Peru appears to be the only country in the world where all of the human rights organizations have gotten together under one umbrella organization. In the 1980’s Peru suffered great political violence and butal human rights violations. Human rights groups from around the country came together in a united organization, the Coordinadora Nacional de Derechos Humanos (CNDDHH), to gain greater credibility at home and abroad and to seek greater protection from the dangers of the security forces and the main guerilla group, Sendero Luminoso. The original member organizations included a wide variety of human rights NGOs, representatives of groups of relatives of victims, women’s groups, two confederations (one representing poor urban dwellers and the other, peasants), and a number of other organizations. From their first meeting in 1985, they produced a declaration supporting life and peace and opposing assassination or mistreating human beings.
The CNDDHH represents a unique experience in the world human rights movement. It has been able to bring together a wide variety of human rights groups and develop a common program for human rights work with the capacity to revise this program according to political developments and the preferences of its members. It has developed innovative and relatively democratic ways for CNDDHH organizations to work together and has found ways to build alliances with other sectors of civil society. It has built up its credibility over the years and is sought out for reliable information by everyone interested in Peruvian human rights, at home and abroad. It has been a “voice for the voiceless” and has been able to influence the human rights situation in Peru in many ways;helping a great many victims of human rights violations, influencing legislation related to human rights, and generating both national and international pressure on many human rights issues. Often its work has served as brake to stop further human rights violations (this is one of the most important functions of human rights organizations all over the world but also the hardest to measure). In addition, the CNDDHH and its organizations have done much to improve awareness of human rights with the general public through human rights education initiatives.
The CNDDHH has been particularly successful in its international work, following an important Peruvian tradition (Peruvian diplomacy was internationally prominent in the 1970s and 1980s and a Peruvian diplomat, Javier Perez de Cuellar became the Secretary General of the United Nations) and its work in this area is recognized around the world. In Washington these days, human rights groups from other Latin American countries are challenged to “get their act together like the Peruvians.” The success of the CNDDHH internationally has been particularly important because the Peruvian government, despite its denials, is currently very sensitive to foreign pressure. In addition, the CNDDHH is already working on a more ambitious international project: the creation of a Latin American human rights movement. Since 1997, it has worked with hundreds of human rights organizations throughout the Americas to present a joint statement to the OAS human rights system suggesting ways that this system can be improved. Conversations are underway to find other ways that Latin American human rights groups can work together to influence the human rights situation throughout the region.
Despite the fact that political violence in Peru has declined dramatically and the most egregious human rights violations have dropped significantly, this collective of human rights organizations has grown and expanded rapidly in the 1990s and now has 61 members and 26 more local human rights committees waiting to join. In addition, such a highly cohesive human rights movement has developed in a country where many NGOs are in crisis and where neoliberal economic policies have promoted attitudes of extreme of individualism. This organization represents a unique coming together and coordination of human rights work in a country. It also demonstrates the ability and potential power that human rights groups have by working together.
Parts of the text taken directly from:
Drzewieniecki, Janet. The Coordinadora Nacional de Derechos Humanos: A Case Study
For more information:
Coordinadora de Derechos Humanos
Jr. Tupac Amaru 2467 Lince Lima 14 Perú Tel: (+511) 441 1533 Fax: (+51 1) 422 4827 E-mail: webmaster [at] dhperu [dot] org URL: http://www.dhperu.org
Additional information may be available at:
Washington Office on Latin America
1630 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 2
Washington D.C. 20009
USA
Tel. 202-797-2171
Fax 202-544-8045
Web URL: wola [at] wola [dot] org
Using coordination among human rights groups to provide strength and reach to the movement
