City University of New York (CUNY) CUNY Academic Works All Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects 6-2014 International norm echoing in rebel groups: The cases of the Kosovo Liberation Army and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam Jennifer A. Mueller Graduate Center, City University of New York How does access to this work benefit ou?y Let us know! More information about this work at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/260 Discover additional works at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu This work is made publicly available by the City University of New York (CUNY). Contact: [email protected] International norm echoing in rebel groups: The cases of the Kosovo Liberation Army and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam by Jennifer A. Mueller A dissertation submitted to the Graduate Faculty in Political Science in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, The City University of New York 2014 © 2014 Jennifer Anne Mueller All rights reserved ii This manuscript has been read and accepted for the Graduate Faculty in Political Science in satisfaction of the dissertation requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Susan L. Woodward Date Chair of the Examining Committee Alyson Cole Date Executive Officer Susan L. Woodward Thomas G. Weiss Peter Liberman Supervisory Committee iii Abstract International norm echoing in rebel groups: The cases of the Kosovo Liberation Army and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam by Jennifer A. Mueller Advisor: Professor Susan L. Woodward This research demonstrates that rebel groups use international norms in their discourse and echo patterns in the discourse of states and that they do so to promote their own legitimacy at key turning points in their conflicts. Which international norms rebel groups use most frequently is partially determined by the congruence of those norms with their local norms and beliefs and the degree to which a group’s internal structure has become more hierarchical and specialized. Two rebel groups are examined in this study over the course of their conflicts: the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The international norms under analysis are human rights, international humanitarian law, genocide, and norms against terrorism. Rebel groups echo the broad pattern of change in discourse and behavior exhibited by states: as states increasingly turned to human rights discourse and focused on the protection of civilians in conflict during the 1990s, rebel groups did so as well in their discourse. These non-state actors, however, are not merely echoing the discourse from the international level as passive recipients: they adopt international norms into their discourse for strategic reasons, namely to increase their legitimacy with local and international audiences. By tracing the patterns of norm adoption throughout the course of the conflict and matching peaks of fluctuation with events on iv the ground, this research demonstrates that rebel groups increase the frequency of their use of international norms at key turning points in the conflict, such as during negotiations for ceasefire or peace agreements, and do so to boost their legitimacy. The research examines the effect of two additional variables on the changes in the discourse of the groups: the normative culture of the groups and the internal hierarchical structure. Findings demonstrate that the normative culture of a rebel group partially determines which international norms are adopted by the group and that a precondition of a high level of internal hierarchy is necessary before a group echoes international norms consistently. v Acknowledgments I would like to thank my advisor, Susan Woodward, for her steadfast support, excellent guidance, and the room I needed to think and complete this work. I would also like to thank my committee members, Tom Weiss and Peter Liberman, for their thoughtful critique and encouragement. Support from the CUNY Graduate Center in the form of a Research Grant for Doctoral Students and travel grants made the research in Kosovo possible and support from the Ralph Bunch Institute allowed me space to finally write. I would also like to thank Blerina Xhangolli-Morina for her expert assistance with the complexities of the Albanian language. I would never have been able to complete my research in Kosovo without the help of many friends and colleages in Pristina: Rand Engel, Gesim Visoka, Adem Beha, Iliriana Kacaniku, Bleron Limani, Diamant Krasniqi, Agon Xharra, Trina and Arianna Gojani and many more who offered advice, resources, facilitated connections, and lent a helping hand along the way. Many thanks too, to my fellow travelers on this long road, for their thoughtful comments, encouragement, and