state violence
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State violence is the use of force, intimidation, or oppression by a government against its citizens. State violence can happen through law enforcement or military force, as well as through other branches of government and bureaucracy.{{Citation |last=Torres |first=M. Gabriela |title=State Violence |date=2018 |work=The Cambridge Handbook of Social Problems |volume=2 |pages=381–398 |editor-last=Treviño |editor-first=A. Javier |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/cambridge-handbook-of-social-problems/state-violence/CB1CD884DD53026BC4DD7C1F1FD70DD3 |access-date=2024-02-18 |place=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |doi=10.1017/9781108550710.023 |isbn=978-1-108-42617-6|url-access=subscription }}{{cite book |last1=Renzetti |first1=Claire |author1-link=Claire Renzetti |url= |title=Encyclopedia of Interpersonal Violence |last2=Edleson |first2=Jeffrey |author2-link=Jeffrey Edleson |date=2008 |publisher=SAGE Publications, Inc. |pages=689–690 |chapter=State Violence}} State violence is often justified by regimes under the pretext of maintaining law and order.{{cite book | chapter-url=https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108550710.023 | doi=10.1017/9781108550710.023 | chapter=State Violence | title=The Cambridge Handbook of Social Problems | date=2018 | last1=Torres | first1=M. Gabriela | pages=381–398 | isbn=978-1-108-55071-0 }}
Forms
= State sponsored genocide =
{{main|Genocide}}
Genocide generally involves the direct mass killing of members of a national, ethnical, racial or religious group. Perpetrators of genocide are most often state actors.
=State surveillance=
{{main|State surveillance}}
Government surveillance is a tool used by government agencies to protect citizens from potential attacks from terrorists, extremists, or dissidents. Surveillance methods can include monitoring phone calls, video surveillance, or tracking internet usage. Although surveillance was designed to protect national security, it has the potential to perpetuate state violence.{{Cite journal |last=Richards |first=Neil M. |date=2013 |title=The Dangers of Surveillance |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23415062 |journal=Harvard Law Review |volume=126 |issue=7 |pages=1934–1965 |jstor=23415062 |issn=0017-811X}} The use of surveilling technology can be used to encroach upon citizens' civil liberties and right to privacy.{{cite web | url=https://www.the-american-interest.com/2019/05/06/the-new-face-of-tyranny/ | title=The New Face of Tyranny | date=6 May 2019 }}
Examples
==Myanmar==
After attacks on police and army posts in Myanmar by Rohingya militias,{{Cite web |title=Myanmar Ministry of Foreign Affairs Statement |url=https://www.moi.gov.mm/moi%3Aeng/news/8009 |language=en-US}} state security forces carried out a string of mass killings of Rohingya civilians that killed thousands of people and led more than 700,000 to flee the country.{{Cite web |title=Rohingya Crisis Timeline & Summary of Events {{!}} Doctors Without Borders |url=https://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/latest/timeline-rohingya-crisis |access-date=2025-05-27 |website=www.doctorswithoutborders.org |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=‘Genocidal intent’: UN demands prosecutions in Myanmar |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/8/27/un-documents-shocking-crimes-by-myanmar-army |access-date=2025-05-27 |website=Al Jazeera |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Widespread and Systematic: Violence against the Rohingya in Myanmar |url=https://phr.org/our-work/resources/widespread-and-systematic/ |access-date=2025-05-27 |website=PHR |language=en-US}} Myanmar has officially rejected the U.N's claim that their army participated in the 2017 Rohingya Genocide, despite evidence released by the U.N. Human Rights Council.{{Cite web |last=Griffiths |first=James |date=2018-09-18 |title=UN calls for genocide tribunal over Rohingya crisis |url=https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/18/asia/myanmar-united-nations-report-intl |access-date=2025-05-27 |website=CNN |language=en}}{{Cite journal |last=Myanmar |first=UN Human Rights Council Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Human Rights in |date=2018-09-17 |title=Report of the detailed findings of the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar |url=https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/1643079 |language=en}}
==United States==
After the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, President George W. Bush signed the Patriot Act; this Act allowed for an expansion of surveillance by the government and law enforcement. In 2008, U.S. Congress passed the FISA Amendment Act that gave government agencies, such as the NSA, unfettered access to private communications of foreigners.{{Cite web |title=NSA Surveillance |url=https://www.aclu.org/issues/national-security/privacy-and-surveillance/nsa-surveillance |access-date=2024-03-16 |website=American Civil Liberties Union |language=en-US}} Section 702 of the FISA Amendment Act allows for government agencies to collect information from private companies like AT&T, Google, and Facebook to target non- U.S. citizens. In some instances, this permission includes communications between a non-citizen and a U.S. citizen.{{Cite web |title=H.R.6304 - 110th Congress FISA Amendment |date=10 July 2008 |url=https://www.congress.gov/bill/110th-congress/house-bill/6304}} The FBI has been known to use these databases to search for information on U.S. citizens in a process called “backdoor searches”.{{Cite web |last=Taitz |first=Sarah |date=2023-04-11 |title=Five Things to Know About NSA Mass Surveillance and the Coming Fight in Congress {{!}} ACLU |url=https://www.aclu.org/news/national-security/five-things-to-know-about-nsa-mass-surveillance-and-the-coming-fight-in-congress |access-date=2024-03-16 |website=American Civil Liberties Union |language=en-US}}