by Liam Mahonyedited by Nancy L. Pearson

Side by SideProtecting and encouraging threatened activists with unarmed international accompaniment

A Tactical Notebook published bythe New Tactics Project

of the Center for Victims of Torture

Published byThe Center for Victims of TortureNew Tactics in Human Rights Project717 East River RoadMinneapolis, MN 55455 USAwww.cvt.org, www.newtactics.org

Notebook Series EditorLiam Mahony

Layout and CopyeditingTricia Cornell

The Danish Institute for Human Rights and The Center for Victims of Torture wish to acknowledge thefollowing institutions that provided support for the New Tactics in Human Rights West Group regionaltraining workshop, of which this and other tactical notebooks are a product:

· The Paul & Phyllis Fireman Charitable Foundation,

· The United States Department of State,

· The United States Institute of Peace,

· The European Master’s Programme in Human Rights and Democratization

· Donors who wish to remain anonymous.We are also greatly indebted to the work of numerous interns and volunteers who have contributed theirtime and expertise to the advancement of the project and of human rights.

The New Tactics project has also benefited from more than 2000 hours of work from individual volunteersand interns as well as donations of in-kind support. Some of the institutional sponsors of this work includeMacalester College, the University of Minnesota, the Higher Education Consortium for Urban Affairs, theMinnesota Justice Foundation and the public relations firm of Padilla Speer Beardsley.

The opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed on this site are those of the NewTactics project and do not necessarily reflect the views of our funders For a full list of project sponsors seewww.newtactics.org.

The views expressed in this report do not necessarily reflect those of the New Tactics in Human RightsProject. The project does not advocate specific tactics or policies.

The views and analysis of this document are based largely on experiences of Peace Brigades International, butare entirely the responsibility of the author.

© 2004 Center for Victims of TortureThis publication may be freely reproduced in print and in electronic form as longas this copyright notice appears on all copies.

66

54Author biography

Letter from the New Tactics project manager

Introduction

What is protective accompaniment?

7How does accompaniment work?

The Center for Victims of TortureNew Tactics in Human Rights Project

717 East River RoadMinneapolis, MN 55455 USA

www.cvt.org, www.newtactics.org

16Volunteers building a global movement

10Example: Colectivo de Abogados11Case study: Communities resisting warin rural Colombia

14Encouragement, protection and political space

18Factors affecting the protection function19Factors affecting the encouragement function

19Factors affecting the objectiveof building the movement20Considering accompaniment in a new setting

22Conclusion23Useful references

Peace Brigades InternationalPeace Brigades International is a nongovernmental orga-nization that promotes the nonviolent transformation ofconflict and protection of human rights. Upon invitation,PBI sends teams of trained volunteers into areas of re-pression and conflict. The volunteers accompany threat-ened civil society activists, their organizations andcommunities threatened by political violence. The PBImodel has proven that this external presence can deterviolence and thus create greater space for local activists tocarry out their important work.

PBI has projects in Colombia, Indonesia, Guatemala andMexico, and has previously worked in Sri Lanka, El Sal-vador, Haiti and with indigenous peoples in NorthAmerica. This work is supported by PBI chapters in 15countries in Europe, North America and the Asian-Pa-

cific region. In addition to ac-companiment, some PBIprojects also carry out work-shops, training and other typesof peace education, with thegoal of strengthening local ca-pacity for conflict transforma-tion.

Liam MahonyLiam Mahony is an activist for nonviolence and humanrights who has worked with Peace Brigades Internationalsince 1987. He has coordinated PBI’s volunteer accom-paniment in Guatemala, facilitated volunteer trainingsfor accompaniment work in many countries, served onPBI’s International Board and advised all of PBI’s projectsas well as other NGO accompaniment projects. Togetherwith Luis Enrique Eguren, he co-authored the book,Unarmed Bodyguards: International Accompaniment forthe Protection of Human Rights, (Kumarian Press, 1997).Mr. Mahony is also the author of Risking Return: NGOsin the Guatemalan Refugee Return, (Life and Peace Insti-tute, Uppsala, 1999). He was lead editor and writer forthe Independent International Commission on Kosovo(Kosovo Report, Oxford University Press, 2000). Mr.Mahony taught human rights seminars at Princeton Uni-versity (2000-2003) and is now a consultant for severalinternational NGOs, including the Centre for Humani-tarian Dialogue and the New Tactics in Human RightsProject of the Center for Victims of Torture.

Contact InformationLiam Mahony58 Lee WayBrewster, MA 02631 USAliammahony@comcast.net

Peace Brigades Internationalwww.peacebrigades.org

AcknowledgementsThis document is based on input from hundreds of ac-companiment volunteers and threatened activists I havemet during my 17 years of work in this field, too numer-ous to list and none less important than another. Signifi-cant portions of the analysis here are drawn from myprevious work on the book Unarmed Bodyguards: Inter-national Accompaniment for the Protection of Human Rights,(Kumarian Press, 1997), and I must especially thank myco-author, Luis Enrique Eguren, and all at Kumarian Presswho made possible that work, and thus this notebook aswell. I am grateful also to Jonathan Woodbridge for sus-taining PBI’s web-based photo archive and providing meaccess to it for this document. PBI staff and activists in allprojects provided direct material and assistance. In addi-tion, staff of Christian Peacemaker Teams, the GuatemalaAccompaniment Project, the Nonviolent Peaceforce andthe Ecumenical Accompanimetn Project in Palestine andIsrael all generously provided documents and photos.

A final thanks to the New Tactics Project itself, for recog-nizing the importance of accompaniment as a tactic, andfor diligently keeping me on track in producing this work.Special thanks to Nancy Pearson for assistance with thediagrams and for her constant encouragement.

September 2004

Dear Friend,

Welcome to the New Tactics in Human Rights Tactical Notebook Series. In each notebook a humanrights practitioner describes an innovative tactic that was used successfully in advancing human rights.The authors are part of the broad and diverse human rights movement, including nongovernment andgovernment perspectives, educators, law enforcement personnel, truth and reconciliation processes,women’s rights and mental health advocates. They have both adapted and pioneered tactics that havecontributed to human rights in their home countries. In addition, they have used tactics that, whenadapted, can be applied in other countries and other situations to address a variety of issues.

Each notebook contains detailed information on how the author and his or her organization achievedwhat they did. We want to inspire other human rights practitioners to think tactically — and tobroaden the realm of tactics considered to effectively advance human rights.

Since the mid-1980s, human rights groups and other activist organizations being targeted withrepressive abuses have been calling on international NGOs to provide them with direct accompanimentby international field workers. These field workers — usually volunteers — spend twenty-four hours aday with threatened activists, at the premises of threatened organizations, in threatened communities orwitnessing public events organized by threatened groups. The international presence serves as adeterrent against the use of violence. In order to ensure this deterrence, these internationalaccompaniment organizations are part of transnational networks poised and ready to mobilize politicalpressure against perpetrators should their volunteers witness any attacks or should their clients befurther threatened.

The entire series of Tactical Notebooks is available online at www.newtactics.org. Additional notebooksare already available and others will continue to be added over time. On our web site you will also findother tools, including a searchable database of tactics, a discussion forum for human rights practitionersand information about our workshops and symposium. To subscribe to the New Tactics newsletter,please send an e-mail to newtactics@cvt.org.

The New Tactics in Human Rights Project is an international initiative led by a diverse group oforganizations and practitioners from around the world. The project is coordinated by the Center forVictims of Torture and grew out of our experiences as a creator of new tactics and as a treatment centerthat also advocates for the protection of human rights from a unique position — one of healing andreclaiming civic leadership.

