In this notebook we learn about the ways in which forensic science can unearth human rights abuses from the past and bring closure to families as well as truth to the judicial process.  The Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team has been training human rights NGOs to use forensic tools to advance investigations.  Through this science one can tell if a person was tortured, if the death was accidental or intentional and they can try to indentify the person.

This notebook describes how one organization (ICAR) in Romania was able to pressure the government to accept its moral and legal obligation to provide care to torture victims.  The group had international support but they recognized that it was the states responsibility to rehabilitate this socially marginalized group.

In the human rights field there is often a gap between local human rights abuses and the international laws and treaties that are meant to prevent these abuses.  The League of Human Rights Advocates in Slovakia recruits members of a disenfranchised population and trains them to become human rights monitors.  These monitors watch for human rights abuses in their own locality and then translate international human rights laws and apply them to their local situations.

This notebook demonstrates how international mechanisms can be a powerful tool for organizations trying to bring about change in their community.  This notebook uses the example of Northern Ireland and describes how the Committee on the Administration of Justice (CAJ) was able to successfully utilise the UN Committee Against Torture to pressure the UK to establish mechanisms and standards for human rights.

Until a few years ago, there were no legal firms in Brazil that offered free services to people in need. The Pro-Bono Institute has created a new legal tradition in São Paolo, convincing major law firms to donate their legal services and connecting them with NGOs in need of legal services. The Institute has recruited about 140 lawyers and is offering a variety of free services to all kinds of NGOs, including support for important human rights cases.