This document summarizes research on the connection between respect for civil and political rights and political and economic stability. Several studies are discussed that find violations of rights like freedom of expression and discrimination correlate with increased risks of instability, such as civil war or unrest. Case studies of countries like Benin, Bangladesh, Laos and Equatorial Guinea provide specific examples where limitations on civil rights preceded political instability, which sometimes then led to economic issues as well. The document argues this research challenges justifications for restricting civil liberties in the name of security and stability, as respecting human rights may actually be the best path to achieving those goals.
Lobbying, understood as all actions performed by or on behalf of interest
groups directed at influencing of the process of policy formation and implementation,
occurs in every political regime. The article examines whether the illiberal type of
democracy that exists in Hungary (2010–2014) exerts an influence on the effectiveness of lobbying control.
Illiberal democracy differs from liberal democracy with regard to five systemic core
principles, such as the rule of law, government control and accountability, the integrity
of political elites, media freedom and civil rights and protection of minorities. This
article shows that all of these systemic criteria constituting illiberal democracy were
met in Hungary between 2010–2014. Examination of the case of Hungary with regard
to lobbying control suggests that illiberal democracy had diminished the effectiveness
of lobbying control in this country.
CORRUPTION SCANDALS IN MYANMAR THAT SHOOK THE WORLDMYO AUNG Myanmar
CORRUPTION SCANDALS IN MYANMAR THAT SHOOK THE WORLD
https://knowledgehub.transparency.org/helpdesk/myanmar-overview-of-corruption-and-anti-corruption
https://www.transparency.org/country/MMR
https://www.transparency.org/news/feature/25_corruption_scandals
https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2015/10/corruption-myanmar-jade-trade-151022101916842.html
The corruption of Myanmar's jade trade
New report identifies key players in the industry who have obtained $31bn worth of the precious gem over the last year.
by Philip Heijmans
http://www.u4.no/publications/overview-of-corruption-in-burma-myanmar/
After more than four decades of military rule, political violence and systematic repression of democratic opposition, the country’s political and economic environment has continued to deteriorate in recent years. Myanmar faces major challenges of endemic corruption, consistently ranking at the bottom of TI’S Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI). Little is known on the specific forms and patterns of corruption in the country, but the scale of the informal and illicit economy suggests strong links between the ruling elite and organised crime activities, such as drugs and human trafficking, and illegal logging. In the absence of sound democratic institutions and an effective system of checks and balances, the legal and institutional frameworks against corruption appear rudimentary and likely to be misused by the junta for political reasons. Money laundering is the only area where the country appears to have made some progress in recent years, resulting in its removal from the Financial Acti - See more at: http://www.u4.no/publications/overview-of-corruption-in-burma-myanmar/#sthash.LIAg6ZWP.dpuf
Myanmar/Burma, Cronyism, Human Rights and Corruption, Military Elites, Drug Lords and Crony Companies, and Myanmar People Under Military
Lobbying, understood as all actions performed by or on behalf of interest
groups directed at influencing of the process of policy formation and implementation,
occurs in every political regime. The article examines whether the illiberal type of
democracy that exists in Hungary (2010–2014) exerts an influence on the effectiveness of lobbying control.
Illiberal democracy differs from liberal democracy with regard to five systemic core
principles, such as the rule of law, government control and accountability, the integrity
of political elites, media freedom and civil rights and protection of minorities. This
article shows that all of these systemic criteria constituting illiberal democracy were
met in Hungary between 2010–2014. Examination of the case of Hungary with regard
to lobbying control suggests that illiberal democracy had diminished the effectiveness
of lobbying control in this country.