We hope that you will find these notebooks informational and thought-provoking.

Sincerely,

Kate Kelsch

New Tactics Project Manager

6

Introduction“I can say with certainty that the fact that we arealive today is mainly because of Peace Brigades’ work.”

— Luis Perez Casas, Lawyer’s Collective Jose AlvearRestrepo, Bogotá, Colombia

International protective accompaniment is the physi-cal accompaniment by international personnel of ac-tivists, organizations or communities threatened withpolitically motivated attacks. Peace Brigades Interna-tional has been developing this tactic since the mid-1980s, sending hundreds of volunteers into differentconflict situations around the world. PBI currently sus-tains a presence of about 80 people working in sev-eral conflicts, responding to requests foraccompaniment from all kinds of threatened civil so-ciety organizations. Accompaniment can take manyforms. Some threatened activists receive 24-hour-a-day accompaniment. For others the presence is moresporadic. Sometimes team members spend all day onthe premises of an office of a threatened organiza-tion. Sometimes they live in threatened rural villagesin conflict zones.

This accompaniment service has three simultaneousand mutually-reinforcing impacts. The internationalpresence protects threatened activists by raising thestakes of any attacks against them. It encourages civilsociety activism by allowing threatened organizationsmore space and confidence to operate and by build-ing links of solidarity with the international commu-nity. And it strengthens the international movement

for peace and human rights by giving accompanimentvolunteers a powerful first-hand experience that be-comes a sustained source of inspiration to themselvesand others upon their return to their home country.

This tactical notebook will analyze how protective ac-companiment works, based on the substantial experi-ence of PBI in Colombia, Indonesia, Mexico, Guatemala,Haiti, Sri Lanka and El Salvador. Since the 1990s, nu-merous other organizations have also provided pro-tective international accompaniment in other settings,modifying the approach according to their particularidentity and mission. In the final section of the note-book I will also offer a brief comparative discussion ofseveral of these experiences.

What is protective accompaniment?The accompaniment volunteer1 is literally the embodi-ment of international human rights concern, a com-pelling and visible reminder to those using violencethat it will not go unnoticed. The volunteers act essen-tially as unarmed bodyguards, often spending twenty-four hours a day with human rights workers, unionleaders, peasant groups and other popular organiza-tions that face mortal danger from death squads, stateforces or other abusers. The premise of accompani-ment is that there will be an international responseto whatever violence the volunteer witnesses. Behindsuch a response lies the implied threat of diplomaticand economic pressure—pressure that the sponsorsof such violence prefer to avoid.

Victims of human rights abuse are frequently thoseattempting to organize so-cial change movements thatquestion their society’s pow-erful elites. An internationalpresence at their side can bea source of hope to theseactivists. It assures them thatthey are not alone, that theirwork is important and thattheir suffering will not gounnoticed by the outsideworld. Thus the volunteer’spresence not only protects,but also encourages thegrowth of civil society activ-ism in repressive situations.

Accompaniment is a serviceto key local protagonists instruggles for justice, nonvio-lence and human rights.These threatened activistsand communities are thehope for the future, and ev-ery accompaniment volun-teer returns home inspiredby the privilege of having

Nighttime watch over the offices of Koalisi HAM, or Coalition for Human Rights, Aceh, Indonesia. PBI has beenworking in Indonesia since 1999, starting in West Timor, then expanding to Aceh, where both separatist rebellionand state forces were repressing civil society groups. Most recently, PBI has expanded to establish a team in Papua.All photos from PBI Photo Archives.

Side by Side 7

been able to offer a modest contribution to protectand encourage their powerful work. These local activ-ists are the ones building civil society from the groundup while facing deadly and daily risks. Some of thepeople being protected are extraordinary leaders—courageous and charismatic activists, lawyers or NGOleaders. Others are average citizens thrust into ex-traordinary circumstances by the trauma of eventsaround them. Whether they are lawyers, women’sgroups, peasant organizations, labor unions, internallydisplaced populations or community organizations,they are all struggling to defend their basic humanrights and their dignity.

Since PBI’s first accompaniment began in Guatemalain the early 1980s, thousands of people have beenprotected. Hundreds of organizations and activistshave felt the security and encouragement to expandtheir work, to persevere despite the risks. Volunteershave traveled from all over the world to participate inthis service.

In the course of two decades of experience not a singleactivist receiving one-on-one PBI accompaniment hasever been killed. In only two situations has a deadlyattack occurred against a community while PBI sus-tained a presence there. And not a single PBI volun-teer has been killed. Accompaniment has proven tobe very effective protection, even in situations wherethe overall human rights situation was deterioratingand where death squads seemed impervious to ex-ternal pressure.

PBI began its first accompaniment in Guatemala in1984, with the Mutual Support Group for Families ofthe disappeared. Over two decades in Guatemala, PBIaccompanied hundreds of civil society organizationsemerging from years of terror, helping the countrymove into a delicate democratic transition.

How does accompaniment work?Why is it effective?Accompaniment has three primary impacts

· Protection of threatened activists and organizations· Encouragement of individuals and civil society move-

ments· Building a global movement for peace and human

rights

PROTECTION: DETERRING ATTACKS AGAINSTCIVIL SOCIETY LEADERS, GROUPS AND COMMU-NITIESInternational accompaniment can succeed in deter-ring attacks because the decision makers behind theseattacks seldom want a bad international image. Theydon’t want the world to know about what they aredoing. They don’t want diplomats making them un-comfortable mentioning human rights problems intheir meetings. They don’t want to read in the inter-national press that they are being called monsters orcriminals. They will avoid all that if they can.

Threatened human rights lawyers with Corporacion JuridicaLibertad in Medellin, Colombia. PBI has been protecting humanrights work in Colombia since 1994 and currently sustains a totalpresence of 45 people in four different Colombian cities: Bogotá,Medellín, Barrancabermeja and Turbo.

Leaders of the organization Guatemalan Families of the Disappeared(FAMDEGUA).

8

The decision makers may be high-level governmentofficials, high-level military officials, lower-level offi-cials, private elite businessmen (local or international)with influence or private enforcement capacity, or lead-ers of non-state armed groups. In every case, the ac-companiment functions by increasing the perceivedpolitical costs of ordering an attack in front of theseinternational witnesses—witnesses whose sponsororganizations are committed to making such attacksas costly as possible.

The direct perpetrators of attacks might be soldiers,police, paramilitary organizations, guerrillas or hiredassassins, among others. In each case, the accompani-ment strategy requires a thorough analysis of the chainof command between the perpetrator and the higher-level decision maker. We should not assume that thethugs who pull the trigger are unaffected by interna-tional presence. No one wants an unexpected witnessaround when they are carrying out a crime. Thevolunteer’s presence may have a moral influence onindividual perpetrators. It also introduces an uncer-tainty factor—the attacker does not know what theconsequences of this witness will be, so unless he hasexplicit orders that take the accompaniment into ac-count, he is likely to restrain himself rather than riskgetting in trouble with his superiors.

ACCOMPANIMENT PROTECTION AND THE LINEOF COMMANDTo appreciate the added value of accompaniment asprotection, consider first the more traditional modelof international human rights pressure (see figure 1).Although systemic human rights abuses require thecollaboration of a variety of actors at different levelsin the line of command, pressure is usually only di-rected at the decision makers at the top, urging themto stop abuses. In addition, the international commu-nity offers a variety of kinds of support to threatenedactivists themselves.

