THE ROLES OF:

1. THE ROLES OF: • Non-Government Organisations NGOs NGOs are separate and independent from governments They are not “part” of the UN (in that they have no voting power) They have no authority to ENFORCE human rights – they are only able to PROMOTE human rights (and hope governments decide to enforce human rights instruments)

2. THE ROLES OF: • Non-Government Organisations • International Human Rights NGOs all take different types of action to stop human rights abuses • Main two types of action taken by NGOs: • DIRECT action (e.g. letters, faxes, emails, etc – sent DIRECTLYTOthose who are able to stop the abuse) • INDIRECT action(e.g. Press Releases, Reports, etc – reporting ABOUT human rights abuses, in the hope that ‘Naming and Shaming’ the government will make a difference)

3. THE ROLES OF: • Non-Government Organisations NGOs grew significantly (in number and in influence) during the 1990s. They can now be officially accredited by the UN (so that they can report to the UN, participate in UN conferences, etc) In Latin America… Criticism from NGOs was MORE EFFECTIVE than criticism by other governments, and was WAY more effective than criticism by IGOs. So, NGOs matter. They do make a difference. But different NGOs and their different strategies have different LEVELS of EFFECTIVENESS Shame on You: The Impact of Human Rights Criticism on Political Repression in Latin America, International Studies Quarterly (2008)

4. Amnesty International (since 1961) World’s largest human rights NGO (about 3 million members) – its strength is in its numbers. Main ways of operating: direct action (e.g. letter writing) and indirect action (publishing reports about abuses) Has aimed to abolish: - The death penalty - Extra-judicial “disappearances” - Unfair trials - Torture THE ROLES OF: • Non-Government Organisations Human Rights Watch (since about 1988) Produces INCREDIBLY detailed reports about human rights abuses (based on countries and ‘themes’ Compiles an enormous annual report (the HRW “World Report”), which reports human rights abuses in all parts of the world Depends more on wealthy individual donors than Amnesty International

5. THE ROLES OF: • Non-Government Organisations When evaluating the success of NGOs, it’s probably best to pick onebecause they all have different aims and different degrees of effectiveness

6. THE ROLES OF: • Non-Government Organisations So, we’ll do the biggest NGO, Amnesty International

7. Amnesty targetslarger countries where a lot of information is available (which means that smaller dictatorships and countries involved in civil war in Africa get less attention). THE ROLES OF: • Non-Government Organisations Amnesty admits to this criticism, and has said that it focuses on countries where they CAN make a difference (including countries like Israel and the US, which have made more statements that they support h.r.) Indirect action (e.g. reports and press releases) are less effective Direct action(e.g. ‘Urgent Action’ Campaigns – letter writing, faxes, etcstraight to the abusers and those who can do things) is the most effective Less successful campaigns: extra-judicial “disappearances”, the death penalty More successful campaigns: torture, prisoners of conscience, arbitrary arrest Targets countries according to ‘donor interest’ (meaning that they focus more on the issues that their donors and members are interested in, rather than the WORST violations)