Preventing Election-related Violence

Topic IndexGrievances relating to genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes

Genocide is an international crime committed through the murder of members of a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, as well as through other actions that seriously affect the survival conditions of the group, with the intention of destroying it as a whole or in part.^{^[1]} Crimes against humanity are more general and refer to those actions that are part of a widespread or systematic attack against individual civilians. These include murder, extermination, enslavement, imprisonment or other severe deprivations of physical liberty, torture, rape and enforced disappearance of persons, as well as forced displacement.^{^[2]} War crimes, on the other hand, include grave breaches of the Geneva conventions, and other serious violations of the laws and customs applicable in international and non-international armed conflict, in particular those actions targeted against civilians.^{^[3]}

Crimes such as genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes affect societies in such a way that the electoral process can hardly escape their consequences. In the aftermath of genocide, crimes against humanity or war crimes, the tensions between ethnic groups are usually still on the rise and the chances that elections will fuel further violence are high.^{^[4]} Likewise, internal displacement creates an abnormal situation that has the potential to affect elections.^{^[5]} The relocation of IDPs, as well as the repatriation of refugees often brings new conflicts and clashes in their host communities. IDPs and returnees are therefore often subject to intimidation and harassment at election time. In addition, if IDPs and refugees are able to return, old tensions often surface, with elections fueling old and new grievances.^{^[6]}

Empirical cases:

Rwanda presidential elections 2010. Rwanda hosts various ethnic groups, with the Hutus (majority) and the Tutsis (minority) the largest. Over the last 50 years and even beyond, there have been sporadic, and sometimes serious, outbreaks of conflict between the two communities. During the 1994 genocide, approximately 800,000 people – mostly Tutsis but also moderate Hutu - were killed and numerous women raped as part of an organized attempt to exterminate the Tutsi minority.^{^[7]} Post-genocide, Rwanda’s political life has remained profoundly marked by all the tensions that existed before it.^{^[8]} This was reflected during the 2010 elections.^{^[9]} During the pre-election period, the government was accused by some of tightening control over the media and opposition forces. There were also numerous threats to and attacks on opposition party members and journalists. and two candidates were arrested.^{^[10]}
Interrelated factors: poor socio-economic conditions (external); social and political exclusion (external); conflict relating to changing power dynamics (external);^{^[11]} provocative and violent actions by political parties (internal); unequal media access and favouritism (internal).^{^[12]}
Sri Lanka presidential and legislative elections 2010. Sri Lanka suffered from a 26-year conflict between government forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), causing massive population displacement in the north of the country. The final stages of the war were the worst for IDPs and, even though many people have since returned, the conditions for IDPs remain a cause for concern.^{^[13]} This further fueled an already volatile political situation,^{^[14]} with obvious consequences for elections and their peaceful occurrence.^{^[15]} In particular, during the pre-election period in 2010, there were numerous violent attacks against candidates, campaigners and political activists.^{^[16]}
Interrelated factors: social and political exclusion (external); conflict relating to changing power dynamics (external);^{^[17]} lack of training of security sector agencies (internal); unequal media access and favouritism (internal); provocative and violent actions by political parties (internal).^{^[18]}

[1] Article 6, Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

[2] Article 7, Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

[3] Article 8, Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

[4] United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, ‘Building Democracy from the Ashes of Genocide? Elections in Sudan, 2010’, 11 March 2010, <https://www.ushmm.org/confrontgenocide/genocide-prevention-blog/building-democracy-from-the-ashes-of-genocideelections-in-sudan>, accessed 2 May 2018

[5] Brancati, Dawn and Snyder, Jack L., ‘Time to Kill: The Impact of Election Timing on Post-Conflict Stability’, Journal of Conflict Resolution, 24 July 2012, p. 26.

[6] Brun, Cathrine, ‘Local Citizens or Internally Displaced Persons? Dilemmas of Long Term Displacement in Sri Lanka’, Journal of Refugee Studies, 16/4 (December 2003), pp. 376–97; Norberg, Carin and Obi, Cyril (eds), Reconciling Winners and Losers in Post-Conflict Elections in West Africa: Political and Policy Imperatives (Uppsala: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, 2007), p. 7; and Mooney, Erin and Jarrah, Balkees, ‘Safeguarding IDP Voting Rights’, Brookings Institution and University of Bern, 2005, p. 55, available at <http://idpkeyresources.infocollections.org/index/assoc/0000/d04459/000.pdf>, accessed 8 July 2011.

[7] United Human Rights Council, Armenian Youth Federation, Western United States, ‘Genocide in Rwanda’, 2011, available at <http://www.unitedhumanrights.org/genocide/genocide_in_rwanda.htm>, accessed 8 July 2011.