But international human rights pressure is now a de-cades-old practice, and states have developed very

Decision-makers

Perpetrator

Chain of command

Targeted Activist

International Human Rights PressureX

Intervention Pattern: 1Conventional international pressure to protect

support

Intervention Pattern: 3

International Human Rights Pressure

Targeted ActivistPerpetrator

Decision-makers

Chain ofcommand

X

X

X

XX

Use of accompaniment to disrupt all levels in the abuse process

support

Accompaniment

PBI volunteer (right) on protective accompaniment with activists inrural areas near Lhokseumawe, Aceh, Indonesia, 2003.

FIGURE 1

FIGURE 2

FIGURE 3

Side by Side 9

nimble countermeasures to prevent this pressure fromhaving its desired impact (see figure 2). Deflectorsinclude the use of propaganda to destroy the credibil-ity of the accusing organization or the targeted activ-ists, such as labeling them terrorists; in this way statesgain international support from allies for their poli-cies. Buffers include a variety of mechanisms by whichstates absorb and co-opt human rights pressure with-out overt denials, including the creation of state agen-cies to deal with the human rights community, makingthe case that the state recognizes the problem and istaking all possible measures. Smokescreens allow thedecision maker to argue that it is not responsible forthe abuses, even though it admits they occur. A com-mon and devastatingly effective smokescreen is theuse of paramilitary or death squad operations secretlyunder military control. In other cases, justifications suchas “lack of discipline,” or “loose cannons” distancethe high-level decision makers from the abuses.Smokescreens give both the state and its internationalallies a level of plausible deniability when faced withaccusations.

A good accompaniment strategy, as shown in figure3, both complements and augments traditional pres-sure, in the following ways:

· The accompaniment volunteer is directly visible topotential direct perpetrators, a unique impactamong international efforts.

· PBI extends the pressure throughout the chain ofcommand, by meeting with all different levels ofthe military and civilian hierarchy, on both nationaland local levels. Without this, there is no assurancethat the “message” of international pressure istransmitted through the different levels. In thesemeetings PBI diplomatically ensures that every ech-elon of the decision-making system is aware of thepresence and of its link to the international com-munity. This process increases accountability, to someextent combating the smokescreens.

· The accompaniment vastly strengthens the inter-national support felt by the threatened activists.

· The “first-hand witness” effect strengthens thecredibility of the local activists, their organizationsand the overall international effort to protect them.As a constant reminder that there is still a problem,it also confronts the state’s buffer strategies, as it isharder for the state to claim it is solving the prob-lem itself.

PBI volunteers inform the local police that they are accompanying members ofRATA, or Rehabilitation Action for Torture Victims Aceh.

In May, 2003, PBI brought officials from 12 embassies to Guerrero, Mexico,putting them in direct contact with local human rights organizations to heartheir stories.

· The presence of volunteers from many countries“in the line of fire” engages their embassies andhome governments more forcefully in human rightsprotection, strengthening the overall pressure ontop decision makers.

· When an attack or harassment happens despite PBI’spresence, PBI’s global emergency alert network im-mediately responds, with both high-level andgrassroots pressure, reminding decision makers thatthey cannot allow such “mistakes.”

10

Example: Colectivo de abogadosFor many years PBI as been accompanying lawyersfrom the Bogotá-based Lawyers Collective (Colectivode Abogados José Alvear Restrepo), one of the larg-est and most threatened professional human rightsorganizations in Colombia. This accompaniment some-times involves round-the-clock escorts, with volunteersfrom the PBI team taking turns with individual law-yers of the collective.

Individual accompaniment involves being constantlyready to move at someone else’s schedule, stayingdiscreetly “out of their business” while maintainingvisibility. Threats and attacks against human rightsdefenders in Colombia have been so merciless thatthey can affect every aspect of daily life.

ENCOURAGING CIVIL SOCIETY IN THE FACE OFREPRESSIONIn situations of widespread political repression or ter-ror, activists are not asking for accompaniment merelyto confront a personal fear or an immediate threat.They are confronting systemic policies of violence thatcan frighten whole populations into political paralysis.Deliberate political use of terror is as old as war itself.In this century, however, advances in the sciences ofweaponry, information control, mass media and psy-chology have facilitated the exercise of mass-scaleterror with a previously inconceivable efficiency. So-cial control is achieved by efficiently manipulating di-verse individual responses to danger and fear.

The goal of state terror is to keep people isolatedfrom each other. Civilian organizations are a threat toovercoming that isolation: Any organizing is empow-ering and, as such, confronts and questions the terrorsystem.

Cerezo siblings, with photos of their incarcerated brothers, who arebeing held in a Mexican prison. PBI has had a team in Mexicosince 2001, accompanying human rights activists who areconfronting a deeply ingrained national system of injustice andcorruption. Unfortunately, Mexico has succeeded in sustaining arelatively positive international image, making it a difficult challengeto focus international human rights attention on systemic abusesthere.

PBI volunteers planning with Indonesian activists.

Wherever Alirio travels, be it from home to work, to court,or to meetings around the city, he moves in a bulletproofcar, wears a bulletproof jacket and has a constant PBI pres-ence at his side…. One day we parked in the undergroundcar park of the 30-storey building in which his office islocated. “Do you mind if we walk up rather than take thelift?” he asked. “Its just that I never get any exercise thesedays—its simply too risky for me to go to the gym or thepark.” —James Savage, PBI Volunteer from the UK

Thank you for all this, thank you for these five years, thankyou for assuming the risk of living in this country, thankyou for the hope which you have made possible to build.— Danilo Rueda, Colombia

There are always people on the street corners spying onus to watch our movements. So when they see thatinternationals are physically entering our offices, this helpsus tremendously. —Aura Elena Farfan, Guatemalan Fami-lies of the Disappeared

PBI provides daily protection for Alirio Uribe of Colombianlawyers collective and winner of the prestigious Martin Ennalsaward for human rights defenders in 2003. “We receive this awardin the name of so many sacrificed human rights activists, to affirmthat terror has not, and will not, force us to yield in our efforts todefend the most precious values of humanity.” Alirio Uribe Munoz,March 31, 2003.

Side by Side 11

Terror is very efficient: You don’t need to kill every-one if you can paralyze the majority by only directlyattacking a minority. It is the audience that counts,with each victim advertising the state’s power to oth-ers. Torture, short of death, is an especially effectivetool for encouraging collective paralysis. Human rightsabuse is thus often a rational choice made by strate-gic thinkers. The techniques have been developedthrough a long history of military psychological opera-tions. To policymakers, terror may seem no more im-moral than other strategic choices in a war against anenemy. And, as with other military or strategic poli-cies, strategists study the successes and failures ofothers, perfecting the tools.

Nevertheless, even the most organized state terrorsystem cannot watch everyone, nor kill anyone at anytime it pleases. Surveillance is expensive and labor-intensive. Processing and interpreting all the data fromsurveillance is even more demanding, and intelligenceplanners frequently have more data than they caneffectively analyze. The state’s omnipotence is nevercomplete, but it wants people to think so, since thisbelief prompts a self-regulation of political activity.

The desired impact of repression, threats and intimi-dation is to diminish the range of action for civil soci-ety groups. People feel they have fewer tacticalchoices for public action that won’t result in retalia-tion. They may fear traveling outside the major cities.Their organizations suffer diminished participation—membership drops. And activists often suffer seriousmental health problems resulting from the stress ofconstant insecurity.

By providing encouragement to these activists andorganizations, protective accompaniment reduces thefear, reduces the stress and promotes increased par-ticipation and organizing. Activists and groups beginto choose tactics and actions theywould otherwise fear to try. Theytravel where they would otherwisefear to go. New members join theirorganizations who might otherwisestay away in fear. The sense of isola-tion that was inspired by fear is bro-ken by international solidarity.

