Activate international mechanisms

Is your government violating human rights and ignoring your calls to stop abuses? Might international pressure be just the thing to persuade them to change? Are you keen to grab the world’s attention, but unsure how? Activating international United Nations (UN) mechanisms might be the way to go.

The UN’s array of organizations and acronyms can seem far removed from our day-to-day struggles for justice, but there are a number of international mechanisms that exist to support you in pressuring your government and other key actors to protect your rights and defend your work. The trick is to understand what these mechanisms can and can’t do, and how you can activate them. Remember: these mechanisms are not a cure-all, just another tool in your toolbox.

First, seek guidance. Find out which non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in your country are already interacting with the UN, and ask for their support. The UN’s human rights office has a civil society section, with resources and staff to answer your questions, while independent organizations like the International Service for Human Rights (ISHR) publish handbooks, produce regular updates, and provide training on how to use the UN to strategically to support grassroots struggles. You can also find out online what the UN has said previously about your country or the issue you work on.

Once you’ve got the world’s attention, how will you use the weight of the United Nations to apply pressure locally in support of your campaign?

Second, analyze how susceptible your government is – or is not – to UN pressure. Would the voice of international authorities give your local movement the additional weight it needs to be heard in the media? Would local politicians feel compelled to respond to forthright criticism from their peers in the UN sphere? Are local courts likely to reference international guidance and precedents in their decisions? Playing the UN game requires varying amounts of time and trouble, so you should make sure that its outcomes will be worth the effort.

Third, identify which mechanisms to activate and how to do so. A UN expert (or “Special Procedures” as they are officially known) might well speak out about a human rights abuse if short, accurate, and well-documented information is sent in a timely manner. In Australia, for example, local NGOs used a press release by a group of UN experts to tip the scales in their struggle against repressive protest laws favouring big business over grassroots movements.

Alternatively, you might persuade other countries to make recommendations related to your cause when your country comes up for its five-year UN Universal Periodic Review. In 2009, various countries used the Universal Periodic Review to criticize Mexico’s lack of protection for threatened activists. Its government subsequently created a protection program. When this wasn’t properly implemented, civil society ensured that 40 percent of member states spoke out about it, pressuring Mexico at their subsequent review.

If your country has ratified key treaties, it will be regularly assessed as to how well it is implementing its obligations, in regards to, say, women’s equality or children’s rights. In fact, if it has agreed to optional protocols, you might even be able to take a case of an individual violation to one of the UN committees, which will act as a quasi-judicial body tasked with evaluating whether international law has been breached in that specific case.

If you’re working in big international coalitions and have the stamina for protracted advocacy efforts, the UN’s different mechanisms can be used in conjunction — often together with its preeminent but highly politicized human rights body, the Human Rights Council — to really put an issue on the international agenda and propel a range of governments to address it at home. Examples include the push for accountability in Sri Lanka and the gradual but crucial recognition of equal rights for everybody regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity.

You may also want to evaluate whether regional mechanisms such as the Inter-American or African Commissions on Human Rights can contribute to your efforts.

Finally, whatever mechanism you pursue to get the world’s attention, you’ll need to be prepared for your next challenge: How will you use the weight of the United Nations to push for the change you want to see on the ground?

Originally published in Beautiful Rising.