportunity for democratic government is in place. statements when the rights of the police are abused, or One of the cha n g es is the appointment of a group of when members of the force are killed or treated unfair- human rights people to the Ministry of the Interior, myself ly. This omission is devastating for the police perception in c luded. This ministry is in cha r ge of citizen security, pub- of human rights organizations. We need to remember lic orde r , and anti-drug and antiterrorist effort s . We are that they are the brothers and sisters of the victims of abuse, the cousins of the human rights activists. At the To gain the trust of the general poplulation ministry we are addressing this problem through a human rights organizations must addr ess the n ewly established special office devoted to human rights abuses within the police force. security concerns of the public. The final lesson: while wor king towar d these goals, it is important to continue the classic human rights also res p o n s i b le for fighting crime, whi c h means we are in wor k we have been doing all along. In Peru the fear of cha r ge of the police. We vet e r an human rights activists are being accussed of abuse by the human rights commun i - thus on the other side of the fence, trying to put into prac - ty does more to stop police officers from committing tice what we have been prea c hing all of these yea r s . human rights violations than fear of the law. Whi l e My time at the ministry has confirmed the perce p t i o n st r essing innovation and engaging crea t i vely with new my colleagues and I had of the police for ce befor e joining ac t o r s , it is important to continue using our tried-and- the gover nment. The Peruvian police are not by any means true app ro a c h of holding violators accountable. ■hrd

20 Fall 2002 human rights dialogue U.S . Civil Liberties in necessarily bring greater security. We believed that it was important September 11’s Wake to reaffirm the right of peaceful dissent. We worked together and drafted a statement by the end of A roundtable disc ussion with the meeting. The understanding we forged that day has made us more Jamie Fellner e ffe c t ive in add ressing the ch a l- lenges that have emerged over the Elisa Massimino last year. Jamie Fellner: This coalition was unprecedented. I have never seen Michael Ratner anything like it in all my years of human rights work. Dialogue: Let’s start with the situation immediately Ra t n e r : I recently talked to one of the organ i z e r s , Kit following the September 11 attacks. It was a fright- Ga ge, and she was still amazed that ever ybody was ening time—all the more so here in New York. able to pull this group together so quickly in light of People who had never really thought about patriot- the shock of September 11. It was rem a rk a ble. ism were breaking out flags, bumper stickers, and Di a l og u e : Did you have any models to fall back on? pins to demonstrate their support. How did you as Ratner: This environment was not totally unprece- human rights activists make sense of your roles? dented. We saw some parallels with the 1980s when Michael Ratner: One of the hardest things for us to a similar group was in the Pentagon and the State do in that first six months after the attacks was to D e p a rtment under Re agan. The gove rn m e n t argue for the government to analyze critically what launched a big program to spy on Central American had happened and why. People who suggested in the activists. There are also historical parallels with the first few weeks after the attacks that the United McCarthy era, but nothing quite like this. States should examine its fo reign policy in the Fellner: Going back to your earlier question, I want Middle East were attacked by the administration, to say that all three of us are Americans. We live in the media, and the public. I definitely was not as this country. We work for organizations that are direct in my criticisms as I am today. Instead, I predicated on internationalist addressed other areas of concern—ones that were ideals. The United States was a not as contentious, such as pushing the government primary force behind codifying to launch an investigation of intelligence failures those ideals in treaties. So when before passing new laws. our home was attacked, it was Elisa Massimino: We knew from the beginning that not as though any of us did not we would have to join forces and build a coalition. feel it. But I am worried about Two days after the attacks, we all participated in a the repercussions of the poli- coalition meeting, dubbed “In Defense of Freedom,” cies developed in response to with representatives from more than 100 groups rep- September 11. I don’t feel that resenting a broad spectrum of groups that disagreed by criticizing I am unpatri- on an enormous number of issues. But we agreed on otic—I consider it deeply Human rights activists the fundamentals. patriotic to ask the United Di a l og u e : What wer e those fundamentals? States to live up to the ar e not absolutist. Massimino: We agreed that it is wrong for the gov- finest ideals in its tradition. —Jamie Fellner ernment to target people based on their race, reli- We do what we do because gion, national origin, or immigrant status. We it is both the right thing and because there is a strain agreed that security could be ensured without in United States history and culture that affirms val- abridging the Constitution. We rejected the asser- ues to which we are all personally and professional- tion that proposals put forward as “antiterrorist” ly committed.

PUBLIC SECURITY AND HUMAN RIGHTS human rights dialogue Fall 2002 21 Dialogue: As more time passed, how did your groups pu b lic education and outrea ch — e ver ything from print- address the U.S. public’s willingness to trade civil rights ing “Know Your Rights” pamphlets to participating in for increased security? mo r e radio and television interviews . We have circu l a t e d Fel l n e r : In the months fol l o wing the attacks , our con- briefing papers with sto- ce r ns for the protection of ci vil rights wer e not shared by ries more personal in Winning the support of the publi c . Tha t ’ s nothing new: we are often on the app ro a c h. We have pub- the public is imperative. wr ong side of these issues from the publi c ’ s perspective. lished books about the —Elisa Massimino Elisa, Michael, and I all work for organizations USA PATR I O T Act and whose efforts on human rights abuses taking place in the military tribun a l s . the United States are often not well received. Even some Ma s s i m i n o : Explaining things to a broader public is Human Rights Watch supporters in the United States muc h more important now. For the past yea r , all three of who are concerned about what happens to Chinese us have been doing talk shows and call-in radio shows , dissidents have a different criterion when it comes to and we understand that the public is afraid. At the abuses at home. Although the post–September 11 Law y ers Committee, we have red o u b led our effor ts in policies, such as extreme cases of pu b lic education. I have spent far more time talking to g ove rnment secre cy, re p re s s ive people outside Washington and New Yor k than I ever legislation, and denial of f re e ha ve befor e. While direct input to policym a k ers is criti- s p e e ch and due process are not cal, it would have been a mistake to invest all of ou r something we have had to confront attention there. Pol i cy m a k ers will not take up these dif- in the U.S. in recent years, dealing ficult civil liberties issues unless they believe there is a with them is not so different from co n s t i t u e n c y that cares about them. Winning the support the work the organization has been of the public is imperat i ve. doing in other countries. We are D i a l og u e : G ive us some of the details on yo u r doing what we always do. However, approach. I never thought I would be writing Ma s s i m i n o : We found it ext r emely useful to talk abo u t up an informational pamphlet for distribution in the tra d e - o ff s . But if people believe that the choice betwee n United States about why torture is unacceptable. li b e r ty and security is a zero-sum game, if they are pre- Dialogue: Have you put extra emphasis on your public sented with the choice abs t ra c t l y , liberty loses ever y time education campaigns? in this envi r onment. When we started asking whi c h Ra t n e r : The Center for Constitutional Rights is primari- me a s u r es would actually make people safer and whi c h ly a litigation organization, but after September 11, we specific liberties people wer e willing to give up, we fou n d realized that litigation is limited without the support of mo r e common ground, and the hysteria began to evapo - the publi c . The re fo r e, we have been trying to do more rate. I have done my own ad hoc polling on the military