CORRUPTION SCANDALS IN MYANMAR THAT SHOOK THE WORLDMYO AUNG Myanmar
CORRUPTION SCANDALS IN MYANMAR THAT SHOOK THE WORLD
https://knowledgehub.transparency.org/helpdesk/myanmar-overview-of-corruption-and-anti-corruption
https://www.transparency.org/country/MMR
https://www.transparency.org/news/feature/25_corruption_scandals
https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2015/10/corruption-myanmar-jade-trade-151022101916842.html
The corruption of Myanmar's jade trade
New report identifies key players in the industry who have obtained $31bn worth of the precious gem over the last year.
by Philip Heijmans
http://www.u4.no/publications/overview-of-corruption-in-burma-myanmar/
After more than four decades of military rule, political violence and systematic repression of democratic opposition, the country’s political and economic environment has continued to deteriorate in recent years. Myanmar faces major challenges of endemic corruption, consistently ranking at the bottom of TI’S Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI). Little is known on the specific forms and patterns of corruption in the country, but the scale of the informal and illicit economy suggests strong links between the ruling elite and organised crime activities, such as drugs and human trafficking, and illegal logging. In the absence of sound democratic institutions and an effective system of checks and balances, the legal and institutional frameworks against corruption appear rudimentary and likely to be misused by the junta for political reasons. Money laundering is the only area where the country appears to have made some progress in recent years, resulting in its removal from the Financial Acti - See more at: http://www.u4.no/publications/overview-of-corruption-in-burma-myanmar/#sthash.LIAg6ZWP.dpuf
Myanmar/Burma, Cronyism, Human Rights and Corruption, Military Elites, Drug Lords and Crony Companies, and Myanmar People Under Military
Dilemma of Electorates when Corruption and Threat became a Cultureinventionjournals
Most of the politicians usually adopted various techniques and strategies to get their ends beyond electoral integrity. One or either form of corrupt practices appears widely in India’s northeast too which greatly demeans democracy. In the backdrop of various demands of different ethnic-based insurgencies, elections are also conducting in regular interval in this India’s Northeast. The state of democracy in India’s northeast is clear example of flawed democracy where elections are in servitude. This study is based on quantitative and empirical methods through SPSS interpretation. Sources of data were mainly from structured questionnaire collected on the basis of random sampling method from electorates of India’s northeast. In contemporary, many insurgent groups have been interfering in the elections since they entered peace dialogue with government of India. This paper attempts to analyse corrupt practices and modus operandi of electioneering practices. Majority of electorates were also on the whims of perpetrators.
Abstract: The menace of corruption in Nigeria is very pervasive with global implications. So pervasive is corruption in Nigeria that almost every aspect of National life is affected one way or the other (Matthew et al 2013). According to Woodward 2015, psychosocial approach looks at individuals in the context of the combined influence that psychological factors and the surrounding social environment have on their physical and mental wellness and their ability to function. This approach is used in broad range of helping professions in health and social care settings as well as by medical and social science researchers. It is however difficult to provide the exact date that corruption became a subject of national discourse in Nigeria (Matthew et al 2013). The age of corruption in Nigeria however, has affected the socio-psychology of the citizenry as there have been little or no effective measures put in place to curb the menace of corruption. It is also undisputedly true that corruption in the Nigerian society has eaten deep into the law enforcement agencies, political parties, political leaders, judicial system, government and private ministries and parastatals, law makers, etc., and above all, the psycho-social standing of the citizenry is greatly affected. Thus, curbing corruption in Nigeria may seem too daunting to dare but before proffering critical remedies/strategies/recommendations that will help tremendously in curbing corruption in Nigeria, a closer look at some two major factors that have been grossly infected by corruption will be considered. These two factors are carefully selected because the multiplier effects of corruption we see today in Nigeria find their roots in these two factors which are political corruption and judicial corruption. If corruption in these two institutions mentioned is curbed, then corruption in other aspects of life would have been greatly diminished and the slogan “change begins with me” would become more productive in the reduction of corruption as well as conscience upliftment and Nigeria would be in her way forward to a corrupt-free nation.
Keywords: corruption.
