From behind the stools, white men start taunting the mixed row of mostly black students who had the audacity to sit there. "He's so dark the whole room is darkened." "Nobody ain't gonna sit beside them dirty niggers." Those on the swiveling seats at the counter answer only with an unshakable look of dignity.  Frustrated, the men from behind start pushing and shoving. Still no response from those on the stools. Then they launch the attack: hurling obscenities, throwing milk shakes and live cigarette buts, grabbing and punching. Lenses capture the scene. The whole world watches in shock.

The goal of training in nonviolent conflict is to prepare activists and supporters politically, physically, and psychologically to wage powerful campaigns and actions. Here are nine ways nonviolent action workshops help individuals hone their skills and nurture the courage and resilience they need to withstand the pressures of unarmed struggle.

There's an idea out there that anyone can take to the streets and make themselves heard. You just head out and start demonstrating to confront power. It's a beautiful idea.

Sooner than later, however, any assertive form of mass mobilization will cross path with agents of authority, be they security guards, police, or military. These forces are armed, and trained.

Do you feel the Earth is getting trashed faster than we seem to be able to save it? Do you sometimes share in the despair that our dependance on Big Oil & SUV's — with their attendant wars, food to ethanol follies, and other tar sands insanities — will bring down civilization faster than the ice caps and Greenland are melting?

Petroleum, mining and other corporate interests are in a head-on collision against local, land-based cultures, in a conflict so deep the whole world is its battlefield. Solutions based on morality, human values, respect for nature, and sheer common sense appear more inaccessible now than ever.

It's a battle of two worlds, simply said. A global clash: Earth and living creatures on one side, Cash on the other.

Well, here's how leverage works:

1. Find a place to stand (the support base, also called the fulcrum, or pivot);

2. Find a lever (a long enough stick);

3. Locate the pressure point (where you stick the lever);

4. Work like hell from your end of the stick;

5. Move the world (...thanks Archimedes!)

Because it funds and underwrites all large-scale projects, when you want to save some corner of the planet, you may find yourself in need of moving the world of Finance. That's when knowing about the following four leverage points could come in handy.

It's not like you state your case, show the damage, the injustice... and then they say they're sorry and mend their ways.
 

Let's face it: some opponents are ruthless. They just don't seem to care. Public opinion doesn't sway their behaviour.

Take gold mining corporations that have wrought horrible, unspeakable environmental destruction. Some use cyanide — cyanide! — to extract from open pit wounds the 2% to 3% of precious gold content, leaving the remaining poisonous 97% to leach and seep, for generations.

Water. Public health. Farming and the right to eat. The environment. Global sanity. What can you do? Whole communities are at stake.

A number of mining companies don't care much about communities. They will, and they have, killed for the money. And once the money is gone, they're gone.

How do you influence a company that doesn't seem to care about anything? Faced with an opponent that is impervious to logic, human sensitivity and public pressure, where do you turn?

Human rights form the indispensable foundations that make it possible for human beings to lead meaningful, satisfying lives. They define the basic entitlements and freedoms that are our birthright. Centuries in the making, the new, growing culture of respect for human rights has been driving the modern push for democracy, development, and accountable governance.

Everyone is entitled to live in dignity, with their basic needs being met. We were all born with a heart longing to be free and equal.

Human rights are universal — they belong to individuals and also to communities. Human rights are interrelated and indivisible — none can be taken away without hurting the others.

A mock tribunal is not a kangoroo court. The more your mock tribunal adheres to recognized standards of a fair trial, and resembles the existing proceedings in your country, the more credibility the endeavour can earn.

We have explained previously how citizen-based mock tribunals make good use of premonitory power, discussed the impact of repressed testimonies towards making truth and reconciliation possible, and covered 14 things to think about before you organize a mock tribunal.

In this last piece on paralegal forums, we turn to practical advice on conducting non-governmental "trials", with some ideas for follow-up activities that can prolong and widen the tribunal's impact.

Photo cc: JaHoVil

When faced with problems such as weak or no enforcement of human rights law, or even the lack of proper national legal instruments, how can you determine whether a mock tribunal is the right tactic for you? What factors should you weigh in before you decide?

And if you thought a citizen-based tribunal could be a useful tactic, how would you go about organizing it? What are some of the steps involved in setting up such a large-scale, public event? For instance, how should you choose those who will play a direct part in it, especially judges (or commissioners)?

In A Mock Tribunal to Advance Change, Mufuliat Fijabi has helped us answer those questions. The following checklist includes some of her advice, and other tips.

You can quickly scan through the list to see what organizing a tribunal entails. The checklist includes 11 "before you organize" items, and 3 "early prep" tasks.

When whole systems were erected for the sole purpose of repressing and silencing you, how do you recover your voice?

On far too many continents, in far too many remote villages, tumultuous townships and forgotten urban alleyways, whole generations have witnessed their pregnant daughters being raped as evening entertainment for armed men, have survived the terror of disappearances in the dead of the night, and have seen the charred bodies of their sons in bombed car carcasses.

Where can these communities turn for a silver lining of justice, a possibility to heal and recover, a sense that the future may be livable?

When the level of atrocities finally recedes, what great big tide can come to cleanse with salty waters the bruised bodies and tortured souls left as wrecks on the shores of history?

Truth be told. Reconciliation is hard. But the only thing harder than that, apparently, is a lifetime of bitterness and hatred, being eaten away with fantasies of revenge, and the unspeakable grief that secret crimes beget.

"Although you are standing here before us, you are standing before the entire nation and the international society by standing on the podium to share your sufferings and the violence you have suffered as women. The tribunal is long overdue."

— Senator Khairat Gwadabe, member of Nigeria's Upper House, quoted in A Mock Tribunal to Advance Change.

Problem 1: When laws are inoperative

In most countries of the world, the law says one thing, and the reality says another. That's because changing rules is easier than changing practices. Likewise, adopting laws is not as taxing as enforcing them. Hence the problem of ineffectual legislation.

So what can you do when human rights statutes say one thing, and the facts another? How can you bring the rule of law when it is systematically ignored or violated?

Problem 2: When there is no law

It gets worse. Sometimes no relevant legislation is even in place. Think of the dismal state of the law regarding the abuse of women, marital rape, and sexual violence in many countries. Violations are not only ignored with impunity, they are often trivialized, and may even be glorified. When the legal system offers no specific provisions, technically and legally, there is no abuse.

So how can you seek redress, when there are no lawful mechanisms, no statute you can invoke? If a practice or behaviour is not even seen as a problem, how can you hope to change it?

There is a seldom used format that has the power to reframe a problem into a paralegal framework, to bring violations into the spotlight, and call for real enforcement. Enter one tactic that bridges consciousness raising and the legal world: the non-governmental, or citizen-based "mock" Tribunal.