Kit Ga ge on In Defense of F reedom

IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING THE September 11 attacks many of us mu n i t i e s . On September 14, 2 0 0 1 ,m o re than 100 activists of in the civil liberties community who had been through previ- all political stripes came together at the Washington office ous terrorism crises could see what was coming.There would of the American Civil Liberties Union to discuss potential be enormous pressure on Congress to pass a bill—one that t h reats to civil libert i e s . Our task was to craft a statement would most likely trade civil liberties for a quick security that would encourage Congress to respond care f u l ly : on the response.We knew that in order to secure the protection of one hand, p rotections against attacks on civil liberties mu s t civil liberties we would have to unite. A coalition like the be ke p t , b u t , on the other, these must be balanced against National Coalition to Protect Political Freedom, organized in the re q u i rements of prosecuting terro r i s t s . By pro c e e d i n g 1997 following the passage of the 1996 Antiterrorism Act,had c a u t i o u s ly and thoughtfully, these two needs could be met in proven to be an effective way to educate the public and the a way that would not challenge fundamental constitutional government,as well as to put pressure on Congress. g u a r a n t e e s . A small group of activists moved quickly to form In The group was an extraord i n a ry assembly of activists D e fense of Fre e d o m , a politically diverse aggregate of civil and re p re s e n t a t i ves of national NGOs from the left, r i g h t ,a n d l i b e rties gro u p s , h u m a n , c i v i l , and ethnic rights gro u p s , a n d center.We were able to cast such a wide net by using any and members of the re l i g i o u s , l e g a l , s c i e n t i f i c, and medical com- all contacts we had made over the ye a r s . In the end, 1 6 2

22 Fall 2002 human rights dialogue commissions by surveying cab driver s . I started by ques- nent terrorist attack, most would say yes. Even I would. tioning the basic idea of mi l i t a r y tribun a l s , and people That is a serious problem. would say, “You just don’t trust the military.” Then whe n Dialogue: Do you feel that human rights organizations I asked more detailed questions—Is it okay if the trials should do anything to address that public fear, and if ar e held in secret? Is it okay if the detainee does not have so, can they? a lawy er?—the responses cha n g ed to, “Oh, that’s not Massimino: We all recognize the government’s respon- really what I think of when I think of this country,” or sibility to increase security. “T hat wou l d n ’t be fair.” Fel l n e r : Being a human rights activist does not mean When framed in specific terms , people are at least wanting to be insecure. When it comes to trading civi l willing to ask the questions and respond to li b e r ties for more security, human rights the equation a little bit differe n t l y . But to ac t i vists are not abs o l u t i s t s . For exa m p l e , get there you have to engage with people I do not have a prob lem if ever y single and start from whe r e they are mentally— person in the airpo r t has to be patted and right now they are ext r emely nervou s do wn. It is an infringement of my liberty . and anxious for the gover nment to prot e c t It is a hassle. But I have no prob lem sac- them. The need for public education is still rificing my liberty for security in this ver y grea t . case. Whe r e I do have a prob lem is if th e Ratner: Let me just add that I think pub- go ver nment is searching people on an lic education is crucial, but as long as i r rational and discriminatory basis. I people do not feel safe in this country, it want to ask: Is the measure justified? Is it can only go so far. If people believe there ta i l o r ed? Is it prop o r tionate? Is it nondis- is going to be another al-Qaeda attack, it The fear is ver y rea l . cr i m i n a t o r y? People like to think that will be incredibly difficult to roll back the —Michael Ratner rights activists are absolutist. The r e are repressive measures that Congress has ver y few absolute rights. To rt u re is intol- enacted. This climate will persist for a while. er able — f r eedom from it is an absolute right. But in I am not pessimistic, however . We must continue te r ms of li b e r ty there is room for trad e - o ff s . fighting these measures because we can make some small Ma s s i m i n o : I think it is important to support an affi r - in - ro a d s . We wer e able to limit military tribunals to some ma t i ve agenda on security. But there are limits to how extent, and we may be able to open immigration hearings. specific human rights groups can get in promoting secu- It is worth the fight to educate the public, but the rity measures; that is not our area of exp e r tise. My fear is very real. If you were to ask New Yorkers or ganization has focused on fostering discussion abo u t whether they would support some measure that would these proposals and encouraging people to ask questions make their family more secure in the face of an immi- about how they will make us safer , in addition to how

organizations signed on to the “In Defense of Fre e d o m ” race, religion, ethnic background, or appearance”—were diffi- s t a t e m e n t . In all my years of activism, this was the largest and cult to contest. b roadest group I had wo r ked with, most like ly because the Because of the size and diversity of the group and the post–September 11 political situation re p resented the gre a t- urgency of its mission,discussion was limited to specific word- est potential threat to civil liberties the United States has ing. Two contentious issues were the death penalty and the ever seen. advisability of the use of torture as a mechanism of interroga- In just one day, this odd-fellows collection drafted a uni- tion.Members of the group discussed whether to call for using fied statement to Congress. It did not take a position on any the criminal justice system to execute the accused terrorists, specific piece of legislation,but rather was purposefully broad or rather to take alternative methods to inflict the most pain in order to keep the coalition intact and appeal more effec- before death, outside of the legal process. In the final state- tively to all members of Congress while avoiding a public back- ment, the decision was made to avoid specific references to lash.The statement’s basic demands—for example, that politi- the criminal justice system and to torture. cians proceed by “considering proposals calmly and deliber- We released the statement at a press confer ence on ately with a determination not to erode liberties and free- September 20,20 0 1 , the same day that the USA PATR I O T bill was doms” and “resisting efforts to target people because of their an n o u n c e d . The statement and press confer ence helped mobilize