Case study: Communitiesresisting war in ruralColombiaThe Colombian conflict has spawnedthe worst human rights situation inthe western hemisphere, with thou-sands of political murders annually andover 2 million internally displacedpeople. In the rural regions of Urabáand Chocó, Colombia, several commu-nities of displaced peasants have initi-ated a daring and inspiring strategy in

the face of armed conflict and repeated expulsionsfrom their land. With the support and solidarity ofnational and international NGOs they are creatingcommunities with a special commitment to resist anycollaboration with any of the several armed partiesthat terrorize the region, which include the military,multiple guerrilla organizations and the most brutalof all: paramilitary associations who collaborate withthe army. Some communities are called “peace com-munities,” others, “communities in resistance.” One,along the Cacarica River, calls itself a “Community ofSelf-determination, Dignity and Life.”

The essence of the strategies of these communities isto create a sense of unity and a disciplined responseto all the armed parties, and to back this up with na-tional and international strategies of solidarity andpressure in order to defend their right to a space freefrom military, paramilitary or guerrilla harassment.Peace Brigades International has provided steady ac-companiment in two of these communities for sev-

Abel Barrera collecting testimony on displacement and corruption, Mexico.

UK volunteer James Savage discussing protective measures with ahuman rights activist in Bogotá, Colombia.

12

eral years—San Jose de Apartadó andCacarica. The communities have faceda constant barrage of attacks and ha-rassment of different sorts, fromacross the armed spectrum, but mostlyfrom paramilitary groups aligned withthe army and the economic elites ofthe country. Paramilitaries have mur-dered many community members, andwhen terror did not succeed in scaringthe residents out of their peace strat-egy, the paramilitaries turned to eco-nomic strangulation, blockading accessroutes. This harassment has beenbacked up by a concerted public rela-tions smear campaign by the armyagainst the communities, labeling them“terrorists.”

In Cacarica, Peace Brigades has a smallhut where volunteers stay. Volunteerscan get there only by boat, and theyspend several days to a week at a timein the community before rotating out,returning to their home-base in thenearby city of Turbo when replaced byother volunteers. They stay abreast ofall political developments in the regionand in the community. Volunteers havesatellite phones, with which they canimmediately alert the rest of the or-ganization about any attack on thecommunity. On these phones they alsohave the home and mobile numbersof local police and military command-ers, of diplomatic allies and other au-thorities who will also be alerted themoment anything happens requiringa rapid response.

If a paramilitary incursion should oc-cur, for instance, PBI volunteers will beable to alert the international commu-nity literally within seconds. PBI’s teamin Bogotá can immediately contact keygovernmental and military officials aswell as allies in the diplomatic commu-nity to generate a rapid response. Theywill also immediately contact PBI’s of-fices around the world, and generatea strategic response on an interna-tional level if necessary. On numerousoccasions PBI has been able to put na-tional and international pressure onthe local military to react even whileparamilitaries were still carrying outtheir attacks or harassment.

Accompanying a community member to fields abandoned since last paramilitaryincursion.

PBI/USA Co-Director Andrew Miller in 1999 as a Colombia Projectvolunteer accompanying internally displaced communities in Choco.

PBI hut in Cacarica during flooding.

Side by Side 13

Leverage in actionSamples of international responses to support and protect the pres-

ence of PBI in the peace communities after governmental accusations

in 2004:

· A letter of concern to President Uribe signed by 60 members of the

U.S. Congress

· A delegation of embassy officials to Urabá, including from the U.S.,

British, Spanish, Canadian, Dutch and the United Nations.

· Numerous press releases by national and international NGOs

· Supportive articles in Colombian national newspapers

· A special meeting between the European diplomatic delegation and

Vice President Santos

· Public statements of support for PBI from UK government minister

Bill Rammell, as well as the French Ambassador

· A public communiqué by the European Union

· Public expression of concern by the Inter-American Commission on

Human Rights

· A motion of support before the Australian Senate

The war in this region has been intense, and it is anarea nearly completely controlled by right-wingparamilitaries, who have not relented in their harass-ment of the communities. So it is somewhat difficultto measure the protective impact of the presence.However, the fact that physical attacks against resi-dents reduced after the first years and theparamilitaries turned to more subtle economic tacticscould be a sign of the impact of PBI’s presence and thegenerally high level of international solidarity the com-munities received.

The harassment has also extended to PBI. In fact, in2003 and 2004, high-level military officials and Co-lombian President Alvaro Uribe himself issued a se-ries of controversial statements alleging links betweenthese communities, their international accompani-ment and guerrilla “terrorists.” President Uribe as-serted, “I reiterate to the police, if these [foreignhuman rights observers] continue to obstruct justice,put them in prison. If they have to be deported, de-port them.”

PBI organized a massive international response (seebox) demanding the retraction of these accusationsand insisting that the government assure the securityof the international presence.

PBI volunteers are considered almost members of thecommunity. The residents feel a strong sense of soli-darity from and towards PBI, whom they see showinga steadfast commitment to their struggle for dignity.They have expressed on numerous occasions how muchencouragement they get from PBI’s presence and howit strengthens them to carry on.

Frankly, we feel more comfortable if there is accompani-ment from PBI. We really need PBI on these trips. —KhairaniArifin, Koordinator Umum from RPuK, Aceh, Indonesia.

We accompanied the human rights organization on theirdrive…. We had the mayor of the town in our car and heshowed us where the ELN [guerrillas] had kidnapped him.We were stopped by paramilitaries on the way back, butbecause we were there they didn’t check committee mem-bers’ IDs cards. If we hadn’t been there I think that some-thing bad would have happened. The funny part is thatafter they said we could go our bus overheated and wecouldn’t leave. The paramilitaries helped us push the bus.—Kelli Corrigan, Canadian volunteer in Colombia

The volunteers who have had the opportunity to livein Cacarica and San Jose de Apartadó have beenchanged forever by the experience. They will neverforget the dedication, the creativity, the humility andthe courage of the people in these communities whoare standing up nonviolently to some of the most vi-cious paramilitary groups in the world. And the volun-teers are bringing this inspiration with them whenthey go back to their home country.

14

Encouragement, protection andpolitical space2The concept of political space is crucial to understand-ing how the incremental protection and encourage-ment provided by accompaniment interact with eachother. Each actor in a complex conflict situation,whether a soldier or a human rights activist, perceivesa broad array of possible political actions and associ-ates a certain cost/benefit or set of consequences witheach action. The actor perceives some consequencesas acceptable, some not acceptable, thereby definingthe limits of a distinct political space (see figure 4).

Accompaniment alters this mapping of political spacefor a threatened human rights activist (see figure 5).It shifts the borderline upward, expanding the spaceof political action available to the activist. The middleground is made up of actions which will no longer beattacked in an unbearable fashion. There are still ac-tions which will provoke unacceptable consequences,even with accompaniment.

The notion of “acceptable” consequences can be fluidover time and will vary greatly among individuals ororganizations. For some, the torture or death of afamily member might be the most unbearable conse-quence. For others a threshold might be crossed atthe first threats. An organization might be willing torisk the death of a member, but not the annihilationof the whole group.

Accompaniment tends to limit, or shrink, theaggressor’s options for violent or repressive action—which we will call “impunity space” (see figure 6).Again, there will still be actions whose consequencesare acceptable. As with the activist, so with the ag-gressor: The concept of “acceptable” is fluid and vari-able. One government official might be extremelysavvy and sensitive to international criticism, while anindependent death-squad leader might be more im-mune.

Accompaniment is effective, in figures 5 and 6, in thegray zone. If the aggressor’s ability to attack has beensignificantly limited, the presence is a real protection.If the activists can carry out significant political activi-ties that otherwise they would have avoided, thenthat accompaniment has encouraged the strength-ening and growth of a nonviolent civil society.