Title: TOWARDS CURBING CORRUPTION IN NIGERIAN SOCIETY
Author: NWUZOR, E. EZIAKU, ANYAOGU, BONIFACE E
International Journal of Recent Research in Social Sciences and Humanities (IJRRSSH),
ISSN 2349-7831,
Paper Publications
This monograph was written for Wagner College's Hugh L. Carey Institute for Government Reform in April 2020 by Bradley Tusk, founder and CEO of Tusk Holdings, and Aileen Kim, Mobile Voting Project Leader, Tusk Philanthropies.
RAPPORT 2013 DU DEPARTEMENT D'ETAT SUR LA SITUATION DE DROITS HUMAINS EN HAITIStanleylucas
Chaque année le Département d'Etat des Etats Unis publie en Février son rapport annuel sur la situation des droits humains dans chaque pays sur la planète. Cette année, Février 2014, Haiti fait partie de ce rapport comme a l'accoutume. Le rapport note les progrès enregistres dans le domaine des droits humains en Haiti et mentionne les cas de violations individuels de droits humains. Le rapport identifie les déficiences des institutions étatiques et fait des recommandations specifiques sur ce qu'il faut améliorer.
Seri Webinar: Memahami dan Mengurai Impunitas di Indonesia
Memahami Impunitas di Indonesia: Suatu Pengantar
Impunitas – secara singkat didefinisikan sebagai 'pembebasan dari hukuman' - mewabah di Indonesia. Artinya, pelanggaran hak asasi manusia pada umumnya dibiarkan begitu saja dan tidak berusaha dibenahi oleh negara dan institusi-institusi hukumnya. Di Indonesia, situasi ini telah ada selama beberapa dekade, dengan konsekuensi bencana bagi supremasi hukum dan masyarakat pada umumnya.
Banyak individu maupun organisasi yang terlibat aktif dalam upaya penguatan rule of law di Indonesia melihat fenomena ini sebagai masalah yang mendesak dan kompleks. Dengan latar belakang ini, Sekolah Tinggi Hukum Indonesia Jentera, Amnesty International Indonesia, Kelompok Kerja Indonesia-Belanda untuk Keadilan dan Pembangunan, dan Institut Van Vollenhoven dari Leiden Law School berinisiatif untuk menyelenggarakan lima seri webinar berjudul: Memahami dan Mengurai Impunitas di Indonesia.
Untuk mendiskusikan hal tersebut, mari bergabung dalam seri webinar pertama bertajuk “Memahami Impunitas di Indonesia: Suatu Pengantar”. Pada agenda ini, para pemateri akan berdiskusi secara interaktif perihal bagaimana akademisi hukum dan aktivis HAM mendefinisikan apa itu impunitas, serta menjelaskan bagaimana konteks sosial, politik, dan sejarah berkelindan di dalamnya.
Pembicara
Adriaan Bedner - Head of Department of the Van Vollenhoven Institute for Law, Leiden University
Usman Hamid - Direktur Eksekutif Amnesty International Indonesia dan Pengajar STH Indonesia Jentera
Moderator
Dian Rositawati - Peneliti Lembaga Kajian dan Advokasi untuk Independensi Peradilan dan Pengajar STH Indonesia Jentera
Acara diselenggarakan pada:
Kamis, 27 Januari 2022
Pukul 16.00-18.00 WIB
Dilemma of Electorates when Corruption and Threat became a Cultureinventionjournals
Most of the politicians usually adopted various techniques and strategies to get their ends beyond electoral integrity. One or either form of corrupt practices appears widely in India’s northeast too which greatly demeans democracy. In the backdrop of various demands of different ethnic-based insurgencies, elections are also conducting in regular interval in this India’s Northeast. The state of democracy in India’s northeast is clear example of flawed democracy where elections are in servitude. This study is based on quantitative and empirical methods through SPSS interpretation. Sources of data were mainly from structured questionnaire collected on the basis of random sampling method from electorates of India’s northeast. In contemporary, many insurgent groups have been interfering in the elections since they entered peace dialogue with government of India. This paper attempts to analyse corrupt practices and modus operandi of electioneering practices. Majority of electorates were also on the whims of perpetrators.
