1 2 MODULE 2: ROLE OF NGOS IN PROTECTING HUMAN RIGHTS - CASE STUDIES OF SOME INTERNATIONAL NGOs Component I(A) - Personal Details: Role Name Affiliation Principal Investigator Prof. (Dr.) Ranbir Singh Vice Chancellor, National Law University, Delhi Co-Principal Investigator Prof. (Dr.) G.S.Bajpai Registrar, National Law University, Delhi Paper Coordinator Prof. (Dr.) Arvind Tiwari Dean, School of Law, Rights and Constitutional Governance, Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) Content Writer / Author Ms. Saumya Uma Assistant Professor, Maharashtra National Law University (MNLU) Mumbai Content Reviewer Prof. (Dr.) Arvind Tiwari Dean, School of Law, Rights and Constitutional Governance, Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) Component I(B) - Description of Module: Subject Law Paper Criminal Justice and Human Rights Unit IV: Role of NGOs / Civil Society in Protecting Human Rights Module title Role of NGOs in Protecting Human Rights – Case Studies of Some International NGOs Module ID Learning Objectives • To understand the work of international NGOs • To familiarize with some prominent international NGOs and their strategies, approaches and activities on human rights • To comprehend the interface between international NGOs and the United Nations in protecting human rights Pre-requisites An overview of the work of human rights NGOs Key words INGOs, human rights, campaign, advocacy, development, ECOSOC status 3 1. INTRODUCTION NGOs play an increasingly significant role in upholding human rights, and in implementing human rights standards in the present context. An international NGO (INGO) has similar vision, mission and mandate as national and state level NGOs; however, their sphere of work cuts across geographical borders, as their work extends to many countries and country-specific human rights issues. The previous module has provided an overview of the work of human rights NGOs. In the present module, we will study more closely the work of selected INGOs, and understand the interface between INGOs and the United Nations in protecting and promoting human rights. As discussed in the last module, some NGOs are operational – aimed at implementing various developmental projects and operations in each country, while others are advocacy-based – focusing on law and policy-making in various countries. Many INGOs have components / wings / departments of both approaches, which they implement within the countries where they work. 2. AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL Background: Amnesty International was founded in 1961 by British lawyer Peter Benenson. Mr. Benenson was shocked and angry when two Portuguese students were jailed for raising a toast to freedom. He expressed his thoughts and feelings through an article titled ‘The Forgotten Prisoners’ in a newspaper called Observer, and launched a campaign in support of the students.1 The article focused on worldwide practices of torture, illegal detention, extra judicial killings and imprisonment of individuals who expressed political viewpoints contrary to the government in power. In other words, the article illustrated how governments around the world were violating the standards set by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The article received a tremendous positive response all over the world, and was reprinted in many newspapers across several countries. When this happened, he realized that people from different parts of the world could unite on issues pertaining to justice and freedom. This led to the birth of the Amnesty International – a movement for social change. In 1961, it was called ‘Appeal for Amnesty’ but by September 1962, it came to be called ‘Amnesty International’. What started as an appeal then came to be transformed into a global movement working to protect and promote human rights. 1 Peter Benenson. ‘The Forgotten Prisoners’, The Observer, 28 May 1961, available at https://www.theguardian.com/uk/1961/may/28/fromthearchive.theguardian 4 Focus Areas: • In the initial decade (1960s), the focus area of Amnesty International was ‘prisoners of conscience’. It campaigned for releasing political prisoners – those who were imprisoned by governments due to their political thoughts and activities which were in opposition to the government in power, provided such thoughts and opinions did not advocate violence. • In the 1970s, its mandate expanded to include ‘fair trial’, opposing long detention without trial, and custodial torture. It also focused on prisoners’ rights, illegal detention, custodial torture, and thereafter on death penalty. • In the 1980s, its work on refugees became very visible, as it sought to make interventions on large scale displacement due to war and famine leading to the refugee crisis. • In the 1990s, while retaining its focus on prisoners of conscience, fair trial and refugees, Amnesty International brought attention to human rights violations that were being committed on specific groups of people, including refugees, racial / ethnic / religious minorities, women, those executed and those prisoners who were on death row. • Till the 2000s, its focus was largely on civil and political rights. It came under considerable criticism for ignoring social, economic and cultural rights. After 2000, with the new challenges posed by globalization, Amnesty International expanded its mandate to include social, economic and cultural rights, and started addressing issues such as corporate accountability, sexual and reproductive rights, decriminalizing sex work, armed conflict, arms control, rights of indigenous people and freedom of expression. Countries of Operation: In the 1960s, soon after its establishment, Amnesty International started working in three regions of the world – communist, capitalist and developing. By mid-1960s, it set up an International Secretariat and an International Executive Committee to manage the activities of country offices. Today, its presence can be felt in all regions of the world. It is a global movement consisting of more than 30 lakhs of supporters, members and activists across the world. In 2015, it documented the state of human rights in 160 countries, including India. While the basic mandate of the NGO is determined internationally, country offices also take on issues that are specific to the countries where they are situated in. Amnesty International has an office in India, situated in Bengaluru. The focus areas of the India country office include violence against women, death penalty, pre-trial detention, business and human rights, human rights education, access to justice, rights of sex workers and justice for Sri Lanka.2 2 Kumar, S. Vijay ‘Amnesty wants U.N. probe into Sri Lanka war crimes’. The Hindu, 11 August 2012 5 Strategies & Activities: - It investigates and researches on human rights violations and exposes them through reports. The publication of impartial and accurate reports, based on research that includes interviews with victims, concerned officials, human rights activists, media monitoring and trial observations, forms the backbone of Amnesty International’s work. - In addition to publishing reports, it also issues press releases, newsletters and information on websites. - In those countries where Amnesty International does not have a country office, it sends official missions to make insistent inquiries on the status of human rights, provided the particular country permits the organization to do so. - It initiates ‘Urgent Action’ campaigns on behalf of individuals who face a threat of human rights violations, such as those sentenced with death penalty or those detained without a trial; - It persuades and pressurizes countries and corporations to respect their obligations under international human rights law; - It initiates campaigns for the release of individuals, for protecting the rights of vulnerable communities, and for law reform through petitions, letters and protests; - It supports people’s effort at awareness-raising and public education; - It mobilizes supporters and defenders of human rights throughout the world, to stand in defence of human rights activists at the frontline. Figure 1: A Summary of Strategies and Activities of Amnesty International Publicaon o f press Inves,gaon, research, releases, newsle=er, Official Mission to publicaon of reports countries web informaon Ini,ates campaigns to Persuading countries mobilize public opinion anD corporaons to through meDia Urgent Ac,on ini,ave respect internaonal conferences, leers, human rights protests & pe,,ons Supports awareness raising anD human Mobilizes supporters of human rights rights eDucaon 6 Some Important Work and Significant Achievements: Amnesty International has been consistently researching and monitoring death penalty and executions in many countries each year. Its reports have been widely used by other INGOs as well as national and state level NGOs to raise awareness and advocate for human rights.3 Its reports have brought out issues such as the number of children and juveniles who have been awarded death penalty or executed across the world. One of its pioneering research on India was a study of Supreme Court judgments on death penalty 1950-2006.4 Amnesty International was also active in promoting the recognition of universality of human rights. It has substantially contributed to the formulation and implementation of the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, and for securing ratifications for the UN Convention on Civil and Political Rights and the UN Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Additionally, it