The Transformation of Vigilante Groups Combating Terrorism: The Cases of Nigeria and South Sudan

Abstract

Non-state actors may resort to political violence for many different purposes, but two of these are more common than others. One of these purposes is to preserve the establishment (vigilantism), and the other is to create breaches in it or to destroy it (terrorism). The confluence of these violent practices, which emerge with opposite purposes, is that they challenge to the "state’s monopoly on violence", one of the main characteristics of the modern state. While the challenge of terrorist organizations is obvious, that of vigilante groups is often blurred because, in some cases, vigilante groups are established, encouraged or supported by the state itself. However, the resorting of terrorist methods by vigilante groups is often disregarded or, at best, relegated to a secondary consideration in some studies of the relevant literature. The basic assumption of this study is that state-sponsored vigilantism typically gets out of state’s control sooner or later. As a matter of fact, vigilante groups may resort to vigilante terrorism, or they may turn into violent groups acting against the state. In other words, the vigilantism supported by the state to ensure security mostly justifies the aphorism "violence begets violence" and leads to the institutionalization of the violence culture in civil society. Firstly, this study discusses the concepts of vigilantism, terrorism and vigilante terrorism and finally examine Nigeria and South Sudan cases from Africa, which is considered to be a laboratory, in order to base the assumption of the study.

Keywords

• Vigilantism
• terrorism
• vigilante terrorism
• vigilante groups
• CJTF
• Arrow Boys

Terörizmle Mücadele Eden Vijilanti Grupların Dönüşümü: Nijerya ve Güney Sudan Örnekleri

Abstract

Devlet-dışı aktörler pek çok farklı amaçlarla siyasal şiddete başvurabilir, ancak bunlar arasındaki iki amaç diğerlerine nazaran daha yaygın görülür. Bu amaçlardan biri müesses nizamı muhafaza etmek, bir diğeri de müesses nizamda gedik açmak veya onu tamamen ortadan kaldırmaktır. Bunlardan ilki vijilantizm (vigilantism), ikincisiyse terörizme karşılık gelir. Birbirlerine zıt amaçlarla ortaya çıkan bu şiddet pratiklerinin buluştukları nokta, modern devletin temel karakteristiklerinden biri olan “şiddet tekeline” meydan okunmasıdır. Terör örgütlerinin meydan okuması bariz bir biçimde görülse de vijilanti (vigilante) gruplarınki çoğunlukla bulanık bir durum ihtiva eder. Zira bazı durumlarda vijilanti gruplar, bizzat devlet tarafından kurulur, teşvik edilir veya desteklenir. Özellikle terörizmle mücadele eden devletlerin güvenliği sağlayamadığı bölgelerde, vijilanti grupların istihbarat bilgilerinden ve operasyonel kabiliyetlerinden faydalandıkları görülmüştür. Ne var ki ilgili literatürdeki bazı çalışmalarda bu grupların bizzat kendilerinin terörize edici eylemlere girişiyor olmaları, çoğunlukla görmezden gelinir veya en iyi ihtimalle ikinci plana atılır. Bu çalışmanın dayandığı temel varsayım şudur ki: devletlerin terörizmle mücadele faaliyetleri içerisinde makbul gördüğü vijilantizm; bazen kısa süre içinde bazen de zamanla, fakat neredeyse istisnasız bir biçimde, devletin kontrol alanından çıkar. Nitekim vijilanti gruplar, vijilanti terörizmine başvurabilecekleri gibi devlete karşı hareket eden şiddet gruplarına da dönüşebilirler. Yani devletin güvenliği sağlamak üzere desteklediği vijilantizm; büyük çoğunlukla “şiddet şiddeti doğurur” aforizmasını doğrular şekilde, sivil toplumda şiddet kültürünün kurumsallaşmasına neden olur. Bu çalışmada öncelikle vijilantizm, terörizm ve vijilanti terörizmi kavramları üzerine bir sorgulama yürütülmekte ve nihayetinde çalışmanın varsayımını temellendirmek amacıyla bir laboratuvar niteliğinde olduğu düşünülen Afrika ülkelerinden Nijerya ve Güney Sudan’daki ilgili örnekler incelenmektedir.

Keywords

• Vijilantizm
• terörizm
• vijilanti terörizmi
• vijilanti gruplar
• CJTF
• Arrow Boys

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