Abstract: The menace of corruption in Nigeria is very pervasive with global implications. So pervasive is corruption in Nigeria that almost every aspect of National life is affected one way or the other (Matthew et al 2013). According to Woodward 2015, psychosocial approach looks at individuals in the context of the combined influence that psychological factors and the surrounding social environment have on their physical and mental wellness and their ability to function. This approach is used in broad range of helping professions in health and social care settings as well as by medical and social science researchers. It is however difficult to provide the exact date that corruption became a subject of national discourse in Nigeria (Matthew et al 2013). The age of corruption in Nigeria however, has affected the socio-psychology of the citizenry as there have been little or no effective measures put in place to curb the menace of corruption. It is also undisputedly true that corruption in the Nigerian society has eaten deep into the law enforcement agencies, political parties, political leaders, judicial system, government and private ministries and parastatals, law makers, etc., and above all, the psycho-social standing of the citizenry is greatly affected. Thus, curbing corruption in Nigeria may seem too daunting to dare but before proffering critical remedies/strategies/recommendations that will help tremendously in curbing corruption in Nigeria, a closer look at some two major factors that have been grossly infected by corruption will be considered. These two factors are carefully selected because the multiplier effects of corruption we see today in Nigeria find their roots in these two factors which are political corruption and judicial corruption. If corruption in these two institutions mentioned is curbed, then corruption in other aspects of life would have been greatly diminished and the slogan “change begins with me” would become more productive in the reduction of corruption as well as conscience upliftment and Nigeria would be in her way forward to a corrupt-free nation.
Keywords: corruption.
Title: TOWARDS CURBING CORRUPTION IN NIGERIAN SOCIETY
Author: NWUZOR, E. EZIAKU, ANYAOGU, BONIFACE E
International Journal of Recent Research in Social Sciences and Humanities (IJRRSSH),
ISSN 2349-7831,
Paper Publications
This monograph was written for Wagner College's Hugh L. Carey Institute for Government Reform in April 2020 by Bradley Tusk, founder and CEO of Tusk Holdings, and Aileen Kim, Mobile Voting Project Leader, Tusk Philanthropies.
RAPPORT 2013 DU DEPARTEMENT D'ETAT SUR LA SITUATION DE DROITS HUMAINS EN HAITIStanleylucas
Chaque année le Département d'Etat des Etats Unis publie en Février son rapport annuel sur la situation des droits humains dans chaque pays sur la planète. Cette année, Février 2014, Haiti fait partie de ce rapport comme a l'accoutume. Le rapport note les progrès enregistres dans le domaine des droits humains en Haiti et mentionne les cas de violations individuels de droits humains. Le rapport identifie les déficiences des institutions étatiques et fait des recommandations specifiques sur ce qu'il faut améliorer.
Seri Webinar: Memahami dan Mengurai Impunitas di Indonesia
Memahami Impunitas di Indonesia: Suatu Pengantar
Impunitas – secara singkat didefinisikan sebagai 'pembebasan dari hukuman' - mewabah di Indonesia. Artinya, pelanggaran hak asasi manusia pada umumnya dibiarkan begitu saja dan tidak berusaha dibenahi oleh negara dan institusi-institusi hukumnya. Di Indonesia, situasi ini telah ada selama beberapa dekade, dengan konsekuensi bencana bagi supremasi hukum dan masyarakat pada umumnya.
Banyak individu maupun organisasi yang terlibat aktif dalam upaya penguatan rule of law di Indonesia melihat fenomena ini sebagai masalah yang mendesak dan kompleks. Dengan latar belakang ini, Sekolah Tinggi Hukum Indonesia Jentera, Amnesty International Indonesia, Kelompok Kerja Indonesia-Belanda untuk Keadilan dan Pembangunan, dan Institut Van Vollenhoven dari Leiden Law School berinisiatif untuk menyelenggarakan lima seri webinar berjudul: Memahami dan Mengurai Impunitas di Indonesia.
