The armed forces and internal security in Asia : preventing the abuse of power

Publication Date: January 1999

Publisher: East-West Center

Author(s): Kit Collier

Research Area: Government; Human rights; Military and defense

Type: Report

Coverage: Asia

Abstract:

The lack of interaction between security, development, and human rights policy has helped reproduce a narrow concept of internal security associated with widespread abuse of power in Asia. Governments have increasingly relied on paramilitary repression in lieu of effective political institutionalization, and have sought to evade accountability for their actions. Curtailing the abuse calls for a multistrand approach that conjoins accountable governments and militaries with more closely integrated civil societies, national institutions, and international humanitarian structures capable of enforcing an end to impunity.