PUBLIC SECURITY AND HUMAN RIGHTS human rights dialogue Fall 2002 23 they will affect people’s rights. I think that posing ques- M a s s i m i n o : Jamie, what you folks at Human Rights tions like these is a stron g er way to shift the deba t e — a n d Wa t ch have done with your Opportunism Wa t ch pro- one that brings us into common cause with every b o d y . gram has done a lot to raise awa reness of h u m a n Ratner: A hallmark of the new security measures is that rights in the United States. The program makes com- they stand outside the system of checks and balances. parisons between human rights abuses that have There is no way to check what the executive is doing o c c u r red in the United States after September 11 and with the Guantánamo detainees or with surveillance human rights abuses of g ove rnments in other coun- techniques like wiretapping. This is not smart govern- t r i e s. When you point out the similarities between the ment, and it does not make us more secure. m i l i t a ry tribunals here and the military tribunals in Massimino: Pushing the idea of smart government is an Indonesia, people realize the gravity of the situation. important strategy in this environment. There is a lot of S h owing the American people that abuses now occur- clear evidence of g ove rnment failures prior to ring in the United States parallel those seen in September 11, such as failures of intelligence agencies N o rt h e rn Ireland, Tu rke y, Indonesia, or India is a way to talk to one another or to follow up on tips, failure to to make Americans rethink domestic abuses in human allocate money to the right places and to use money rights term s. wisely, and basic failures of security in the airports. The Ra t n e r : That is a good point. I have argued we should start public has this sense that the government has not kept to call the USA PATR I O T Act the “United States Interna l them safe, and yet there is also a competing, deep desire Security Act.” One of the heaviest criticisms of the military to believe that the government knows what is best and tr i b unals is that the United States condemned such tri- will be able to protect us. bunals in Nigeria, Peru, and a number of other countries. So the message that we have found resonates with Making these connections is a tactic we use all the time. people is the idea of checks and balances. Our system Fe l l n e r: While Opportunism Wa t ch does help of checks and balances not only keeps one branch of Americans make those important links, we still have government from overreaching, but ultimately makes d i fficulties using human rights language here in the for better policy. We have found we can garner public United States. I had a long conversation with a support by showing people that checks and balances donor concerned about criminal justice issues, actually lead to higher security. When you have a USA wh i ch my program at Human Rights Wa t ch has PATRIOT Act and there is no debate in Congress, what wo rked on substantially. When I asked her if s h e you get are old proposals that were floated and rejected would be interested in re c e iving a grant pro p o s a l in the past when they were evaluated on their merits. f rom us, she replied, “Oh, we don’t fund human But these proposals gain new life when people think r i g h t s.” I thought to myself, this is exactly the dilem- policymakers and the public won’t look at them too ma we face. Sometimes we are all fo rced to dow n- closely. Checks and balances force government to adopt p l ay human rights language because, while we are more effective security policies. t rying to educate people about human rights, we are Dialogue: Is it possible that recent public debate on civil also trying to get a message to resonate with the liberties and the stepped-up work your groups have American people. Often, when we use human rights done in public education have helped raise awareness of l a n g u age in terms of our wo rk in the United States, human rights in the United States? Americans just stop listening. ■hrd

public pres s u r e on members of the House of Repres e n t a t i ve s in d i v i d u a l l y. But this immediate rea c t i o n — e ven if its effect on Jud i c i a r y Committee to develop detailed amendments to the bill. the USA PATR I O T Act was ultimately minor—proved how That bipartisan effor t was later short- c i r cuited by House leader- qu i c k l y a diverse group of motivated people can be mobilized in sh i p , ho wever , and the original bill was passed unanimously in the a time of need. Gr oups rep r esenting almost ever y sector of the Ho u s e . In the Senate, Jud i c i a r y Committee Chair Patrick Leahy population spoke out that day to caution the gover n m e n t . We (D - V T ) , without hearings, qu i e t l y negotiated a few changes with a un d o u b t e d l y have not seen the end of this, and we will unite small group from Justice Departm e n t . He was assisted by a few again in differ ent and crea t i v e ways until the government hears civil liberties and immigration advocates from our coalition, wh o our message. sp a r red over ever y word . In Defense of Freedom did little as a group beyond this To view the full text of the “In Defense of Freedom”statement,visit st a t e m e n t , although most of its members have remained active www.indefenseoffreedom.org. ■hrd