Untuk mendiskusikan hal tersebut, mari bergabung dalam seri webinar pertama bertajuk “Memahami Impunitas di Indonesia: Suatu Pengantar”. Pada agenda ini, para pemateri akan berdiskusi secara interaktif perihal bagaimana akademisi hukum dan aktivis HAM mendefinisikan apa itu impunitas, serta menjelaskan bagaimana konteks sosial, politik, dan sejarah berkelindan di dalamnya.
Pembicara
Adriaan Bedner - Head of Department of the Van Vollenhoven Institute for Law, Leiden University
Usman Hamid - Direktur Eksekutif Amnesty International Indonesia dan Pengajar STH Indonesia Jentera
Moderator
Dian Rositawati - Peneliti Lembaga Kajian dan Advokasi untuk Independensi Peradilan dan Pengajar STH Indonesia Jentera
Acara diselenggarakan pada:
Kamis, 27 Januari 2022
Pukul 16.00-18.00 WIB
Corruption And Comparative Politics.pdfWajidKhanMP
Corruption And Comparative Politics
In general, established democracies have lower levels of corruption than dictatorships and fledgling democracies (Montinola & Jackman, 2002; Warren, 2004). However, if the regime is democratic, this alone does not guarantee freedom from corruption (Kramer, 2018; Kube, 2017; Seldadyo & De Haan, 2011; Uslaner & Rothstein, 2016). Wajid khan gives an example, if a democracy lacks transparency in political or campaign finance, has outdated freedom of information laws, has inadequate protection against whistleblowers, or uses untrustworthy media, a democratic state may experience corruption.
Moreover, crime, or at least the perception thereof, tends to increase as countries develop democratic processes. Governments have often not developed effective anti-corruption and integrity mechanisms and are currently trapped in cycles of corruption and weak democratic institutions." Using a panel of 103 countries over five years, Sung (2004) found that corruption first decreased, then increased, and then decreased again in countries becoming more democratic.
That is a combination of growing economic opportunities in the form of achievable rents (Menes, 2006) and the inability of state agencies to establish adequate control and oversight mechanisms for these new opportunities (Schneider, 2007). Sandvig (2006) says that corruption increases in places undergoing "rapid change," such as rapidly developing economies, post-communist countries, or countries transitioning from authoritarian to democratic governments. I am explaining.
Wajid khan Mp says A particular incentive is increased uncertainty. Over time, corruption decreases as governments develop their institutions and capabilities. However, this is not inevitable, and research shows that corruption exists even in the most stable and prosperous democracies (Pring & Vushi, 2019; On critical reflection, see Stephenson, 2019). Therefore, even if democracy is viewed as the preferred anti-corruption system, it is not democracy.
However, specific political institutions, actors, and processes play the role of checks and balances, including the role played. This provides an anti-corruption effect—different political parties. Moreover, when discussing corruption and democracy, it is necessary to recognize that there are many different types of democratic systems around the world, ranging from liberal democracies to democratic socialism to direct and indirect democracies. I have.
Other democratic systems can have various forms and levels of corruption. Nonetheless, as discussed in more detail below, the risk of corruption is generally driven by informally defined executive powers, limited political pluralism, media control, human rights abuses, and militarization of regimes, high in authoritarian systems (or dictatorships) that tend to be characterized. These fe
Look into some Highlights of the Freedom House 2021 ReportCharlie
I look over the Freedom House 2021 report and highlight some of the main points that are included, but make sure to give the full Freedom House 2021 report a read.
1. Human Rights First1
RESEARCH SUMMARY
On the Connection Between Respect for Civil and Political Rights and Political
and Economic Stability
Introduction
The claim that universal human rights exist and should be respected is one that has been made regularly
in the international community even prior to the publication of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
in 1948 and with increasing frequency since then (Norman and Zaidi, 2008). The argument is made by
heads of state, religious leaders, economic and foreign policy advisors, and human rights advocates alike
and is widely understood to impacted trade agreements, treaties, alliances, and international relations in
general. However common, though, the claim is almost always put in normative terms and lacks the
empirical support necessary to make it compelling to countries less invested in the philosophy of
international human rights than in economic growth and political stability. Demonstrating that the violation
of human rights, especially civil and political rights, is counter-productive to these other goals would
motivate countries making utilitarian calculations to reprioritize and take the protection and advancement
of human rights more seriously.
