As part of the on-going REMHI (Recovery of Historical Memory) Project, several dioceses of the Catholic Church in Guatemala have mobilized their own members to collect testimonies from victims of state violence and, now that these have been compiled into a 4-volume report, to disseminate and return that history to the afflicted communities and individuals.  During Guatemala’s 36-year civil war, close to 200,000 people were killed or disappeared and entire villages and communities were destroyed, primarily by state security forces.   REMHI’s approach has been unusual relative to other truth and reconciliation efforts in its grassroots mobilization of individuals from the afflicted areas as “agents of reconciliation” and in those individuals’ efforts to thoroughly involve and interact with the victims.

In Cebu City, more than 70% of the population is classified as urban poor. A group of Non-Government Organizations with programs and services for the urban poor organizations bonded together and worked with urban poor groups to create an alliance, Task Force Tawhanong Pagpuyo (TFT), to respond to the growing numbers of victims who experienced evictions and demolitions of their houses. TFT presented and advocated for alternatives to government development plans that involved wholesale demolition with no alternative relocation sites. TFT organized a conference of urban poor leaders to identify issues and alternative solutions and followed this with research and case studies. These materials were presented to the local government and housing agencies.  Simultaneously, training was conducted for judges who issue the demolition and eviction orders. The alliance succeeded in developing and getting representatives on to a local housing board and assisted in preparing a comprehensive shelter plan for the city.  As a result, guidelines for demolition and eviction were adopted and judges now coordinate with the local housing board to ensure compliance. The number of demolitions and evictions was substantially reduced and when they did occur, relocation sites were identified in advance.

La visión de Wona Sanana es de un mundo que se centra en iniciativas innovadoras para la promoción de la participación de los niños por valorar el potencial creativo y el conocimiento de la comunidad local.

Before this campaign, no one knew that there were people in Korean society who earned less than the minimum wage. The KWWAU raised the social conscience about the minimum wage system, bringing the issue into the sphere of social movement.  The major beneficiaries of improving the minimum wage system have been poor women.  KWWAU hopes that the income differentials are dissolved by improving the minimum wage system.

The Centre for Victims of Torture (CVICT) in Nepal created a process of community mediation as an alternative to the criminal justice system. CVICT did research on what types of disputes were occurring, then developed a training course for community leaders, including women and Dalits (of the untouchable caste), on settling disputes with a rights-based community mediation method. Community mediation would be available for disputes other than violent crimes, and would be made available to everyone, regardless of age, sex, class, or social caste.  The mediation system is improving access to justice and the dynamics of power in the three districts where it has been carried out.  It is also greatly reducing the number of arrests: In the first year, two-thirds of cases were resolved through mediation while one-third went to the police and the courts.

For a detailed exploration of this tactic, please click on the following link to consult our tactical notebook, <b><a href="http://www.newtactics.org/en/AccesstoJustice">Access to Justice: Creating local level, citizen action mediation bodies to ensure human rights</a></b> by Dinesh Narayan Suddhakar.