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Civilian checkpoints orsecurity checkpoints are distinguishable fromborder or frontier checkpoints in that they are erected and enforced within contiguous areas undermilitary orparamilitary 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 preventviolence. They have also been used bypolice during peacetime to help counter terrorism.
Though practices and enforcement vary, checkpoints have been used in:
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 knowntroublemakers (be theycriminals,terrorists, or simple rabble-rousers) and locate contraband items.
Checkpoints typically lead to hardship for the affected civilians, though these effects range from inconvenience to mortal danger.Birzeit University, for example, has conducted several studies highlighting the effects of checkpoints in the Palestinian territories.[1][2]
InColombia, the paramilitary forces of theAUC have, according toAmnesty International, imposed limits on the food entering villages, with over 30 people being killed at the checkpoint in one instance.[3]
In Ethiopia'sAmhara region, checkpoints have functioned as shifting sites of control during the civil conflict since 2020. Their operation has often been unpredictable, involving both state and non-state actors, and affecting not only mobility but also the daily experience of authority and fear.[4]