Accompanying human rights activists to protect them from danger

Lrubenstein — Fri, 30 May 2008 12:48:27 -0500

Peace Brigades International (PBI) sends international observers to accompany human rights activists who are threatened by the government or paramilitary organizations. They serve as a reminder to perpetrators of human rights abuse that the international community is watching. In the event of an abduction, the observer alerts authorities in the country, their own native government and activists around the world. This brings the influence of the foreigner’s government and international contacts to bear on the perpetrators.

As a tactic, international accompaniment was developed to protect Guatemalan civil society activists in the early 1980s. At that time many activists were being watched, terrorized, and killed by agents working on behalf of the government. Over the next decade PBI and groups like them sent hundreds of international observers to Guatemala. Later, in 1987, PBI was invited by organizer Bishop Medardo Gomez to bring observers to El Salvador. In El Salvador, PBI was widely embraced and they were soon overwhelmed with requests for observers. Since then PBI has expanded. Peace Brigades now operates in Mexico, Guatemala, Colombia, and Indonesia. Similar programs exist in other countries around the world.

International accompaniment is difficult for both human rights activists and volunteers. Activists can feel constrained by the continual presence of another person in their daily lives. For the volunteers, escorting involves constantly following someone else’s schedule, which is similarly constraining. In addition, accompaniment is stressful for both activists and volunteers due to the dangers they both face.

Although the volunteers are the most visible symbol of the accompaniment tactic, the success of the approach depends on an international awareness of the situation through an extensive support network of concerned individuals and supporting organizations. This network is ready to apply special pressure in crisis situations involving PBI volunteers and the people they are protecting. The grass-roots network consists of thousands of concerned individuals in many countries. It is activated when there is a need for broad based pressure. By using emails, faxes and letters sent to authorities in the country in which the crisis is occurring, the recipients are made aware that the eyes of the international community are upon them. In selective situations, PBI also uses a high-level alert network of influential political and diplomatic authorities when it wishes to apply potent pressure. These are people who have especially strong influence on the governmental authorities in the country concerned.

To coordinate the work of the volunteers doing the accompaniment and the extensive support network, each project has a Project Committee and a Project Office. The latter is usually located outside the project country for security reasons, and is staffed by a Project Coordinator and local volunteers.

While the effects of accompaniment, like any deterrent method, are hard to quantify, the impact of accompaniment in the minds of the citizens of a country was demonstrated with the return of Guatemalan refugees. The refugees, when negotiating their return with the Guatemalan government, insisted that the government sign an agreement approving the right of international accompaniment. The refugees’ successful return help inspire rapid developments in the Guatemalan peace process, contributing to the peace accords in 1996.