But no one knows where the borders are! This is thecritical complication, which requires an expansion ofour analysis. All actors are guessing about the pos-sible repercussions of their actions, and they all makemistakes. A dictator might not have attacked a cer-tain organization if he had known that this would at-tract greater diplomatic support to the organizationand increase its international profile and credibility.Meanwhile, the activists are also making mistakes: Ayoung factory worker may think it would be danger-ous to be an outspoken union leader. But she figuresthe odds are more in her favor if she is just a quietrank-and-file member. Then she’s dead. At the fac-tory next door, everyone is too scared to even talkabout unionizing. Yet maybe there would be no re-percussions at all. They don’t know. Nobody knows.Everyone learns by trial and error, and the errors arecostly.

People base their decisions on their own perceptionsand projections of what consequences they might suf-fer. These projections might be based on substantialhistorical or political analysis, on simple prejudices, onan emotional reaction to a past trauma, or on anynumber of other psychological factors. Graphically, thisuncertainty and the consequences on the impact ofaccompaniment is shown in figures 7 through 10.

In space A (figure 7) the activist unknowingly walksinto danger and suffers the consequences. In space B,fear has been instilled so effectively that the activistis inhibited from taking actions that are in fact rela-tively safe. In situations of state terrorism, this spacecan be huge: Nearly all political or social action isfeared; only passivity appears to have acceptable con-

Actions with Acceptable Costs

Actions with Unacceptable Costs

Each Actor’s Political Space

Effect of Accompaniment on Each Actor’s Political Space

Accompanied Actor’s Political Space

Aggressors’ Space for Repressive Action

Unacceptable Costs Unacceptable Costs

Acceptable Costs(Impunity)

Acceptable Costs

Effect of Accompaniment Effect of Accompaniment

FIGURE 4 FIGURE 5 FIGURE 6

Side by Side 15

sequences. The darker gray area, then, is really theonly political space that is truly “available” to theactivist. Space A is too dangerous, and space B hasbeen eliminated in the activist’s own mind.

Accompaniment expands this available space bypushing both the “real” and “perceived” bordersupwards (see figure 8). The actions in the dark grayshaded area are now available to the activists, butfor a variety of reasons. Actions in B2, for instance,were not dangerous in the first place: The activisthas simply overcome internalized inhibitions. Ac-companiment in this case functions as encourage-ment and not protection. Actions in A3 are nowsafer, but since the activists never saw them as un-acceptably dangerous the accompaniment here isserving as pure protection, not encouragement. Inarea F both encouragement and protection are act-ing together: The activist is encouraged to takenew action that was previously too dangerous andis now protected.

There is still fear: Area B still exists with accompa-niment. In fact, area B3 consists of additional ac-tions that are now relatively safe, but the activiststill does not trust in this safety. Finally, area A2represents the accompaniment volunteer’s night-mare: The activist believes these actions to be safernow, but in fact they are not. The activist may walkconfidently into danger because of the encourag-ing international presence.

The aggressor faces many different types of con-sequences for repressive action. Some are local, suchas increased unrest if the aggressor is a state, orincreased group loyalty or solidarity among the vic-tims. International pressure is just one factor. Otherperceived benefits might outweigh the costs. Get-ting rid of a troublesome activist, for instance, mightseem worth a short-term embarrassment. Thus,“unacceptable costs,” refers to the net effect ofall these factors. Again in figure 9, only the actionsin the darker gray area are truly available “impu-nity space.”

Protective accompaniment attempts to deter vio-lence and shrink this space (see figure 10) by mov-ing both lines downward, eliminating the dark grayzone from the available space for repressive ac-tion. In the case of the activist, we distinguishedbetween protection and encouragement; with theaggressor we speak of discouragement and deter-rence. The aggressor is discouraged from acting inarea D2, even though the real costs are accept-able. He overestimates the power of accompani-ment and becomes even more overcautious. In areaG we come the closest to real deterrence: The ac-companiment has raised the costs of repression;the aggressor recognizes this and holds back.

Unacceptable Costs

Acceptable Costs

Real Border

B: Inhibition

A:Unexpected

DangerPerc

eived Bo

rder

Activist‘s Political Space: Reality & Perception

Unacceptable Costs

Acceptable Costs(Impunity)

Real Border

D: Overcautioust

C:Unexpected

BlunderPerc

eived Bo

rder

Activist‘s Repressive Political Space: Reality & Perception

FIGURE 9

FIGURE 7

FIGURE 8

FIGURE 10

Aggressor’s Political Space: Reality and Perception

16

For me it was enacting a dream or a vision. I hadthought for a number of years doing accompa-niment work would be the highest expressionof solidarity with other people. To potentiallyput yourself at risk so another person could con-tinue to their human rights work… doing thatwas enacting a dream and that’s a pretty pow-erful thing to do. The whole time there wassome part of me that was just incredibly con-tent and happy about being there despite thechallenges and difficulties I encountered. —JohnKrone, Mexico project volunteer).

I now have a more comprehensive worldview,an increased confidence in my ability to effectchange at the local and global level, several long-term friendships and a much better awarenessof what it means to be a human rights lawyer ina developing country. I have deep admirationfor people who are putting their lives on theline for human rights in Colombia. As well, mytime with PBI showed me what a grassroots hu-man rights organization can do to further thestruggle for global human rights in a way that isnot demeaning—by working with the peopleinstead of on their behalf. —Sean Arthurs, Co-lombia project volunteer

The appreciation of the volunteers is unanimous,in particular their work capacity, their availabil-ity, their discretion and ability to adapt to diffi-cult work and living conditions and theirrespectful attitude towards the organizationsand communities they accompany. —Externalevaluation 20023

Sometimes, accompaniment helps the aggressor avoidmistakes. Thus, actions in area C2 are blunders withor without accompaniment, but the aggressor did notrecognize them as such until the accompaniment waspresent. While discouraging the aggressor’s “mis-take,” accompaniment is protecting the intended tar-get. From the standpoint of the activist, after all,repression by mistake is no less damaging.

Finally, returning to figure 10, the aggressor mightcommit a repressive act (area C3), and suffer unac-ceptable consequences because of accompaniment.In the immediate event, accompaniment has failed todeter, but over the course of time, such events shouldchange the aggressor’s perception of the availablespace. If he learns from his mistakes, the “perceived”line should move closer to the real line. The accompa-niment thus discourages future aggression. And themore severe the political cost, the greater the cred-ibility and success of future accompaniment.

Volunteers building a global move-mentPBI encourages volunteers from all over the world toget actively involved in peace and human rights work.The organization has chapters in 15 countries doingoutreach, recruiting volunteers and building networksof political pressure in each of their countries. Eightyor so people at any given time spend a year or moreworking on PBI teams in conflict zones in urban andrural areas. These volunteers are from many coun-tries and of many ages (though they are all at least 25years old).

On a given day in the life of a PBI accompanimentvolunteer, he or she might spend time meeting with ahuman rights defender to discuss risks and plans forfuture accompaniment, or escorting them to a meet-ing or on a trip or patiently sitting and waiting outsidean office while the activists are doing their daily rou-tine. The volunteer might have a meeting with repre-sentatives from the military, the government, thediplomatic community or other NGOs in the country.

He or she might spend it involved in an emergencyactivation of the organization’s international supportnetwork. Or it might be a day for writing reports,taking care of administrative duties or cleaning thehouse.