Literature Review
Recent contributions to the body of evidence connecting human rights violations to economic and political
troubles include a model developed by Goldstone et al. (2010) for predicting political instability around the
world. In a study of all countries with a population above 500,000 covering 1955 to 2003, Goldstone and
company argue that incidence of state-led discrimination, which violates Articles 2, 7, and 28 of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, is one of only four variables (along with regime type, infant
mortality, and regional stability) needed to predict political instability with 80% accuracy. They note that
“countries with high levels of state-led discrimination against at least one minority group... faced roughly
triple the relative odds of future civil war onsets than those without such discrimination.” Thus, violations
of civil and political human rights such as governmental prejudice and discrimination can be seen to
correlate strongly with political instability.
John Booth and Patricia Bayer Richard (1996) also point to civil and political rights violations as sources
of unrest. In their study of fledgling democracies of Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa
Rica, and Panama in Central America, they note that a climate of political repression, characterized by
frequent violations of the rights to freedom of speech, association, and assembly, reduces popular
support for the government, as well as citizens’ commitment to political engagement. Furthermore, these
reductions happen differentially, creating a factionalized polity that leans towards instability. Here the
Booth-Bayer Richard findings fall into line with the aforementioned Goldstone model, which also finds that
“partial democracies with factionalism [are] an exceptionally unstable type of regime.”
Further bolstering the connection between respect for civil and political rights and political stability is a
study conducted by David Coltright et al. (2011), which suggests that maximum political stability is
achieved by increasing, rather than decreasing, space for civil society and political discourse. By giving
2. Human Rights First2
citizens a way to voice dissent, “civil society groups address political grievances, socio-economic
injustices, and power imbalances that are among the root causes of violent armed conflict.” In each of
four case studies (Colombia, Kenya, Manipur, and Mindanao), Coltright and company find that
demonstrated respect for civil and political rights helps diffuse tension and prevent conflict.
The strongest claims in regard to the connection between rights violations and internal conflict come from
Oskar Thoms and James Ron (2007), who state quite bluntly that “violations of civil and political rights
appear... obviously associated with conflict.” They concur with previous findings about the dangers of
political repression, finding that find that “of the thirty-six regimes engaged in ‘systematic’ or ‘extensive’
state terror, thirty-one were also embroiled in internal conflict,” while inversely “sixty-nine of the seventy-
eight least repressive countries were conflict free.” So, while careful not to assume causation where all
that can be proven is correlation, they are confident in their conclusion that “violations of personal integrity
or security rights... do provide a clear link to escalation.”
Case Studies
Additional evidence of the link between rights violations and instability can be found in case studies. It is
worth acknowledging that, as always, direct causation is hard to prove and there are many factors that
can be said contribute to any one outcome. However, there are some instances in which connections and
directionality are clear enough to be worth taking into consideration when making policy decisions, and it
is those instances that will be analyzed here.
Political Instability
The connection between civil and political rights violations and instability is most clear and most widely
studied in regards to political instability. At the risk of appearing to appeal to anecdotal evidence and
making the phenomenon seem less common than it actually is, we will look at two instances of especially
clear correlation between civil and political rights violations and political instability: Benin between 2001
and 2002 and Bangladesh between 2001 and 2008.
Benin was the first African country to successfully transition from a dictatorship to a pluralistic political
system, holding free and fair democratic elections first in 1991 and then 1996. During this time Benin was
held up as an example of democratization and lauded as a leader in the region. In 2001, however,
progress broke down. Voting irregularities and accusations of unsealed ballot boxes early in the
presidential election process led to a boycott of the race by challengers, ultimately resulting in a runoff
between friendlies and an administration with little legitimacy. Widespread objections to the election
results were ignored and the new government took power in spite of having no real mandate to rule. After
the election, civil and political rights continued to fall by the wayside: voices of dissent were persecuted
and the consolidation of power by the new administration excluded minority parties. In the municipal
elections held one year later, voting irregularities again marred the election, this time in the 12
th
district,
home to the capital city of Cotonou. This time, protests erupted and eventually forced a reversal of the
result through a second vote.
