Military courts as a tool of repression

Professors Brett J. Kyle (University of Nebraska at Omaha) and Andrew G. Reiter (Mt. Holyoke College) have written this worthwhile essay, Why Have Military Courts Become Such a Popular Tool of Repression? Excerpt:

Are there ways to counter the influence of military courts? Reform is most likely during major democratic transitions (e.g., Indonesia) and at the conclusion of civil wars (e.g., Mozambique and El Salvador). Absent such openings, limiting the power of military courts requires sustained domestic resistance by a coalition of civil society actors and reform-minded politicians and judges. Civil society organizations were able to pressure politicians to enact new legislation reining in the power of military courts in South Korea, Taiwan, and the Dominican Republic. Our research shows that domestic high courts are often the deciding factor in bringing about reform, but they require victims to continue to bring cases before them.

The most important lesson is to resist the domestic deployment of the military and the expansion of military justice in the first place. . . .