TRAINING FOR ACCOMPANIMENTPBI and other accompaniment organizations havebeen training volunteers for this service for over 20years, and a variety of models have been developed.PBI’s trainings are highly participatory: Volunteers gothrough a series of exercises and role-playing exer-cises to help them visualize the challenge they areconsidering and to help trainers gauge their prepared-ness. These trainings consider such criteria as commit-ment to nonviolence and human rights, capacity forintensive political analysis, understanding of the coun-try of the project, cautious judgment, patience andhumility, ability to work in a team under high stress,and more.

More detail on the criteria for selection of volunteersfor different PBI projects can be found on theorganization’s website, www.peacebrigades.org.

Mexico City sub-team, 2003.

Side by Side 17

Training for Change, a Philadelphia-based NGO cre-ated by veteran trainer George Lakey, has developeda comprehensive manual on training for this kind ofservice, encompassing a variety of techniques devel-oped over the years. The manual draws from a widevariety of training experiences, including some tech-niques from PBI trainings. It is a highly recommendedresource for those considering training for accompa-niment work: Opening Space for Democracy: Third-Party Nonviolent Intervention. Curriculum and TrainersManual, by Daniel Hunter and George Lakey, avail-able from Training for Change, peacelearn@igc.org.Website: www.TrainingForChange.org.

The Guatemala Accompaniment Program of NISGUA(described below) has also produced a publicly avail-able manual for accompaniers which has many usefulelements for understanding the preparation process.It can be found at www.nisgua.org.

COMING HOMEEach volunteer comes home with a story to tell andoften with an intense drive to continue serving thecause of human rights. They may be driven to followthe situations of the groups they had the privilege toaccompany. After doing accompaniment, you can nolonger see human rights abuses as far away statistics:Those people are your friends and they have givenyou something deeply important in your life.

Returned volunteers often get more deeply involvedin working in their own communities for justice, peaceand human rights. Each of them is a resource in his orher own community, a person with a unique first-handexperience from which others can learn and be in-spired. In fact, it is quite common for returned accom-paniment volunteers to make substantial changes intheir life plans and careers in order to sustain greaterlife-long commitment to service.

The expansion of a global movement for peace andhuman rights is an explicit piece of the accompani-ment tactic. The protection and encouragement thatlocal activists can get from accompaniment is directlycorrelated to the strength of the global network ofsolidarity that cares about them. Accompaniment vol-unteers not only represent this network on theground—they also strengthen it when they get home.

The loneliness of a typical day’s accompaniment.

This was one of the most difficult, challenging and rewarding experiences in

my life – and this remains true still to this day. —Peter Leblanc, USA

volunteer in Sri Lanka and Indonesia.

In general it was one of the best things I have ever done despite some of the

trials and tribulations I faced. Doing PBI in Colombia was a turning point

for me and helped me to decide to go to law school. —Kelli Corrigan,

Canadian volunteer in Colombia.

One of the highlights was during those moments when I could chat and

connect on a real human level with the people I was accompanying and send

a strong statement by my presence that I respected them and their work. I

respected them as conscious human beings who were trying to make the

world a better place. —John Krone, volunteer in Mexico.

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Discussion: Factors affecting theprotection functionAccompaniment cannot protect a targeted person inall situations. There are certain prerequisites and con-ditions that affect the potential protective impact.

First of all, there must be a clear source of threat. Youcannot strategize or leverage pressure on decisionmakers behind abuses unless you know whom to tar-get. And this is not always so simple. Threats are of-ten anonymous. Conflict dynamics can be complex,with more than two or three violent parties. An orga-nization or activist may have enemies in more thanone place. There is often a tendency to oversimplifyconflicts, assuming that one party is always the badguy, and anonymous threats can be too easily attrib-uted to the party that appears to be most likely. Or,there are cases where people operating within highly

charged political situations might nevertheless be re-ceiving threats that are not explicitly politically moti-vated. Communities sometimes have long-standingconflicts that may even precede the wars aroundthem. An accompaniment organization needs to havea highly developed capacity for conflict analysis and atrustworthy network of advisors who know the his-tory of the conflicts around them and can help parseout the sources of threats.

It is possible, of course, to choose to operate in situa-tions where you cannot get enough information aboutthe threats. An organization might take a calculatedrisk, hoping that whoever is responsible will be lesslikely to attack in the presence of witnesses. This doescertainly happen, in part because it is both psychologi-cally and politically extremely difficult to say no to aperson or group in need. Under such circumstances,though, an organization should have clear criteria foracceptable security risks and uncertainty levels. It isalso essential to be transparent with the groups be-ing accompanied: If you are going in only on hope andcommitment with insufficient understanding of thethreats, this should temper claims of protection.

Assuming, however, that you can identify the sourcewith a reasonable level of certainty, you next need tobe sure that the leadership making decisions aboutthese threats or abuses has some sensitivity to inter-national pressure, and you need to try to gauge howmuch. There is almost always some sensitivity, andthere is never total sensitivity. Even the most viciousand apparently autonomous armed actor in today’sworld is dependent on some kind of external supportor alliance, be it political, military or economic. Andthe most apparently sensitive government in theworld can have enemies it is willing to suffer seriouspolitical costs to get rid of. Gauging this sensitivityrequires not only a good domestic analysis of the con-flict, but also a capacity for analyzing transnationalconnections and external points of leverage.

If you identify a source of threat and sensitivity topressure, the next question is: Does your accompani-ment organization have the capacity to leverage suchpressure? And can you be sure that the abusing partyknows that you can do it? This is where having a strongnetwork of high-level contacts on both internationaland national levels is quite crucial. Having contactsand allies in governments internationally gives an ac-companiment organization the capacity to create pres-sure on a high level. Having contacts (even unfriendlyones) inside the government and military on theground ensures that they know that your organiza-tion has this leverage. By extension, the protectionprovided by accompaniment increases the more theorganization is able to make its presence and func-tion known all the way down the chain of commandfrom decision maker to perpetrator.

Suraya Kamaruddin. from Flower Aceh is accompanied to the airport. Suraya wasone of the most visible activists in Asia confronting violence against women. Shewas extremely threatened in Aceh, Indonesia, and asked for PBI accompanimentwhenever she traveled anywhere in Indonesia.

When U.S. PBI volunteer Phil Pardi was arrested along with Salva-

doran activists Gloria and Ernesto Zamora in August 1991, within a

few hours he got a visit from the U.S. Embassy. According to Phil:

Actually the first thing he said to me was, “Well, Phil, you’re very popular,

you ever think about running for the mayor of Cambridge, Massachusetts?

I think half the town of Cambridge has probably called me.” He was also

asking me why the people who were calling him knew Ernesto and Gloria.

That told me that the phone calls and the faxes were also about Ernesto and

Gloria. This embassy guy just wanted to get me out of there. He kept saying,

“Well, Phil, you’re just in the wrong place at the wrong time.” And I kept

saying, “No, I was in the right place at the right time.” But he just didn’t get

it. (Cited from Unarmed Bodyguards, p 181)

Side by Side 19

Factors affecting the encourage-ment functionNo activist or group is going to want accompanimentunless he or she is already committed to risking somelevel of public organizing. If that choice has alreadybeen made, then in order to benefit from the poten-tial confidence-boost of accompaniment, the activistor group needs to fully understand how accompani-ment works. It is vital that those who are accompa-nied recognize the power of accompaniment to protectthem, but that they don’t overestimate it! The en-couraging impact of accompaniment must be realis-tic—if not it can provoke excessive risk-taking andbackfire.

An accompaniment organization also needs to takecultural or social factors into account. There may betaboos or social costs associated with proximity to for-eigners in certain situations. There may be situationswhere the gender of the volunteer or the accompa-nied person affects whether the accompaniment willcreate a situation of trust or one of discomfort. Ac-companiment volunteers need a high degree of cul-tural sensitivity.