24 Fall 2002 human rights dialogue Crackdown with a Blessing

Elizabeth K.P. Wong

hen news of the USA PATRIOT Act hit Students protest against the Internal Security Act at the National Malaysian shores, the government proud- Human Rights Commission office. Wly claimed to the local press that the detain alleged “menaces” to the newly independent Malaysian Internal Security Act (ISA) had become Malaysia. Initially, these “menaces” were the com- an international blueprint for countering terrorism, munists and leftists; later, radical students and labor from the United States to the Philippines. In truth, activists were nabbed in its web. Some have served the ISA––enacted in August 1960 to replace a colo- time for more than a decade without trial. In the last nial legislation, the Emerge n cy Regulation of fifteen years, the term “national security threat” has 1948––remains today in substance as it has for the evolved to include social activists, opposition lead- past four decades: an administrative measure that ers, alleged Islamic deviants, and even currency and allows for indefinite detention without trial. passport counterfeiters. Da ys befor e Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir C o n s e r va t ive estimates from the Malay s i a n Mohammad met President Bush in May this yea r , an human rights NGO Suaram put the total number of En gl i s h - l a n g u a ge daily, the St a r , dedicated its entire persons detained under the act since 1960 at 10,000. fr ont page to its lead story, “US Endorses ISA,” refe r - Justice Minister Rais put the figure at more than ring to a meeting between Rais Yatim, the current de 20,000 people in his 1995 book, Freedom under facto justice minister, and U.S . Attorney General Executive Power in Malaysia. On October 27, 1987, John Ashcroft. Rais was rep o r ted as sayi n g : in Operation Clear-Weeds, the largest sweep since I believe that after the meeting there will be no the early 1970s, 106 people were detained under the mo r e basis to criticize each other’s systems, ISA. Most were opposition leaders, academics, and specifically the ISA, because if they do that, social activists. Citizens’ indignation at such arbi- then the Patriot Act, whi c h is quite similar in trariness caused the emergence of two prominent na t u r e to the ISA, could come into a position of human rights organizations in 1989, Suaram and je o p a r dy itself. Ashcroft seemed to understand Hakam (the National Human Rights Society). the existence, need and the future of the ISA in The sacking and subsequent ISA arrest of th e as muc h as we understand the Patriot Act. for mer deputy prime minister, Anwar Ibrahim, and Ba c k in Washington, a White House that once dis- tw enty-nine of his associates in 1998 catalyzed a mul t i - tanced itself fr om the Mahathir regime because of it s se c t o r , mul t i p a r ty movement for political refo r m. For dismal human rights rec o r d now shower ed prai s e the human rights movement, it was the opportu n e upon the prime minister for his role in the detention la u n c hing pad for a popular campaign to repeal the of al l e g ed Muslim “ext re m i s t s .” The United States is ISA. And popular it was . In 1998–99 tens of th o u s a n d s not alone in reversing its previous condemnation of of people attended public meetings on the ISA and the use of the ISA; Au s t ralia and the United issues of ci vil liberties held around the country. Kingdom have also vocally and enthusiastically sup- Prior to the 1999 general elections, several polit- po r ted the Mahathir regime over the past yea r . ical parties, organizations, and individuals aligned Originally drafted to quell communist insur- with the ruling coalition joined 2,000 mostly gents in the 1960s, the ISA has since been used to Chinese-based associations, cl a n s, and guilds in

PUBLIC SECURITY AND HUMAN RIGHTS human rights dialogue Fall 2002 25 signing the Malaysian Election Appeal. Among the the Abolish ISA Movement. These arguments range many demands was the repeal or at least the review of from amending the ISA in accordance with internation- the ISA. When ten opposition and pro-reform activists al human rights standards to campaigning for judicial were arrested under the ISA in the months of April and safeguards (as opposed to an outright repeal of the act). May 2001, there was once again mass support for Whereas in the past an ISA arrest could galvanize a release of the prisoners and for the abolition of the ISA. number of organizations into action, now there seems Yet, in the aftermath of September 11, public and to be an overwhelming need to distinguish between political support for the repeal of the ISA has waned, “political” detainees and “Islamic” detainees. Pro - overshadowed by a global fixation with Islamic “terror- reform activists currently incarcerated in an ISA deten- ism.” There are now some seventy people detained tion camp have asked that their campaign be distin- without trial or charge under the ISA—alleged mem- guished from that of the alleged Islamic extremists bers of shadowy Islamic groups with interchangeable arrested. International human rights groups have also names and linkages, like the Malaysian Mujahideen been relatively hesitant to categorize the alleged Islamic group, Jemaah Islamiah, and even al-Qaeda, depending militants as political prisoners. For example, during on which politician speaks on what day––on sweeping Mahathir’s visit to the United States this past May, claims that they are extremists or “militant” Islamists Amnesty International USA released a statement call- bent on destroying Malaysia and rebuilding the remains ing on President Bush to pursue the release of six pro- into an Islamic state. Since the Bali bombing, another reform detainees, but made no mention of the alleged five men have been detained. The Mahathir government Islamic extremists. has seized every opportunity to declare national securi- Ac t i vists wor king in Malaysia who promote such ty paramount and the ISA an indispensable weapon distinctions between Islamic militants and other politi- against terrorism. cal prisoners would do well to remember the facts at All this has made the work of human rights advo- hand. The existing laws in the Malaysian criminal jus- cates increasingly difficult, especially in the face of the tice system are more than sufficient to counter or punish g ove rn m e n t ’s massive pro p aganda machine that any actual acts of te r r orism. To this day, the govern m e n t exploits the public’s worst fears. Even then-chairman of has shown no evidence of the detainees’ terrorist activi - the National Human Rights Commission, fo rm e r ties to the Malaysian public––neither in the courts nor Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Musa Hitam, was quot- in the for m of a white paper to the parliament. None of ed a month after September 11 calling for democracy the alleged Islamic ext r emists has been cha r ged in court. and human rights to take a back seat and to allow the To derail the prop a ganda machi n e r y of the state, government to deal with the threat of possible terrorist human rights groups must first debunk the myth that activities in the country. The path has been opened for Islamic terrorism exi s t s . They must assert with grea t e r vigor the fundamental rights of al l e g ed Islamic ext re m i s t s The ISA does not discriminate with reg a r d to who remain incarce r ated under the ISA. They must also pu bl i c ly defend all indivi d u a l s . The ISA does not discrim- rel i g i o n , political beliefs, cl a s s , or gender––and inate with rega r d to religion, political beliefs, cla s s , or neither should human rights activism. gender––and neither should human rights activi s m . Calls from certain quarters of the NGO commu- nity to bind the act to international human rights blanket laws masked as safeguards for public safety and s t a n d a rds and judicial safe g u a rds are misplaced: pre- the utilization of a discourse that generates fear. ve n t ive detention is almost always accompanied by There are democracy and rights advocates who t o rt u re and unfair trials—the most deliberate of continue to seek the repeal of the ISA but who at the human rights abu s e s. Th roughout Asia gove rn m e n t s same time call for a substitute “antiterrorism” legisla- a re using so-called antiterrorism and national security tion. Lim Kit Siang, ch a i rman of the Democra t i c l aws to curb political dissent and self-determ i n a t i o n Action Party, former ISA detainee, and one of the more m ovements and are in fl agrant violation of i n t e rn a- astute rights advocates in the country, released a state- tional human rights norm s. The human rights com- ment in June calling for a multiparty–NGO consulta- munity must help the public understand that preve n- tion to discuss the possibility of enacting an antiterror- t ive detention of any kind, even with safe g u a rds like ism law. Thankfully, this has been shelved, at least for judicial rev i ew, invite abuse in one way or another by the moment. Rumblings of the debate remain among the powers-that-be. The pro o f lies in the Malay s i a n the Malaysian NGOs, however, including some from g ove rn m e n t ’s re c o rd of exploitation of the ISA for the