Benin is a good example of the straightforward connection between political unrest and civil and political
rights violations: when citizens feel as though their voices are not being heard within the existing political
system, they feel compelled to work outside that system, causing unrest either intentionally or
unintentionally in the process. In some cases, including Benin, the unrest consists primarily of large-scale
protests and vocal government opposition that upsets basic institutional functions. In other cases, it can
escalate into violence and create a longer-term problem, as in Bangladesh.
3. Human Rights First3
Bangladesh has a mixed record with respect to human rights, but when the basic civil and political rights
of the people are not secure, political unrest and government turnover follows like clockwork, either by
election (as in 2008), mass protest (as in 1996), or even assassination (as in 1975). The most recent
instance of significant unrest began during the 2001-2006 rule of a semi-authoritarian coalition
government led by the center-right Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). The election marked a shift in the
political climate of the country, with fifteen right-wing Islamist parties fielding candidates and the largest of
them, Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), forming part of the elected coalition. Following the shift, extreme Islamist
violence broke out soon after the 2001 election, primarily targeting journalists and left-of-center
government officials but frequently involving large numbers of civilian casualties. The BNP government at
first did little, in spite of fatalities from terrorism rising from a steady zero to an average of 34 per year
between 2001 and 2006, and sometimes even provided protection for the accused. When it finally did
take action, the government declined to launch a proper investigation of the attacks, instead creating the
Rapid Action Battalion, a special unit authorized to use lethal force outside the bounds of normal judicial
authority. Rather than reducing violence, this caused extrajudicial killings, previously hovering around
zero, to increase to 147 in 2004 and 400 in 2005. This combination of terror attacks and governmental
violence continued into 2006, at which point preparations for the constitutionally-mandated transitional
government began. However, instead of releasing power to a neutral election-oversight body, the BNP
government began manipulating personnel appointments in order to affect the election result. After failing
to block BNP changes in Parliament, the opposition took to the streets by the thousands and imposed a
transport blockade in the capital by attacking buses, trains, trucks, and ferries. The unrest ultimately lead
to a declaration of a state of emergency in early 2007 that formally ended fifteen years of democratic rule
by appointing a caretaker government. This too soon devolved, with police, military, and paramilitary
personnel arresting political activists under the guise of maintaining peace. By September 2007, 22
people had been tortured to death and public criticism of the government had been banned, leading to
mass arrests. Activists’ families were targeted and government surveillance increased significantly. Any
semblance of respect for human rights was lost. The downward spiral that had begun with unchecked
extremist violence in 2001 and continued through the authoritarian caretaker government in 2007 was
righted only with free and fair elections held in 2008 under the watchful eye of the United States and
India.
The case of Bangladesh is a longer-term loss of stability and is somewhat more complex than that of
Benin, but what seems clear across both is that a government that refuses to ensure the basic rights of its
people has a tenuous hold on power and is likely to face opposition, and that the opposition will only be
satisfied when they see evidence that their rights are secure. Any moves to exchange the people’s civil
and political rights for power or security seem to backfire in rather short order.
Economic Instability
Less obvious but no less important is the connection between civil and political rights violations and
economic stability. There is less scholarship on this connection, but one way to study it is to recognize
instances in which human rights violations have lead to the political instability, which in turn causes the
economic instability. One such situation occurred in Laos in 2003: media coverage of several apparent
human rights violations including the detention and expulsion of two journalists and a priest for the
unlikely charge of “obstructing police and possessing illegal explosives” caused protests that combined
with conspicuous rivalries within the ruling party, polarization of political power between dominant
lowlanders and marginalized highlanders, and confrontations between rebel groups and government
forces to create an atmosphere of political unrest. In light of the circumstances, the United States
postponed entering into normal trade relations with Laos, a move that had already been delayed since a
1997 bilateral trade accord due to previous human rights concerns.