advice: Shawna Brandle, Janet Reilly, Lisa Rickmers, Danielle Zach, and Micki Kaufman. Finally, eternal thanks to Laurence Berg without whose indefatigable encouragement and unrelenting support this dissertation certainly would not have been completed. vi Table of Contents Introduction 1 Chapter 1: Theoretical framework and methodology 10 1.1 Definitions 10 1.2 Theoretical framework 17 1.3 Methodology 35 Chapter 2: Background on the Kosovo and Sri Lanka cases 43 2.1 Background on the conflict in Kosovo 43 2.2 The Kosovo Liberation Army 57 2.3 Background on the conflict in Sri Lanka 73 2.4 The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam 80 Chapter 3: Patterns of change: A state to non-state level comparison 85 3.1 States and international norms 87 3.2 Changes in international norms 89 3.3 Rebel groups and international norms 106 3.4 Conclusions 131 Chapter 4: Human rights and international humanitarian law: Evidence of incorporation of norms into the discourse of rebel groups 134 4.1 Human rights law and international humanitarian law during conflict 135 4.2 Human rights and humanitarian law norms in the discourse of the armed resistance groups 139 4.3 Conclusions 179 Chapter 5: “We were fighting a clean war”: Rebel groups and the norm against the practice of terrorism 185 vii 5.1 Terrorism: The evolution of the concept 187 5.2 Terrorism and the KLA 192 5.3 Terrorism and the LTTE 211 5.4 Comparison of the KLA and the LTTE 219 5.5 Conclusions 221 Chapter 6: Conclusion 223 Appendix 1: Code book 233 Appendix 2: KLA documents 235 Appendix 3: Timeline for the Kosovo case 240 Appendix 4: LTTE Documents 243 Appendix 5: Timeline for the Sri Lanka case 244 References 247 viii List of tables Table 3.1 Change over time of the use of international norm language in 108 KLA discourse Table 3.2 Saturation of international norms in KLA discourse 113 Table 3.4 Change over time of the use of international norm language in 127 LTTE discourse Table 4.3 Humanitarian law norm references by the KLA, by issue 169 Table 4.4 Human rights references by the KLA, by issue 172 Table 4.5 International humanitarian law references by the LTTE, by issue 175 Table 4.6 Human rights references by the LTTE, by issue 177 ix List of figures Chart 3.1 Change over time of the use of international norms in KLA discourse 110 Chart 3.2 Saturation level of international norms in KLA discourse 114 Chart 3.3 Appeals to outside actors by the KLA 116 Chart 3.4 Change over time of the use of international norms in LTTE discourse 129 Chart 4.1 Weekly human rights and international humanitarian law references during the KLA’s Mature Period (October 1998 – June 1999) 149 Chart 4.2 KLA use of treaties and conventions in the discourse 163 Chart 4.3 KLA references to international humanitarian law, by issue 171 Chart 4.4 KLA references to human rights issues as a percentage of total human rights references 173 Chart 5.1 Terrorism in the discourse of the KLA 195 Chart 5.2 Saturation of terrorism in the discourse of the KLA 197 Chart 5.3 Reference to terrorism by the LTTE 214 x Acronyms ACTORD NATO activation order ACTWARN NATO activation warning BBC British Broadcasting Corporation CAT Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment CDHRF Center for Defending Human Rights and Freedom CFA Ceasefire Agreement CNDD Conseil National Pour la Défense de la Démocratie CSCE Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe EOKA National Organization of Cypriot Fighters EPRLF Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front EROS Eelam Revolutionary Organization of Students FKP Red Popular Front FMLN Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front FRY Federal Republic of Yugoslavia FTO Foreign Terrorist Organization FYROM Former Yugolsav Republic of Macedonia HRW Human Rights Watch ICBL International Campaign to Ban Landmines ICC International Criminal Court ICCPR International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights ICESCR International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights ICFY International Conference on Former Yugoslavia ICG International Crisis Group ICTY International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia IHL International humanitarian law IPKF Indian Peacekeeping Force IRA Irish Republican Army JVP Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna KDOM Kosovo Diplomatic Observer Mission KFOR Kosovo Force (approved by UN, and consisted of troops from NATO countries, partner countries and other non- NATO countries under unified command and control.) KLA Kosovo Liberation Army KPC Kosovo Protection Corps KVM Kosovo Verification Mission LDK Democratic League of Kosovo LKCK National Movement for the Liberation of Kosovo LNCKVSHJ National Liberation Movement Kosovo and the other Albanian Regions in Yugoslavia LPK People’s