26 Fall 2002 human rights dialogue past four decades. Any substitute legislation will Since the writing of this essay, there have been a num- undoubtedly fo l l ow the same path. ber of de v elopments relating to ISA detentions. The Two years after the enactment of the ISA R. H. highest court in Malaysia—the Fed e r al Court—ruled in Hi c kling, its original draf t e r , refl e c t e d : Se ptember that the ISA detention of fi ve pro- re fo r m I must hope that the practice of im p r i s o n m e n t ac t i vists arrested on April 10, 2001, was illegal and mala without trial, cha r ge or conviction admitted by fi d e . In October the court told the Malaysian parlia- the Act 1960 will not be rega r ded as a perma n e n t ment that its accusation of bank robb e r y against the fea t u r e of the legal and political landscape of Kumpulan Mujahideen Malaysia was fa l s e. In Ma l a ya or for that matter of Asia gen e ra l l y . No vember the Shah Alam High Court ruled the deten- This hope will dim even further if human rights grou p s tion of Nasharuddin Nasir, an alleged member of fail to expose the official discourse on terrorism in Jemaah Islamiah, illegal and orde r ed his immediate Ma l a ysia as fraudulent. If the human rights commun i - rel e a s e . Upon being freed, Nasharuddin was immediate- ties in Malaysia and around the wor ld do not speak up ly rea r rested with a fresh detention order from the home in a concerted voice against preven t i ve detention now, mi n i s t e r . Since then Prime Minister Mahathir has stated the costs will be great; the real terrorism of au t h o r i t a r i - that the ISA will be amended to stop the courts from anism will be finally normalized. ■hrd challenging the police and the gover nment. —E.W.

A Post–Bali Turnaround on Rights Karim Raslan Responds

WHEN SOMETHING (OR SOMEBODY) you know and love is national security. While the two concerns are not mutual- brutalized, you cannot help but feel aggrieved and angry. ly exclusive nor, indeed, necessarily in opposition, I am The bombing on Kuta beach and the murder of more than torn by an emotional—maybe even a primal—need to 180 people feel to me like a terrible personal assault. establish a safety zone around myself. I now feel less sure The Bali bombers set out to destroy the island’s eco- about my willingness to live with the uncertainties of nomic livelihood, wreck its precious racial and religious democracy and unfettered freedoms. This is a terrible balance, and shatter Indonesia’s hopes for a restoration of admission, but I should be honest about my concerns since order and stability. The sheer destructiveness of the crime I suspect there are many people who would agree with me. makes me question the humanity of those involved. What In this respect I am not alone. As Elizabeth Wong agenda can these murderers hope to realize? They are the notes, even some of Malaysia’s most passionate advocates merchants of death, horror, and evil. Islam, the Holy o f human rights find themselves deeply tro u bl e d — Quran, and the Prophet Muhammad have been grossly although most have continued to support publicly human abused by their act. rights protections. I think Wong is taking it too far to say It is hard for any of us to control our emotional that there should be no tightening of restrictions; we need responses in the immediate aftermath of su c h a ghastly to have some protections against terrorism. Imtiaz Sarwar, tr aged y . The principles enshrined in the UN Decla r ation of a leading constitutional lawyer and human rights activist, Human Rights have always underpinned a great deal of argues passionately that “measures can and should be what I write. Yet this murd e r ous attack has for ced me to taken,” even as he warns against draconian laws. reassess my commitment to civil and political liberties as A civil society depends on the honest and willing par- so u r ces of social harmony and stabi l i t y . ticipation of all its members. But how are we to work with Coming from Malaysia, whe r e the gover nment has people who refuse to agree with an ethos of tolerance and scant re ga rd for human rights and civil liberti e s , I have peacefulness? How can we continue to espouse without al ways prod ded the authorities towar d an increased under- qualification civil liberties and the due process of the law standing of the role of personal freedoms in both human when there are people for whom such guarantees are de velopment and nation bui l d i n g . As such, I have rep e a t e d - anathema? How can we proceed with such a venture when ly criticized the gover nment for its use of the Interna l there are forces who would destroy rather than build, mur- Security Act. der rather than nurture? I wish I could be as certain as ■ In the aftermath of the Bali attack, I am rethinking Wong, but I am not. hrd where I should be drawing the line in the perennial debate This response is based on a article that app e a r ed in the over the tension between civil and political liberties and Business Times Singapo r e (October 16, 2002).

