Perhaps the best historical examples of police states closer to home lie with the Papa Doc regime and the Pinochet regimes. These negative examples have left posterity with case studies that can guide and help citizens to discern the sign posts of a Quasi-police state. Those aforementioned regimes, while not being the only ignoble representatives of the matter under discussion, were brutal examples of the dangerous with which a police state teems.
THE EARLY SIGN POSTS
A police state is a government that exercises power through the power of the police force. Even with this definition, Mae Brussell reminded us that ‘once the people are terrorised, you can force a police state on them’. This philosophical assertion suggests, to my mind, that fear is key component of a police state.
Early features include, a crackdown on free speech, the police operating in a rogue fashion with cover from the state apparatus and a general sense of fear. Also, a necessary addition to the aforementioned would be the establishment of a special police unit. Usually, this unit would be given special training and special weapons and is often subsumed under the direct control of a state or ministerial instructions. The police state would firstly decide on the crime, and then target the man. Beria, Stalin’s notorious police chief, ignominiously puts it this way: ‘Show me the man and I will show you the crime’.
Once these features begin to manifest, accusations of the existence of a nascent police state are not without foundation.
THE DUVALIER EXAMPLE (HAITI)
There is a plethora of literature available on the subject under discussion. As such, I sure you would appreciate it would certainly require more than the time and space provided by this column to thoroughly prosecute the issue. But suffice it to mention, insofar as this region is concerned, the regime of Francois Duvalier aka Papa Doc (1957-1971) remains the ignoble gold star for the issue which has caught the attention of this column. In his early rise to power, one of the first moves by Duvalier was to consolidate power. In service of this interest, he looked to the rural parts of Haiti and recruited a loyal strike force. In doing, he has left posterity with a good negative example of the early signs of a police state. Within months of the acquisition of power, the Duvalier regime established the Tonton Macoute (Haitian Creole: Tonton Makout), a para-military force which executed at the whims and fancy of the Duvalier and remains one of the most notorious examples of a police state. So, to my point: one of the early signs of a police state is the pivot of the maxim leader to security force which is at his/her beckon call. As you may have gathered by now, that force may not necessarily be the formal police.
THE PINOCHET EXAMPLE (CHILE)
Given all of the aforementioned, consider this: once the handlers of a democratic state embark on mission that is intended for personal aggrandizement and dishonorable intentions, a quasi-police state becomes necessary to instill fear. This fear is necessary to stop scrutiny of its affairs. On this continent, the Pinochet regime remains the crown gem of this scenario. Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte rose through the ranks of the Chilean army to the rank of general and carried out a US backed military coup d’etat in 1973. He toppled a democratically elected, Salvador Guillermo Allende Gossens and knew that he had to rule an uneasy population. In pursuit of this aim, one of his first significant actions was to appoint lackeys to key positions in the arm forces so they may carry out his will. He immediately established secret army units which reported directly to him. The Pinochet regime was in place in Chile from 1973 to 1990 and left a permanent stain on history. In this, we see the key to spotting the early signs of a quasi-police state.
Conclusion
Quasi police states are a reflection of a need to control, dominate and extinguish opponents where it is found necessary. It is important to pay close attention to the early signs post, lest you fail to heed the words of Hannah Arendt: ‘The climax of terror is reached when the police state begins to devour its own children, when yesterday’s executioner becomes today’s victim’. (The views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not necessarily that of this newspaper)
