Resisting State Crime: A Comparative Study of Civil Society

Lead Research Organisation: Queen Mary University of London
Department Name: Sch of Law

Abstract

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Description We successfully chronicled the life histories of 35 CSOs in 6 states characterised by recent histories of repressive state violence. We concentrated on the reasons behind the formation of organisations of nonviolent resistance; their strategies to challenge and censure state violence and corruption; how they defined state violence and corruption; and their normative vocabularies. In Burma, Turkey, Colombia and Tunisia we explored the experience of organisations under militaristic or authoritarian rule and their evolution towards a more democratic environment.

In all the states we studied, we found CSOs that systematically and effectively exposed, defined and challenged state crime. Human rights law was only one among many sets of norms against which state practices were measured. Others included national constitutions, charitable, religious and spiritual values and local traditions, including customary law. Only certain CSOs with a strong legal orientation defined their work primarily in human rights terms.

In several countries organized religion, whether Christian, Muslim or Buddhist, played an important role in the politics of human rights. Some CSOs appealed to what can be categorized as spiritual values (sometimes related to the land), without aligning themselves to a particular religion. Like law, religion often played an ambiguous role: for example that of the Catholic church in Colombia and the Buddhist Sangha in Burma, with its campaigns against the Muslim minority.

Many civil society groups set out to achieve charitable or religious goals and became engaged in resistance only as a result of the state's repressive reaction to their activities. In Tunisia, for example, social work and fund-raising for the poor formed the organisational base for the more political activism which occurred later during the 2011 revolution.

In several of the countries (Colombia, Kenya, Papua New Guinea, Burma/Myanmar) state violence and repression were closely linked to the efforts of the ruling elite, corporations and/or criminal enterprise to secure control over land and access to natural resources. Struggles for human rights were closely linked to issues of land ownership and resource exploitation.

The extent to which CSOs relied on formal legal mechanisms varied widely between countries and between organisations. Some organisations were wary of diverting resources into litigation with little eventual result. Some courts, such as the Constitutional Court in Colombia, were seen as enjoying substantial independence, while others, particularly in Burma and Turkey, were viewed as tools of the government. But even where the actual operation of a state's legal system was viewed with suspicion or hostility, there was widespread support for - or at least a pragmatic acceptance of - ideals of constitutional government, human rights and the rule of law. One aim of articulating their struggles in these terms was to reach an international audience which might place pressure on the repressive regime.
Groups challenging repressive states did not have a simple binary choice between 'democratic' and 'violent' strategies. The concept of civil society must, therefore, be broad enough to include groups that countenance political violence, even if the actual practice of organized violence is, by definition, not a 'civil society' activity.
Exploitation Route Academically our findings have been taken forward in a range of ways. An international workshop held at QMUL, March 19th 2015, 'State crime, resistance and (Neo)Colonialism' discussed findings from the project and research on similar themes by scholars from Latin America, Australia and the UK. Six of the PI's research degree students are now working on civil society resistance to state violence and corruption in Burma, Haiti, Turkish Kurdistan and Egypt.

Our CSO research in Burma brought to our attention the persecution of the Rohingya ethnic minority. This led to a further successful grant application to the ESRC, a 12 month research project, and a book contract with Rutgers University Press. This research has been cited in over 160 global media outlets.

Insan Haklari Dernegi (the Turkish Human Rights Foundation) invited the PI to deliver a public lecture on civil society and state crime and to work with IHD on strategies related to the Turkish peace process. A group of Colombian human rights lawyers invited Dr Thomas Macmanus to work with them on strategies to end conflict in the peasant communities. Dr Kristian Lasslett continues to work with CSOs in Papua New Guinea on issues of corruption and land-grabbing.
Sectors Communities and Social Services/Policy,Government, Democracy and Justice
URL http://statecrime.org/state-crime-research/esrc/
 
Description Our findings have been used in a number of ways and, in addition to academic articles, have received wide public dissemination, particularly through openDemocracy, Middle East Eye and the Huffington Post. As a result of the Burmese element of this research we learned of the dire ( but largely hidden and unreported) situation faced by the Rohingya Muslim ethnic community of Western Burma. We then successfully applied for an ESRC Urgent Pilot Mechanism Grant (ES/M006786/1) to assess whether or not the persecution experienced warranted the designation of genocide. The second award has resulted in significant impacts - primarily in changing the media and human rights NGO discourse surrounding the persecution of the Rohingya from one of human rights abuse and crimes against humanity to genocide. These impacts would not have occurred had it not been for our civil society and resistance research. Other impacts include influencing the work of the Turkish Human Rights Association ( Bingol and Mardin branches) in respect of defining state violence as 'criminal', considering non legal routes of sanction and disseminating information about egregious human rights abuse; engaging with Colombian lawyers groups and the Peace community of Sa Jose de Apartado to tackle state and non state violence. Our findings have also been used by the former political prisoners association in Tunisia to bolster their claims for compensation from the transitional government; and by activist groups in PNG in their struggle against corrupt and violent forced evictions.
First Year Of Impact 2014
Sector Creative Economy,Education,Government, Democracy and Justice,Other
Impact Types Societal