PUBLIC SECURITY AND HUMAN RIGHTS human rights dialogue Fall 2002 27 is hardly surprising, given the degree to which violence Israeli has characterized the Israeli domination of Palestinians throughout this conflict. When the Israeli media uni- formly parrot a statement issued by the Ministry of Exceptionalism? Defense that the army has killed a Palestinian on his way to perpetrating an atrocity, the public has no way of knowing how plausible this claim is. It is very hard to remind the public that this person is only suspected Jeremy Milgrom of bloodshed and has not had an opportunity to prove his innocence. The media, which have willingly sided with the “national interest,” are less inclined than ever to present the story of Palestinian life under occupa- uman rights activists living through a pro- tion. Sisyphean effo rts by the human rights commu n i- longed, bloody, and escalating conflict fre- ty to remind Israelis that more than 99 percent of t h e Hquently find themselves on the losing side of Palestinian population consists of n o n c o m b a t a n t an issue they never could have imagined in their worst c ivilians are eroded each time a bomb explodes with nightmares. Such is the case in Israel, where the govern- I s raeli casualties. ment has committed serious human rights violations Ev en if ta r geted killing against Palestinian civilians. Possibly the most egre- wer e always perfect, meaning gious of these violations—which include the demoli- that only the combatant actu- tion of homes of alleged terrorists’ families and the ally targeted was killed, it routine torture of those under interrogation—is the would still rep r esent a gri e v- targeted killing of senior members of Palestinian resist- ous deviation from basic ance organizations. To complete the picture, however, it st a n d a r ds of justice: a human must be stated that these desperate measures have been being executed without the taken in an environment of mounting lethal attacks chance to prove himself in n o - against both Israeli settlers in the West Bank and Gaza cent of suspicions gat h e re d and Israelis living within the Green Line—the area by an intelligence app a ra t u s assigned to Jewish rule by the UN partition plan of without passing any for m of 1947, plus land captured by Israel in the war of 1948. judicial revi e w. What we are Pu b lic resistance to human rights arguments has witnessing are ex t ra j u d i c i a l tied the hands of the human rights commun i t y . For killings so horrific that they Is r aelis targeted killing is the necessary response to sui- ar e virtually indistinguishable cide bombers; it is countert e r ro r i s m —à la guerre, fr om acts of ven ge a n c e — t a k - comme à la guerre, in war as in war . Even among human ing Israel out of the company rights activi s t s , the commitment to human rights is of ci vilized nations. The fact stopped cold by the notion of Is r ael as a Jewish state, that there is no death penalty whi c h allows for violations in the service of ma i n t a i n i n g in Israel does not resonate, as a Jewish majority. A case in point is the refusal of lib - the public has gotten used to Palestinian children pasting up a “martyr” poster for Mahmud Abu Helwa, a Hamas er al Israelis to allow the ret u r n of Palestinian ref u ge e s . ext r ajudicial murd e r s . Some fighter who was killed during the Israeli Not only is this a human rights violation, but it is con- o f the victims of t a rge t e d military operation in Jenin. tra r y to the basic idea of the right to ret u r n of exi l e s — killing stand accused simply the ver y raison d’être of the state of Is r ael. For pacifists as leaders in Palestinian resistance organ i z a t i o n s , and li k e myself, the matter is clear and human rights are their “elimination” does not seem to present a probl e m absolute: this is not a war of se l f - d e f ense, but a colonial to the Israeli gen e r al public, for whi c h all Pal e s t i n i a n s war for territory and illegal settlements. The occupation ar e suspect. must end, and this war should not be fou g h t . In my view, the reason the Israeli gover nment rare l y It is distressing to see how insensitive our public is relies on the alterna t i ve policy of ar r esting and trying sus- to the policy of the excessive use of force. And yet this pects is because it takes longer to plan and execute the

28 Fall 2002 human rights dialogue rem o val of a suspect from Palestinian territory than it diers, and many of us continue to spend a month or does to simply lob a bomb or shoot a missile at him. It more every year in reserve duty well into middle age. At also puts Israeli soldiers at risk. Israel wants to occupy the very least, almost every Israeli activist has a close with impunity, and when the occupied population res i s t s relative currently serving in a combat unit; pacifism is, violently (wh i ch I deplore, but wh i ch is its unfortunately, a rare phenomenon in Israel, even with- r i g h t ) ,I s ra e l ’s su p p r ession of the violence is unjust. Whe n in the human rights community. Is r ael res o r ts to exce s s i ve for ce against an entire civi l i a n For much of Israeli society the very concept of population, it enters the realm of war crimes. The alleged human rights re s- absence of al t e rn a t i ve means of “s e l f de f ense” doesn’t onates poorly. Rabbis The Public resistance to al l o w murd e r ; it req u i r es ending the occupation. for Human Rights On issues pertaining to the peace pro c e s s, espe- tries to remind Israelis human rights arguments has cially on the question of b o rders and settlements, of the classical Jewish tied the hands of the human t h e re is a vo c i fe rous debate, and we in the human idea of compassion, in rights commun i t y . rights community have been out front. But we have the hope that it might done next to nothing in add ressing our gove rn m e n t ’s strike a chord among p o l i cy of t a rgeted killing. Sadly, we have not only the traditionally minded. Building on our contacts in failed to reverse the policy, but we have barely ge n e r- the field and the cooperation we enjoy with Palestinian ated a public discussion about it. Ap p e a l s, so far NGOs, we try to refute Israelis’ belief in an innate unsuccessful, to the High Court of Justice by the Palestinian hostility toward them, and emphasize that P u blic Committee Against To rt u re in Israel stand as human rights violations victimize the civilian popula- ra re exceptions to our silence on this matter. We have tion. When theological and legal arguments do not con- s p o ken out against the deaths of innocent by s t a n d e r s vince, there is the temptation here to speak pragmati- in the process of executing a targeted killing—as in cally—for example, making the case that collective the case of a one-ton bomb dropped by the Isra e l i punishment fosters rather than deters terror—but that m i l i t a ry on a crowded Palestinian neighborhood last is not our strong hand. Ju l y, killing at least ten ch i l d ren and many adults in Public debate among Israelis used to be about a ddition to the person targeted. Yet we are virt u a l l y whether the latest security measures would bring silent with respect to ex t rajudicial executions of “peace” (i.e., a Palestinian surrender) or would lead to Palestinian suspects. further insecurity—for Israelis. Today, the renewal of How can we explain the silence? I would suggest violence by mainstream Palestinian militants following that human rights activists in Israel work in an envi- the failure of the Camp David talks has buttressed the ronment much different from those of our counterparts public’s conviction that Palestinians have never wanted around the world. For fifty-four years, Israel has main- anything but the destruction of Israel, and the debate tained a state of high military readiness. For more than has shifted away from prospects for peace. It is my half of those years it was in a state of war with all of its belief, based on twenty years of talking with inspiring neighbors. The peace treaties that it has signed—with international human rights and peace activists, that Egypt and Jordan—are considered fragile. All Israelis Israelis and Palestinians need the ongoing presence and feel that they are in danger, as civilians have been killed support of the international community. At a time in virtually every Israeli city. We have grown accus- when human rights are increasingly threatened by new tomed to living with emergency regulations. insecurities, it is even more important that we strength- Also atypical is the fact that a good percentage of en our consciousness of the unity of the human race Israeli human rights activists have been combat sol- and the blessings of human solidarity. ■hrd

