Militarisation and Human Rights in the Third World

Abstract

The current global focus on human rights prompts a search for an explanation for the spread of repression in our world. The crisis is generated by a series of factors. The pattern of repressive governance is exhibited in forms corresponding to the exceedingly diverse situations of Third World countries. The state apparatus is controlled directly or indirectly by the military establishment; military officers are the key leaders and civilian institutions are subordinated, if not altogether eliminated. The main explanation of rightist militarisation is to overcome obstacles to national economic development through capitallst means. The pretext for military take-over is normally justified by the inability of civilian leadership to maintain order sufficient to check inflation, labour unrest and political turmoil. The leadership of military institutions in Third World countries has also been trained over a long period to regard the principal role of the military as ‘internal security’, guarding the pohty against leftist radical forces eager to subvert the state.