4. Human Rights First4
One might argue that the real issue at hand in Laos was that unrest may have caused money to be lost
and that the main concern was not the human rights violations at all, but simple economics and risk-
aversion. If this were the case, human rights violations could not be understood to cause economic
instability and could only be said to correlate with it. However, there is additional evidence that even in
cases where investments are relatively safe, reputational risk alone is enough to discourage foreign
investment and do damage to a small economy. This was the case in Equatorial Guinea in 2013, where,
in spite of some confusion around who would succeed President Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, analysts had
enough confidence in the market to predict economic stability even in the case of political instability as
extreme as a coup. At the same time, the country’s long record of regular arbitrary detentions, serious
restrictions on freedoms of speech and assembly, and silencing opposition groups and independent
media caused enough of a reputational risk to foreign investors that those same analysts warned of
potential damage to trade, especially in regards to the United States, Spain, and France, all of whom had
conducted probes into governmental corruption. In this and other similar cases, human rights violations
clearly put a country’s economic future into question even without actual monetary risk and human rights
violations can be seen to cause economic instability even without the intervening variable of political
instability.
Significance to Policy
Evidence about the potentially destabilizing effects of civil and political rights violations is especially
important to note in the context of a recent global trend towards strict “counter-terrorism measures”
(CTM’s) in “anti-terror legislation.” Language used in and around such legislation frequently presents
infringements on civil and political rights and limitations on civil society as a necessary tradeoff to
maintaining security and stability. Advocates of CTM’s justify everything from extensive government
surveillance and censorship of media outlets to limitations on freedom of assembly and arrest based on
reasonable suspicion by suggesting that curtailments of civil and political liberties lead to a safer and
more secure political climate.
The studies and cases discussed here show that the opposite may be true. Goldstone et al. demonstrate
that civil and political rights violations can be used to predict domestic and regional instability. Coltright
and company show that infringements on civil society increase tension and the likelihood of violent
unrest, rather than preventing it. Thoms and Ron find that political oppression tracks with internal conflict
with 85% accuracy. Thus arguments about the supposed utility of violating human rights are worth a more
critical look as it may be that the opposite approach, placing emphasis on the promotion and protection of
human rights, that is the best way to achieve security and stability.
5. Human Rights First5
Works Cited
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Urban Central America.” American Journal of Political Science 40(4): 1205–32. Web.
Coltright, David, Alstair Millar, Linda Gerber-Stelling, George A. Lopz, Eliot Fackler, and Joshua Weaver.
2011. “Friend not Foe: Opening Spaces for Civil Society Engagement to Prevent Violent Extremism.”
Fourth Freedom Forum and the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at the University of
Notre Dame. Web.
“Equatorial Guinea: Succession Raises Instability Risk.” 2013. Oxford Analytica Daily Brief Service.
Goldstone, Jack A., Robert H. Bates, David L. Epstein, Ted R. Gurr, Michael B. Lustik, Monty G. Marhsall,
Jay Ulfelder, and Mark Woodward. 2010. “A Global Model for Forecasting Political
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“Laos: Reports of Instability Could Harm Trade Policy.” 2003. Oxford Analytica Daily Brief Service.
Normand, Rodger, and Sara Zaidi. 2008. Human Rights at the UN: The Political History of Universal
Justice. Indianapolis: Indiana University Press.
Thoms, Oskar N. T., and James Ron. 2007. “Do Human Rights Violations Cause Internal Conflict?”
Human Rights Quarterly 29(3): 674-705. Web.
Alamgir, Jalal. 2009. “Bangladesh's Fresh Start.” Journal of Democracy 20(3): 41-55. Web.
Developed by Rachel Hile-Broad for Human Rights First, August 2016