November 28, 2004
Commentary:
Another case of questioning who watches the watchmen
By Jack GrantA potential risk when trying to form institutions in a culture that does not yet have a tradition of the rule of abstract law over that of more readily visible and concrete influences such as personalities or proclamations made by religious leaders driven more by the appeal of secular power rather than divine inspiration is that forces formed to enforce the law usually end up breaking the law. From BBC News:
The Palestinian Authority has said it is disbanding a small security unit in Gaza accused of human rights abuses.A senior official said the 70 members of the Department of Protection and Security, known as the "Death Squad", would be re-assigned to other units.
The unit was formed more than a year ago in response to attacks by opposition factions against the Palestinian Authority.
Critics say some of the unit's members turned into criminals.
They allegedly confiscated land, smuggled weapons and intimidated the public.
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Rashid Abu Shbak, head of Palestinian preventive security, said the unit had become "a source of accusation and doubts".
"We are facing a new phase and we must say farewell to chaos and to all those who cause it in the Palestinian street," he said. "We must clear the air of past mistakes of the previous era."
Mr Shbak, who is an official in the Fatah movement, also said Fatah would merge its armed militias, including the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, a militant group responsible for suicide bombings and other attacks on Israelis.
He said there had to be a centralised leadership which was responsible for their actions.
Correspondents say the disbanding of the unit follows calls for a shake-up of competing security forces and anti-corruption reforms as lawlessness rages in the West Bank and Gaza.
This is a legacy left by Yassir Arafat, one of competing armed factions, all of which were sanctioned as "official" by the Palestinian Authority, and all of which were maintained by Arafat as a method of keeping power by having multiple factions to play off each other so none became powerful enough to challenge his authority. Instead of building institutions where the respect is held for the system of government, the laws, and the offices of that government more than the office-holders, Arafat instead built a system that was dedicated to maintaining his own power.
The United States needs to be very careful that a similar system to that left behind by Arafat is not formed in Iraq. In the end, loyalty to the system over that of the people who hold office within that system is the only way to maintain a truly democratic government that can last.
Posted by Jack Grant at 18:37 on 28 November 2004
