The Security Consequences of Bearing Witness

• Author: James Meernik,Kimi King
• Date: 01 May 2020
• Published date: 01 May 2020
• DOI: 10.1177/0022002719883369
• Subject Matter: Articles

Article

The Security

Consequences

of Bearing Witness

James Meernik

1

and Kimi King

1

Abstract

It is a central assumption of our research that threats to a fragile security and vio-

lence can continue during postconflict peacebuilding and that these threats are

driven by many of the same sociopolitical dynamics that initially led to war. We

examine a critical but much less queried area of postwar societal instability—vio-

lence directed at segments of the population who may still be targets for those

seeking dominance. Using a survey of 300 individuals who testified before the

International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY), we seek to

explain violence, threats of violence, and other forms of intimidation directed at

those who witnessed human rights violations during the wars in the former Yugo-

slavia. Our theory of postwar violence emphasizes the vulnerability of the (potential)

victims of postwar violence. We argue that victims are selectively chosen because of

their vulnerability. We develop and test an alternative explanation for this selective

targeting that emphasizes the level of exposure an individual may have because of

testifying at the ICTY. The results demonstrate quite convincingly, however, that it is

vulnerability rather than exposure risk that predicts who is most likely to be tar-

geted with human security threats.

Keywords

human rights, civil wars, international organization, conflict management

1

Department of Political Science, University of North Texas, Denton, TX, USA

Corresponding Author:

James Meernik, Department of Political Science, University of North Texas, 1155 Union Circle #305189,

Denton, TX 76203, USA.

Email: meernik@unt.edu

Journal of Conflict Resolution

2020, Vol. 64(5) 933-957

ªThe Author(s) 2019

Article reuse guidelines:

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DOI: 10.1177/0022002719883369

journals.sagepub.com/home/jcr

As the study of civil war has evolved, research makes clear that, in the postconflict

environment, security consequences and threats remain despite the transition from

violence and destruction into peace and reconstruction (Boyle 2009; Fortna 2004;

Hebron et al. 2007; Mason and Quinn 2006; Wallensteen 2015). The identity,

economic, and political divisions underlying the causes of conflict and enflaming

its severity and longevity often remain even as society endeavors to reestablish

peace (Wucherpfennig et al. 2012). We contend that one of the most troubling

aspects of postconflict security is the threats and acts of violence directed at indi-

viduals whose wartime experience and knowledge presents a threat to persons who

may have violated international law. Threats and acts of violence directed at indi-

viduals to prevent them from rev ealing their truths to authorit ies can hinder an

accurate accounting of wartime atrocities, enflame identity and political divisions

whose repair has hardly begun, undermine transitional justice, and stymie movement

toward rule of law and restoration of the body politic. Indeed, such violence is not

unknown as there have been instances of threats and the suspicious deaths of wit-

nesses at the International Criminal Court (ICC),

1

the International Criminal Tribu-

nal for Rwanda, and the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia

(ICTY). Like others, we seek to understand this type of insecurity from the perspec-

tive of the individuals most directly affected by the war rather than the state itself

(Broun´eus 2010; Stepakoff, Reynolds, and Charters 2015; Stover 2005). More spe-

cifically, we develop a theory regarding the security consequences of bearing wit-

ness before an international criminal tribunal. Given the importance of these

institutions in postconflict peacebuilding and truth telling, it is critical that we

understand the role of violence in postconflict nations and the extent to which their

peace and stability are being jeopardized by violence and threats of violence. In

order to understand why such violence occurs and undermines international justice,

we develop a theory of who is targeted for violence.

We rely on a survey of 300 individuals who testified before the ICTY to explain

violence, threats of violence, and other forms of intimidation directed at those who

witnessed human rights violations during the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s. ICTY fact

witnesses were brought to The Hague to provide evidence to help convict or acquit

the organizers of these atrocities. These witnesses speak truth to power by estab-

lishing an historical record during the postconflict phase. Not surprisingly, those in

positions of influence in their communities and those seeking to avoid prison are not

always supportive of testimony that may undermine their claims of innocence and

the perpetuation of their group’s political aims and propaganda. They may target

individuals with selective violence or intimidation to deter them from testifying and

erode the will of others who might also be called upon to testify. Threats and

violence may also be driven by the personal interests of family members who wish

to keep a relative from incarceration. In fact, there may be many reasons—local or

national, personal, or political—that inspire violence whether committed in some

sort of organized or more spontaneous fashion. We do not assume it is necessarily

part of a comprehensive and coordinated, political strategy. And while such

934 Journal of Conflict Resolution 64(5)