Human Rights Enforcement from Below: Private Actors and Prosecutorial Momentum in Latin America and Europe

Over the last three decades, thousands of prosecutions for human rights abuses have progressed through domestic courts, a puzzling fact considering that state leaders have little incentive to punish their own agents. Previous studies have advanced rational-choice or sociological-institutionalist accounts of this phenomenon, emphasizing the role of political coalitions or regional cultures. Few, though, have recognized the local, private struggles that lie at the root of the trend toward domestic human rights enforcement. In this article, we develop a historical-institutionalist theory of normative change centered on the notion of “prosecutorial momentum.” We contend that the rise in domestic trials against rights-abusing state agents in Europe and Latin America results in large part from the cumulative efforts of victims and human rights lawyers utilizing their rights to private criminal prosecution. Using a new data set and mixed methods, we offer a systematic analysis of how rights to private criminal prosecution, when activated in response to a legacy of repression, helps set in motion sustained efforts to pursue domestic enforcement and compliance with international law.

过去三十年间，已有数千起侵犯人权行为的公诉案件在国内法院推进审理。考虑到国家领导人几乎没有动力惩处本国公职人员，这一现象着实令人费解。此前的相关研究已从理性选择（rational-choice）或社会学制度主义（sociological-institutionalist）视角对该现象展开阐释，着重强调政治联盟或区域文化的作用。然而，鲜有研究意识到，推动国内人权执法趋势的根源在于地方性的民间抗争。本文围绕"公诉势头（prosecutorial momentum）"这一核心概念，构建了一套关于规范变迁的历史制度主义理论。我们认为，欧洲与拉美地区针对侵犯人权的本国公职人员的国内审判数量上升，在很大程度上源于受害者与人权律师利用私人刑事起诉权（rights to private criminal prosecution）所开展的持续性努力。本文借助全新数据集与混合研究方法，系统分析了私人刑事起诉权在针对镇压历史遗留问题发起维权行动时，如何推动形成持续性的国内执法与国际法遵约努力。