Nonviolent Action Network

Nonviolent Peaceforce in Sri Lanka: Supporting Human Rights Defenders

Capacity-building Workshop for Grassroots HRDs on Documenting & Reporting Skills

Description (methodology, techniques and strategies used):

The Nonviolent Peaceforce-Sri Lanka (NPSL) organized a four-day human rights documentation and reporting capacity-building workshop for local partners engaged in defending human rights in the northern conflict zone. The programme was co-facilitated by two local partners: one partner from the southern part of the country (main facilitator/resource person) and one from the northern part of the country (mentor of local human rights defenders). The focus of the workshop was an overview and instruction in using UN Special Reporting Procedures regarding human rights violations, including implementation challenges and strategies in the northern context. This was also part of a longer term strategy of connecting human rights advocates in remote or isolated areas with actors from the south who have a wider range of organized support and resources.

Implementation methodologies:

Overview of workshop and resource people utilized:

Day 1:

• Domestic and International Human Rights Standards (main facilitator)
• How are such standards reflected in the local constitution (main facilitator)
• Limitations/implications of emergency regulations (attorney general’s officer)
• Human Rights Defenders: Concept and Rights (main facilitator)

Day 2:

• International Protection Mechanisms in Local Area: mandates, areas of HR monitoring, limitations, possible interventions (6 agency representatives)
• Introduction of UN Special Reporting Procedures regarding human rights violations (main facilitator)

Day 3:

• UN Special Procedures continued: case studies (main facilitator)

Day 4:

• Mental Health Awareness (local mental health agency facilitators)
  • Signs of trauma
  • Interview techniques when working with trauma victims
  • Self-care
  • Referral mechanisms

What is innovative about this project:

The primary role of NPSL was to catalyze and organize the event and link local actors in the north and south of the country. Such linkages are rare in the current political and military context in Sri Lanka. The intention was to utilize resources and knowledge from the south of the country to strengthen the capacity of a local organization in the north who do their human rights work under dangerous and difficult conditions. NPSL did not conduct the training itself, as NP strives to encourage, support and link local actors to meet community-identified needs for longer-term empowerment and sustainability. The northern partner originally expressed its need for specific training in human rights documentation and reporting. A southern partner later expressed an interest in visiting the northern part of the country to assess first-hand the human rights conditions there and to provide training to NGOs and their staff. NPSL linked the expressed need and expressed capabilities, playing a consultative and logistical role, while also providing confidence to the actors. NPSL international staff provided protective presence and accompaniment to both the main facilitator/resource person from the south and to the northern participants, opening up more space and creating a safer environment for the local actors to come together for mutual collaboration on human rights.

Because of the deteriorating human rights situation within the country and the weakening government structures to protect human rights and to document and report violations, the workshop improved the knowledge and skills of 20 persons at the grassroots level to report and document HR violations in a timely manner. Additionally, the participants (all from different villages) are now using these techniques to monitor their communities and serve as a local resource to verify and document the local human rights situation, and using these international mechanisms whom they now engage with their documentation. The new relationships formed may also serve to consciously increase the safety and security net of the more vulnerable young actors in the isolated northern part of the country doing human rights work, but this will only be revealed over time.

Evidence of results and impact:

1.) The staff and volunteers of the northern partner now have the basic technical skills to document and report. Since the workshop in November 2007, the local NGO has submitted 6 cases of alleged human rights violations to the UN Human Rights Council. The staff of the northern partner have all stated that they now have a greater confidence and skill to engage in human rights monitoring.

2.) The northern and southern partners continue to work together. The northern partner seeks additional technical advice and support from the southern partner regarding documentation and reporting of HR violations.

3.) The northern and southern partners are from two different ethnic communities. Their continuing relationship is bridging divides and promoting nonviolent collaboration and solidarity among community actors.

Costs associated with the development and implementation of the activity:

• Travel, housing, food for resource person – US$180
• Rental of facility and daily lunch, including two teas (25 persons) – US$ 400
• Copies of documents (constitution and other relevant local laws, UDHR, UN reporting forms, etc) (25 persons) – US$105 (price of paper in local area is double normal cost)
• Stationery: folders, writing paper, pens (25 persons) – $15
• Main facilitator (1) and all additional resource persons (9) donated their time

Contact Information: Nonviolent Peaceforce

Alessandro Rossi, 205 rue Belliard, 1040 Bruxelles, Belgium and

Mel Duncan, 425 Oak Grove, Minneapolis, MN 55403, USA and

Fiona Musana, 26 A Ediriweera, Dehiwala, Sri Lanka