Right to Peaceful Assembly & Association

Standing in silence at symbolic locations to protest government abuses and memorialize victims

Turkish protesters stood in silence at symbolic locations to draw attention to government abuses and unmet promises.

Mass demonstrations began in Istanbul in May 2013 as protests aimed at halting government plans to develop a popular urban park grew into a broader social movement to protest increasingly authoritarian policies and the violent response to peaceful demonstrations.

Organizing caravans to overcome militarization

Ruta Pacifica, a feminist, pacifist, anti-military organization in existence since 1996 organizes caravans of thousands of women in Colombia to visit regions hardest-hit by conflict. The caravans serve as a way for women from different areas to come together in support against the conflict, exchange ideas, and fight for an end to human rights abuses. As a result of the ongoing civil war in Colombia, different areas of the country have become increasingly isolated from one another, as the roads and borders between them are frequently controlled or blocked by the various armed groups. By traveling these roads, the caravans of women break through not only the physical roadblocks, but the psychological barriers of despair and isolation that allow the war to continue.

For more information on this tactic, read our in-depth case study.

Building a coalition of a country’s human rights organiza­tions to speak with one voice against abuses

When human rights groups work together they can often do much more to promote human rights and improve a country’s human rights situation than individual groups could do on their own. The National Coordinator for Human Rights in Peru proves that this is possible even on a very large scale.

For more information on this tactic, read our in-depth case study.

Empowering children with information, skills and support to advocate for their own rights

In India, the group Concerned for Working Children (CWC) enables children to create formal structures such as unions and governance bodies to advocate for their own rights. Through this work, CWC strengthens the participa­tion of children, especially those who are working or otherwise marginalized, in decision-making and governance on all matters that concern them. CWC has been actively involved in this cause since 1980 and is currently working in five Karnataka districts.

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