For more on Israeli restrictions on Palestinian mobility and its impact on human rights from the health perspective, see “Restricted Mobility and the Th r eat to Health” by Stephanie Hansel and Jihad Mashal in the “right to health” issue of Human Rights Dialogu e , available online at www.c c e i a . o r g / t h e m e s / h rd _ h a n s e l m a s h a l . h t m l . For insight into the impact of human rights litigation on the appropriation of Palestinian land see “Resisting Litigation in Umm El-Fahem” by Samera Esmeir and Rina Rosenberg in the litigation issue of Human Rights Dialogue, available on-line at www.carnegiecouncil.org/themes/hrdspring2000.html.

PUBLIC SECURITY AND HUMAN RIGHTS human rights dialogue Fall 2002 29 READERS RESPOND I N T E G R ATING PEACE WORK AND HUMAN RIGHTS

An Unavoidable just as human rights violations 1998 fol l o wing the unlamented demise of a structural nature engen - of Ge n e r al Abacha. It was concerne d Love–Hate der conflicts and violence. with Obasanjo’s notorious contempt for Relationship Along with short - t e rm peacemaking de m o c ra c y and his poor human rights ac t iv i t i e s , it is imperat i ve to focus on re c o rd when he ruled Nigeria fro m The Winter 2002 issue of H u m a n l o n g - t e rm peace-building wo rk that 1976–79. However , a number of hu m a n Rights Dialogue, “Integrating Human st r i ves for social justice and, ultimately, rights groups realized that ending mili- Rights and Peace Wo rk,” has con- the alleviation of social, economic, and ta r y rule should be a priority and thus tributed greatly to the debate on the political inequities. With the goal of chose to support the regime as a tran s i - relationship between human rights and wor king towar d a more equitable sys- tional gover nment that would even t u a l l y c o n flict resolution. The art i cles by tem, the human rights app ro a c h is an lead to ge nuine democra cy. Other Ivana Vuco and Ellen Lutz, both from in t e g ral part of peace building and rec - grou p s , such as the National Conscience Tufts University’s Center for Human onciliation. Pa rt y / JACON and the Democra t i c Rights and Conflict Re s o l u t i o n It is important, however, to adopt Al t e rn a t i ve, rejected the transition pro- ( C H RCR), re flect the new position a nonthreatening method if the goal is gram completely and refused to cooper- adopted largely by academics: in order to achieve both justice and reconcilia- ate with either the military regime or the to address successfully the causes of tion, and also not to ostracize any of Obasanjo gover nment. conflict and its resolution, it is impera- the parties to the conflict—even those Fi e r ce controversy raged over the tive to use a multidisciplinary strategy responsible for inequities, which are question of whether the human rights that encompasses human rights and usually the authorities. CCG’s experi- mo vement should expose and condemn conflict resolution approaches. ence with Angolan internally displaced the human rights violations perpe t ra t e d Despite Vuco’s account of human people has shown that disseminating under the new quasi-civilian gover n- rights organizations in Nigeria taking a human rights principles is not enough. ment. Ultimately, human rights grou p s m o re conciliatory stance on human A more fruitful strategy has proved to agreed to wor k towar d the common rights abuses for the sake of upholding be the capacity-building of internally goal of de m o c r atic consolidation by the fragile democracy, not many practi- displaced people through the develop- adopting the individual strategies and tioners operate at the nexus of human ment of conflict resolution skills—such tactics of their choice. They establi s h e d rights and peace work. The reasons for as inclusive dialogue with authorities— an umbrella coalition called the this stem from the tensions between the in order to help them defend their Transition Monitoring Group (TMG) two fields that Vuco and Lutz cite: rec- rights, and request protection of their to coordinate civil society parti c i p a t i o n onciliation versus justice, advocacy ver- rights, in a nonadversarial way from in the transition. Within the fram e wor k sus neutra l i t y, cooperation ve r s u s the government. o f the TMG, human rights gro u p s a dve r s a r i a l i t y, competing analyses of Experiences from Angola, Niger i a , or ganized voter education and electoral the causes of conflict, etc. and other places studied by CHRCR o b s e r vation activ i t i e s. Fo l l owing the As a conflict resolution profe s s i o n - de m o n s t r ate that the growing rel a t i o n - in a u g u r ation of the Obasanjo gover n- al based in Angola, I would like to sup- ship between human rights and confli c t ment, human rights groups tried to po r t Vuc o ’ s and Lutz’s argument that resolution wor k is a necessary one. wor k with sever al gover nment agen c i e s , with var ying degrees of su c c e s s , on ea c h field has its own strengths and that Steve Utterwulghe issues including electoral, police, legal , victims of co n f licts and human rights Angola Country Director and judicial refo r m and tran s p a re n c y. abuses will be better off if human rights Center for Common Ground As Vuco correctly points out, some ad vocates and peace wor kers join these Angola st r engths while keeping their unique human rights groups have tried to app l y id e n t i t i e s . In Angola the Center for te c hniques traditionally associated with Common Ground (CCG), an interna - the conflict resolution community in tional conflict resolution organ i z a t i o n , A Skeptical Viewpoint their wor k. In my assessment, the suc- has been wor king in the field of pe a c e - As Ivana Vuco notes in her essay, cess of these effo rts was limited. making since 1996. It has become cle a r “T aking the Rec o n c i l i a t o r y Route,” in Co n f lict resolution techniques cannot for CCG that focusing only on confli c t the Winter 2002 issue of Human Rights be the only solution when the confli c t s resolution wo rk without add re s s i n g Di a l og u e , “Human rights groups [in ar e driven by Niger i a ’ s political elite human rights violations is an untenable N i geria] have been reassessing their fighting over land and res o u rc e s , who position—and also possibly a hyp o c r i t i - mode of op e r ation. They hope to estab- mobilize the people on the basis of et h - cal one. Conflict resolution prac t i t i o n - lish themselves as a constructive element nic, rel i g i o u s , and communal affi l i a - ers in Angola cannot for the sake of in the consolidation of de m o c ra c y.” ti o n s . ne u t r ality and nonadversariality ignore The human rights movement was Vuco’s observations that conven- the fact that the Angolan conflict engen - not enthusiastic about the pres i d e n t i a l tional ap p ro a ches of human rights ders many gross human rights abus e s , ca n d i d a c y of Ge n e r al Obasanjo in late organizations, such as constitutional

