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.