Building Pathways to Peace: State–Society Relations and Security Sector Reform

Following the killing of George Floyd in May, ‘Defund the Police’ has become a rallying cry for many protestors in the #BlackLivesMatter movement. Sabine Kurtenbach and Nadine Ansorg look at what lessons can be learned from police reform in the Global South. They write that when searching for such…

Die Gewalteskalation in weiten Teil Syriens seit dem Jahr 2023 und das Fortbestehen der Assad-Diktatur zeigen, dass das Land nicht sicher ist – nirgendwo. Jedwede Pläne, syrische Geflüchtete aus nahöstlichen und europäischen Ländern nach Syrien abzuschieben, sollten deshalb klar ablehnt werden.

Legados Violentos, Movimientos Sociales, Futuros Inciertos, Universidad de Costa Rica, San José Désirée Marlen Reder (Organisator:in), Prof. Dr. Sabine Kurtenbach (Organisator:in), Alina Maria Ripplinger (Panelbeitragende:r)

In Central America, democracy and peacebuilding processes are currently threatened. Researchers and civil society representatives discussed potential pathways out of the crisis in a three-day workshop at the University of Costa Rica in San José, organised by GIGA.

Reforms of security sector institutions (SSR) are often crucial elements of international support for peacebuilding and democratisation. Although there is no general definition of SSR, it includes demobilisation processes of ex-combatants, mandate and personnel reforms in the police, armed forces and judicial sector. A comprehensive vision of security governance reforms is important as long as these reforms go beyond ending a civil war and are directed towards reducing various manifestations of violence and towards citizen security.

Applying a Historical Institutionalist framework, the authors of this article assess the impact of the adoption of amnesty laws on societal impunity, defined as any person or group being exempt from punishment or free from the injurious consequences of an action.

Following the killing of George Floyd in May, ‘Defund the Police’ has become a rallying cry for many protestors in the #BlackLivesMatter movement. Sabine Kurtenbach and Nadine Ansorg look at what lessons can be learned from police reform in the Global South. They write that when searching for such…