Trust is the magic word in situations of conflict andinsecurity. Threatened groups function with high lev-els of fear and suspicion. They may be facing govern-ments who infiltrate and spy on them. Suspicion is arational consequence of war and repression. Your lo-cal partners must not only want the accompaniment,they need to believe that your organization and theindividuals in it are trustworthy. Gaining people’s trustoften first happens through a step-by-step process ofword-of-mouth contact: Individuals and groups aremore willing to start trusting you if they know thatsomeone else they trust also trusts you. So it is quiteimportant to move slowly and make contacts withorganizations through people and groups you alreadyhave good relationships with.

Accompaniment volunteers have to sustain that trustby showing a high degree of self-discipline, sensitivityand humility. Loose lips sink ships, the saying goes. Anaccompaniment organization with volunteers who arenosy, rash, unable to maintain in confidence what theyoverhear or too intrusive into the lives or politics ofthose they accompany, will not be trusted. And if youare not sufficiently trusted, there is no encouragingimpact. On the contrary, mistrust causes a heightenedsense of insecurity.

Intensive accompaniment is personally and sociallystressful for threatened people. It is an intrusion intheir lives. Accompaniment volunteers should not ex-pect close friendships with those they accompany. Theyshould not expect to be included in their social or po-litical life. It may happen. But such inclusion may alsobe a serious burden to the accompanied activist, add-ing stress and diminishing the empowering impact ofthe presence.

Factors affecting the objective ofbuilding the movementThe strength of an organization’s global network is adirect factor in the level of protection and solidarity itcan offer, and an accompaniment organization needsto make choices based on a long-term goal of strength-ening that network.

But the multiple objectives of accompaniment canmake these choices difficult. Consider for instance theselection of volunteers. One set of criteria might maxi-mize the service that can be provided “on the ground”:things like self-discipline over curiosity and risk-tak-ing, patience, humility, capacity to go with the flow ofthe decisions of those you accompany, a high level ofpolitical analysis, a smooth capacity to work in a teamunder stress. When you look at what might maximizethe “movement-building” objective for volunteersupon their return, there are additional criteria: initia-tive to do local organizing, outgoing capacity to publi-cize the work, public speaking, media skills, fundraisingskills, etc. If you are lucky, you find a match for allthese criteria in each volunteer. But the practical real-ity is that every organization faces a limited recruit-ment pool and must make hard choices. If you don’tpay enough attention to on-the-ground skills, costlyand dangerous mistakes may be made that will af-fect people’s immediate safety as well as the longer-term reputation of the organization. And if you don’tpay enough attention to recruiting and developingmovement-building skills, your organization will losecrucial opportunities to grow and strengthen its inter-national protective network of support.

Another dilemma has to do with the relationship be-tween the scale of a presence—the number of volun-teers—and the selection criteria. There is always adesire to provide a high quality service by setting thestrictest possible selection criteria for field workersand volunteers. But the impact on building a globalmovement is increased if there are more field staffpassing through a project and returning home to sharetheir experience and participate in movement-build-ing and advocacy.

Similarly, the same quality-of-service pressure tendsto encourage longer stays in the field by volunteers.Longer stays take advantage of accumulated experi-ence and offer clients greater comfort and familiaritywith the volunteers. But with shorter stays, more fieldvolunteers would be returning home to do advocacyand movement-building. If a project sustains 20 peopleon the ground, the number of volunteers returninghome to do movement-building is inversely propor-tional to the length of stay. Some organizations havechosen to address this dilemma by having long-termteams while also allowing for the possibility of muchshorter volunteer stays (of a few months or less), orby organizing a program of “delegations” wherebymany people can spend short stays of two or three

20

weeks in the field, gaining a brief experi-ence that can still provide an importantresource for building grassroots supportwhen they return home.

The reason this kind of work has such pow-erful movement-building potential is be-cause the field experience changes people’slives, and it is very inspiring to hear aboutit. People with significant accompanimentexperience are “experts,” but also personalmodels that others admire. They have alot to offer.

Considering accompanimentin a new settingPBI is constantly receiving and exploringnew requests for accompaniment. For in-stance, in 2004 the organization is sendingan exploratory team to the conflict inNepal, responding to calls from local NGOsthere. Based on lessons learned from itsmany projects over the years, PBI has developed ex-plicit criteria and procedures for diagnosing requestsand deciding whether to set up new projects.

Protective accompaniment is also being used widelynow by other NGOs (see box next page). Each of theseorganizations has their own identity and mandate,different from PBI’s, and they adapt the accompani-ment into their broader missions.

Consider a country you know something about that isfacing conflict or systemic human rights abuse. Do youthink it would be possible to mount an effective pro-gram in protective accompaniment there? Such a di-agnosis involves a complex list of questions, including:

· Would local activists need and appreciate the pres-ence? Do they have other means of protection? Arethey isolated and in need of solidarity?

· What are the attitudes of the abusers toward in-ternational presence?

· Are abusers susceptible to international pressure?· How can you mount that pressure? Who has lever-

age with abusers?· Can you get into the country? Will you be thrown

out?· Is the international community interested in the situ-

ation? Would funds be available? Would personnelbe willing to take the risk? Would governments re-spond to crises witnessed by accompaniers?

· What criteria would limit personnel? Language? Cul-ture? Is this prohibitive or surmountable?

· What cultural factors need to be considered in thiscountry?

LARGE-SCALE INSTITUTIONS: “PRESENCE ASPROTECTION”What PBI’s work has demonstrated is that the veryfact of being present can have protective power ifused correctly. Some successful human rights moni-toring operations in UN peace missions have shownthis on a larger scale, such as MINUGUA in Guatemalaand ONUSAL in El Salvador. Larger-scale efforts mightgo beyond protection of individuals or groups and ac-tually have a pacifying impact on the dynamics of aconflict. The UN Office of the High Commissioner forHuman Rights has overseen large-scale monitoringoperations, although it may have much greater po-tential for such work. Other intergovernmental bod-ies, such as the Organization for Security andCooperation in Europe (in Bosnia and Kosovo) or theOrganization of American States (in Haiti) have alsoimplemented large unarmed presences. In addition,ad hoc intergovernmental coalitions have set up largemonitoring presences, for example in Sri Lanka (SriLanka Monitoring Mission), Palestine (Temporary In-ternational Presence in Hebron) and the Joint Moni-toring Mission in the Nuba Mountains, Sudan.4

The Geneva-based Centre for Humanitarian Dialogueis an NGO that has negotiated cease-fires in armedconflicts and sometimes overseen monitoring opera-tions. CHD is starting a systematic research project onthese experiences and planning a long-term advocacyprogram to persuade major international governmentorganizations to significantly increase their projectionof unarmed monitoring operations into conflict zonesas a means of protecting civilians.6

PBI monitoring a demonstration in Indonesia.

Side by Side 21

“PRESENCE AS PROTECTION” WITHIN OTHERKINDS OF FIELD MISSIONSIt is also possible to integrate the protective and en-couraging functions of accompaniment into otherkinds of organizational work in conflict zones. Humani-tarian relief operations, international medical orga-nizations, educational workers, representatives ofinter-governmental agencies and religious workersare all present in zones of conflict. Their primary mis-sion may not be protection as such but very often theirmandate might allow for a protection function, orthey may find themselves forced into security situa-tions in which protection of local people is their para-mount challenge.

Many other groups can also provide protection by theirpresence, even while carrying out other tasks. But the

impact of such a presence, both in terms of protectionand encouragement, can be amplified if these organi-zations take conscious steps to do so.