[8] Beswick, D. ‘Democracy, identity and the politics of exclusion in post-genocide Rwanda: the case of the Batwa’, Democratization, 18/2 (2011), pp. 490–511, <https://doi.org/10.1080/13510347.2011.553367>, accessed 2 May 2018

[9] Garrison, Ann, Rwanda’s 1994 Genocide and the 2010 Elections, Global Research, 2010, available at <http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=17183>, accessed 8 July 2011.

[10] Kurland, Sienna, Rwanda: Violence and Political Oppression Escalating in Months before August Elections (Stoneham: International Institute for Justice and Development, 2010), available at <http://www.iijd.org/index.php/news/entry/rwanda-violence-and-political-oppression-escalating-in-months-before-august/>, accessed 8 July 2011; and Human Rights Watch, Kigali, ‘Rwanda: End Attacks on Opposition Parties’, 2010, available at <http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2010/02/10/rwanda-end-attacks-opposition-parties>, accessed 8 July 2011.

[11] Ibid.; Beswick, Democracy, Identity and the Politics of Exclusion; IRIN, ‘Rwanda: Rwandans Prepare for First Post-Genocide Elections’ IRIN, Nairobi, 26 March 1999, available at <http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/reliefweb_pdf/node-45089.pdf>, accessed 21 February 2012; and Kurland, Rwanda: Violence and Political Oppression.

[12] Commonwealth Secretariat, ‘Report of the Commonwealth Observer Group Rwanda Presidential Elections, 9 August 2010’, available at <https://books.thecommonwealth.org/rwanda-presidential-elections-9-august-2010-paperback>, accessed 2 May 2018 Around 30 news media closed a few days ahead of presidential election. Reporters Without Borders, 2 August 2010, available at <http://en.rsf.org/rwanda-around-30-news-media-closed-a-few-02-08-2010,38076.html>, accessed 26 January 2012.

[13] United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), 2011 UNHCR Country Operations Profile: Sri Lanka, 2011, available at <http://www.unhcr.org/pages/49e4878e6.html>, accessed 8 July 2011.

[14] International Crisis Group, ‘Sri Lanka: A Bitter Peace’, Update Briefing, Asia Briefing no. 99, 11 January 2010b, <https://www.crisisgroup.org/asia/south-asia/sri-lanka/sri-lanka-bitter-peace>, accessed 2 May 2018 ; and Puddington, Arch, ‘Freedom in the World 2010: Erosion of Freedom Intensifies’, Freedom House, 2010, p. 10, available at <http://www.sithi.org/admin/upload/media/%5B2011-01-13%5DFreedom%20in%20the%20World%202010%20Survey%20Release/Overview_Freedom%20in%20the%20World%202010.pdf>, accessed 8 July 2011.

[15] Norwegian Refugee Council, Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, ‘Civilians in the Way of Conflict: Displaced People in Sri Lanka’, Geneva, 2007, pp. 28–9, 127–8, available at <http://www.internal-displacement.org/8025708F004BE3B1/(httpInfoFiles)/53A197CF6F0A92E3C1257362002C1F9A/$file/Sri%20Lanka%20-September%202007.pdf>, accessed 8 July 2011.

[16] Centre for Monitoring Electoral Violence, ‘Final Report on Election Related Violence and Malpractices’, Colombo, 2010, p. 35; Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA), ‘Monitoring Election Violence in Sri Lanka Parliamentary Election 2010’, Media Communiqué no. 8 (2010), available at <http://cpalanka.org/monitoring-election-violence-in-sri-lanka-parliamentary-election-2010-media-communiqu-8/>, accessed 8 July 2011; ‘Sri Lanka: Ban Concerned over Rising Violence Ahead of Presidential Polls’, UN News Centre, 2010, available at <http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=33536&Cr=&Cr1=>, accessed 8 July 2011; and ‘Statement by High Representative/Vice President Catherine Ashton on Sri Lanka’s Pre-election Situation’, IP/10/37, Brussels, 2010, available at <http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/10/37&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en>, accessed 8 July 2011.

[17] International Crisis Group, ‘Sri Lanka: A Bitter Peace’; Puddington, ‘Freedom in the World 2010’; Norwegian Refugee Council, ‘Civilians in the Way of Conflict’; and Centre for Monitoring Electoral Violence, ‘Final Report on Election Related Violence and Malpractices’.

[18] Commonwealth Secretariat, ‘Report of the Commonwealth Expert Team Sri Lanka Presidential Elections 26 January 2010’, 15 February 2010, < https://reliefweb.int/report/sri-lanka/commonwealth-expert-team-issues-final-report-2010-presidential-election-sri-lanka>, accessed 2 May 2018 ; and Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA), ‘Monitoring Election Violence’, accessed 27 January 2012.

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Preventing Election-related Violence