Civilian checkpoints or security checkpoints are distinguishable from
border or frontier checkpoints in that they are erected and enforced within contiguous areas under
military or
paramilitary
A paramilitary is an organization whose structure, tactics, training, subculture, and (often) function are similar to those of a professional military, but is not part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. Paramilitary units carr ...
control. Civilian checkpoints have been employed within conflict-ridden areas all over the world to monitor and control the movement of people and materials in order to prevent
violence. They have also been used by
police during peacetime to help counter terrorism.
Contemporary examples
Though practices and enforcement vary, checkpoints have been used in:
*
Airports and other transportation hubs across the world, including those managed by the
TSA in the
United States.
* Post
World War II checkpoints in Germany
* The former
Yugoslavia during the
Yugoslav Wars.
*
Northern Ireland by the
Official IRA,
Provisional IRA,
Irish National Liberation Army
The Irish National Liberation Army (INLA, ga, Arm Saoirse Náisiúnta na hÉireann) is an Irish republican socialist paramilitary group formed on 10 December 1974, during the 30-year period of conflict known as "the Troubles". The group seek ...
, and
Real IRA as well as by the
British Army,
Royal Ulster Constabulary
The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) was the police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2001. It was founded on 1 June 1922 as a successor to the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC)Richard Doherty, ''The Thin Green Line – The History of the Royal ...
,
Police Service of Northern Ireland and also by the
Ulster Defense Association and the
Ulster Volunteer Force.
*
Colombia
Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...
, by military and paramilitary forces.
*
Palestinian territories, by the
Israeli Defence Force.
*
Mexico, by
military and
police forces.
* Since the terrorist bombings in
Pakistan, they are widely seen across all over
Pakistan specially on entrance and exit points of big cities.
*
French Guiana, by the
National Gendarmerie.
*
Riau Islands, by military and paramilitary forces.
Advantages
Checkpoints provide many advantages, including the ability to control how people enter so that security personnel (be it governmental or civilian) can screen entrants to identify known
troublemakers (be they
criminal
In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in Can ...
s,
terrorists, or simple rabble-rousers) and locate contraband items.
Effects of checkpoints
Checkpoints typically lead to hardship for the affected civilians, though these effects range from inconvenience to mortal danger.
Bir Zeit University, for example, has conducted several studies highlighting the effects of checkpoints in the Palestinian territories.
[Birzeit.edu](_blank)
In
Colombia
Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...
, the paramilitary forces of the
AUC have, according to
Amnesty International
Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...
, imposed limits on the food entering villages, with over 30 people being killed at the checkpoint in one instance.
Amnesty.org
/ref>
See also
* Airport security
* Border checkpoint
* Freedom of movement
Freedom of movement, mobility rights, or the right to travel is a human rights concept encompassing the right of individuals to travel from place to place within the territory of a country,Jérémiee Gilbert, ''Nomadic Peoples and Human Rights' ...
* Random checkpoint
References
{{Reflist
External links
FMI 3-07.22 "Counterinsurgency Operations", October 2004 (Expires 1 October 2006), Appendix C "Population and Resources Control"
Checkpoints
Military tactics