30 Fall 2002 human rights dialogue litigation, may not immediately address munity action. Photocopies of sp e c i f i c the problem of resolving conflicts is a rt i cles wer e circulated to parti c i p a n t s a c c u rate. But other human rights fr om the commun i t y , leading to crea t i ve approaches, such as advocacy for legal co n versations that cha l l e n g ed the posi- human rights dialogue and judicial reform, can have a positive tions of the Di a l og u e co n t r i b utors and Series 2 Number 8 • Fall 2002 effect on conflict and need to be pur- helped us to for mulate peaceful, positive sued. One reason why many communal solutions to local confl i c t s. EDITOR IN CHIEF: Joanne Bauer land disputes degenerate into violent The mission of the Tufts Center for MANAGING EDITOR:JessMesser conflict is that the Nigerian people have Human Rights and Conflict Res o l u t i o n , essentially lost confidence in the formal, as described by Ellen Lutz in her arti cl e , ASSOCIATE EDITOR:Erin Mahoney Westernized judicial system as a means “T rou b leshooting Differe n c e s ,” res o n a t - TEXT EDITOR: Paige Arthur of dispute resolution. The Obasanjo ed with the theme of peaceful res i s t a n c e TRANSLATOR: Ludmila Palazzo government must resolve these issues and compassionate reconciliation of ou r DESIGN: Rory Bernstein before the human rights community can t raining course. Pa rticipants fo u n d have a significant impact on the public. Lu t z ’ s prescription for better-c o o rd i n a t - ed action among groups and their HUMAN RIGHTS INITIAT I V E Ndubisi Obiorah A DV I S O RY BOA R D res p e c t i ve borrowing of st r ategies espe- Senior Legal Officer cially insightful. According to Lutz: Peter R. Baehr Human Rights Law Service Carlos Basombrío Nigeria Human rights advocates could be Ann Blyberg more effective if they expanded their Catharin E. Dalpino tool kits beyond naming, shaming Clarence J. Dias and seeking remedies in judicial Peter H. Juviler Community Advocates forums to include conflict resolvers’ Benedict Kingsbury broader array of negotiation and Stephen P. Marks and Educators Weigh In diplomatic tech n i q u e s. Confl i c t Chidi Anselm Odinkalu resolvers could better ensure that Dimitrina Petrova At its third annual peace and human negotiations lead not just to a cease- D. J. Ravindran Edwin Rekosh rights summer education program for fire but to a permanent peace if they Loretta J. Ross co m m unity advocates and educators in were more willing to assert basic Mohammed El Sayed Said June 2002, the University of Ha wai i n o rms of i n t e rnational human William F. Schulz ex p l o red the theme, “Deepening the rights and humanitarian law. (p. 23) Discourse of Human Rights: Pa rticipants agreed that a holistic per- D eveloping Nonviolent Strategies fo r CARNEGIE COUNCIL ON ETHICS s p e c t ive is critical if the human rights D i rect Action and Diplomacy.” Th e AND INTERNATIONAL A F FA I R S m ovement is to guarantee fundamental global, gra s s roots perspectives fro m PRESIDENT: Joel H. Rosenthal f re e d o m s. They concluded that a co n t r i b utors to the Winter 2002 issue of VICE PRESIDENT FOR FINANCEAND ADMINISTRATION: t h re e - p a rt ap p ro a ch of peace, ecology, Eva Becker Human Rights Dialogu e , “Integrat i n g and human rights could provide the CIRCULATION: Deborah Carroll Human Rights and Peace Wor k,” proved tools necessary for global peace and to be a val u a ble tool for the course. The publication was debated dur- human security. Human Rights Dialog u e is a forum for dive r s e ing our class session and also used in our Joshua Cooper voices and expresses a range of views. The articles c o m munity caucuses, wh e re seminar Lecturer published here reflect the opinions of the authors pa r ticipants went into local commun i - University of Hawaii at Manoa and not necessarily those of the Carnegie Council. ties to discuss and create plans for com- United States Founded in 1914 by Andrew Carnegie, the Carnegie Council on Ethics and International Affairs is an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to resear ch and education in the field of ethics and international affairs. WHAT DO YOU THINK? Copyright © 2002 Carnegie Council on Ethics and Do you have a response to “Public Security and Human Rights”? Share it with International Affairs, a publicly supported organi- thousands of other Human Rights Dialogu e rea d e r s . Send your comments to Erin zation of the type described under section 509(a)(1) Ma h o n e y , Human Rights Initiative, Carnegie Council on Ethics and Interna t i o n a l and 170(b)(1)(A)(vi) ofthe Internal Revenue Code. 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Visit our on-line version of F O RTHCOMING PUBLICAT I O N S For more debate on Israel’s policy of Human Rights Dialogue . .. t a rgeted killings, see the journal of featuring annotated links, suggested further rea d i n g , Ethics & International Affairs 17, and additional essays and responses on public security no. 1, forthcoming in March 2003. The cha l l e n g es to human rights norms . On-line at issue will also feature articles on the ethics of preemptive use of force, U.S. ww w .c a rn e g i e c o u n c i l . o r g. u n i l a t e ralism and mu l t i l a t e ra l i s m , i m m i gration, IMF and Wo rld Bank reform, and more. Order on-line at ww.carnegiecouncil.org. The International Council on Human Rights Pol i c y will release a rep o r t, Cr i m e , Pu b lic Order and Human Rights, in fall 2003. A draft rep o r t will be avai l a ble for comment in Febr u a r y 2003 at ww w. i n t e rn a t i o n a l - c o u n c i l . o r g.

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