Counterinsurgents frequently rely on mass arrests to impede rebel operations, but in so doing, risk detaining innocent civilians. Wrongful detention can backfire, fueling insurgent violence by alienating detainees and their kin. Can counterinsurgents mitigate wrongful detention through targeted compensation? I study this question using project-level data on US payments to individuals deemed innocent and released from Coalition custody in Iraq between 2004 and 2008. Leveraging plausibly exogenous variation in the allocation of detainee release payments, I document a robust, negative association between counterinsurgent compensation for wrongful detention and insurgent violence. The violence-reducing effects of detainee release payments were greatest in Sunni and mixed sectarian areas; for the types of insurgent attacks, most prone to civilian informing; and when detainee release was complemented by other population-centric reforms. These results suggest that post-harm mitigation helps shift civilian perceptions, inducing civilians to share more information with counterinsurgent forces.

中文翻译：

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归还还是报应？被拘留者付款和叛乱暴力

反叛分子经常依靠大规模逮捕来阻止叛军行动，但这样做有可能拘留无辜平民。错误拘留可能适得其反，通过疏远被拘留者及其亲属来助长叛乱暴力。反叛乱分子能否通过有针对性的赔偿来减轻错误拘留？我使用美国在 2004 年至 2008 年间在伊拉克向被认为无辜并从联军羁押中释放的个人支付的项目级数据来研究这个问题。利用被拘留者释放支付分配中看似合理的外生变化，我记录了镇压叛乱赔偿之间强有力的负相关关系非法拘留和叛乱暴力。在逊尼派和混合教派地区，释放被拘留者的付款对减少暴力的影响最大；对于叛乱袭击的类型，最容易收到平民通知；当释放被拘留者得到其他以人口为中心的改革的补充时。这些结果表明，伤害后缓解有助于改变平民的看法，促使平民与反叛乱部队分享更多信息。