For instance, a relief or development operation mayserve a certain sector of the population. Threatenedcivil society groups may not be their direct partners,yet they will often be in close proximity to such groups.If such international groups make the effort to stayaware of the political threats facing various groupsaround them, they can go out of their way to makecontact now and then with these threatened groupsand individuals, offering what solidarity they can. Theycan pass information to the outside world about thesesituations of danger and put local groups in contactwith potential supporters outside the conflict.

Some Other Accompaniment ProjectsThe Guatemala Accompaniment Project is fielded by NISGUA (the National Organization in Solidarity with the People ofGuatemala, Washington, D.C.). The accompaniment their eight to ten volunteers offer is part of a broader advocacy mandate.NISGUA develops “sister communities” in North America who sponsor volunteers to live in their counterpart community inGuatemala, focusing on communities of returned refugees and those that are actively pursuing genocide cases against formermilitary leaders. NISGUA is actively involved in offering political and other support for the political initiatives of thesecommunities, and the sister community relationships strengthen the NISGUA constituency for political lobbying of the U.S.government to change its policies with respect to Guatemala.

The Nonviolent Peace Force sent a team of 11 volunteers to Sri Lanka in 2003, with hopes to expand. They are accompanyingvillages in all regions of the country during a delicate ceasefire and negotiation process between the Liberation Tigers of TamilEelam and the Sri Lankan Government. This is the Peace Force’s first field presence, but they have created a broad networkof support around the world for the ambitious long-range goal of creating the capacity to field multiple large-scale nonviolentfield missions around the world.

The Peace Force has only been in the field a short time, but they spent years in preparation before launching their Sri Lankapilot project, studying the lessons of other accompaniment groups to try to maximize the protection and encouragementimpact while avoiding as much as possible the learning-curve pitfalls that can hurt any first effort. The Peace Force is alsoapproaching the global movement-building objective in a different way than previous accompaniment initiatives: They havecreated a modified coalition structure—an organizational membership model through which dozens of organizations aroundthe world from both northern and southern countries can “join” their organization. Member organizations are expected tooffer political support, recruitment and resources, and can participate in Peace Force decision-making processes.

The Christian Peacemaker Teams, a U.S.-based project of the Mennonite, Brethren, and Quaker churches, has had a long-termpresence of volunteers in Hebron, Palestine, since the mid-1990s5. Volunteers do school accompaniment, they document thehuman rights situation, and they carry out nonviolence trainings. They make regular visits to Palestinian families involved inthe Campaign for Secure Dwellings, and offer solidarity to victims of home demolitions. CPT joins with Palestinian and Israelipeace groups to develop action campaigns that expose the human reality of the Israeli occupation. CPT’s accompaniment isspiritually-based and also involves creating inter-religious solidarity among Christians, Muslims and Jews.

The Ecumenical Accompaniment Project in Palestine and Israel is a project of the Geneva-based World Council of Churches,hosted by Christian and Orthodox Palestinian churches. EAPPI is part of broader program of solidarity and global advocacyof the World Council focused on the objective of ending the occupation. Since starting in August 2002, EAPPI has sent over60 accompaniers from 30 churches in eight countries. As of November 2003, there were 22 EAPPI accompaniers on theground in Palestine.

An important part of accompanying does not involve so much action, but rather being present in a community. Helping, protectingpeople just by being present at checkpoints, in communities touched by settlers violence and at gates on the separation wall. —EAPPIvolunteer.

22

Most international operations in a conflict zone alsohave some level of contact with authorities, the mili-tary or other armed groups. Often this contact is forthe purpose of securing access or passage. At othertimes such contact is unplanned, such as at roadblocksand the like. In any case, all international staff ofgroups working in conflict zones could benefit fromsome training in political sensitivity and diplomacy inorder to make the most of such contacts with poten-tially abusive parties. Those who commit human rightsabuse need to be reminded frequently that the inter-national community is paying attention to their be-havior. Such reminders can be polite, they can beindirect, they can come in many forms. Every organi-zation talking to a local commander or thug has theopportunity not only to get agreement to get theirparticular resources through to their projects, but alsoto send other more subtle messages that will sustainawareness on the part of the abusers that these in-ternational groups are also concerned about all thecivilians around them, and not merely their direct part-ners.

If more international organizations working in con-flict zones add the objective of civilian protection totheir mandates, other opportunities will arise formaximizing the protective impact of their presence.There are often people in organizations on the groundwho want to take more deliberate steps to respondto political threats against civilians around them, butfeel that their institutional mandate prevents themfrom doing anything so “political.” The more theseinstitutions embrace the uncertainty and risk of work-ing in conflict zones, and the moral necessity of a pro-tection commitment, the more such committedstaff-people will be able to take useful steps to helplocal groups in peril—including groups who may notbe their direct partners.

Accompaniment groups and others who already haveexperience trying to implement a protection mandatemay be able to offer training to help other groups’personnel develop the necessary habits and discourseto maximize the protective impact of their importantpresence on the ground.

ConclusionNew conflicts continue to erupt, and new requests foraccompaniment arise all over the world. But despitethe rapid growth of the human rights movement inrecent decades, most new accompaniment requestsgo unanswered. The international community has thusfar been unable to effectively marshal the necessaryresources and commitment to meet the needs.

Accompaniment extends the boundaries of what isknown as the international community beyond gov-ernments, beyond the UN, beyond the establishedhumanitarian agencies. Accompaniment has helpedconnect grassroots efforts for justice and human rightsaround the world with these larger international struc-tures. The volunteers are a living bridge betweenthreatened local activists and the outside world andalso between their own home communities and thereality of the global struggle for peace and humanrights.

These links may help overcome the seemingly impos-sible challenge of human rights protection. In the finalanalysis, the international community’s response tohuman rights abuses is not a question of resourcesbut one of hope and empowerment. Accompanimentvolunteers experience the rare privilege of standingat the side of some of the world’s most courageousand committed activists. This courage injects immea-surable energy into the international community’sefforts.

A request for human rights protection should neverfall on deaf ears. The international community needsto redefine what is possible. We can take the leadfrom these threatened activists who are asking forsupport. They do the impossible every day.

Side by Side 23

Useful ReferencesUnarmed Bodyguards: International Accompaniment for the Protection of Human Rights, Luis Enrique Eguren

and Liam Mahony, Kumarian Press, West Hartford, CT USA. 1997.Nonviolent Intervention Across Borders: A Recurrent Vision, ed. Yeshua Moser-Phuangsuwan and Thomas

Weber. Univ. of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI, USA, 2000.Opening Space for Democracy: Third-Party Nonviolent Intervention. Curriculum and Trainers Manual, by Daniel

Hunter and George Lakey, Training for Change, Philadelphia, PA. www.trainingforchange.org.“Unarmed Monitoring and Human Rights Field Presences: Civilian Protection and Conflict Prevention,” Liam

Mahony, August, 2003, Journal of Humanitarian Assistance, at www.jha.ac.“In Company of Fear,” 60-minute video, produced by Ark Films, Vancouver, Canada. Available from PBI-USA.

Organizational WebsitesPeace Brigades International: www.peacebrigades.org. Addresses for each national chapter also can be foundon this website.

Nonviolent Peace Force: www.nonviolentpeaceforce.orgEcumenical Accompaniment Project in Palestine and Israel: www.eappi.orgChristian Peacemaker Teams: www.cpt.orgGuatemala Accompaniment Project: www.nisgua.orgTraining for Change: www.trainingforchange.org

Endnotes1 For simplicity we will use the short-hand term “volunteer” when referring to the personnel doing accompaniment, as the majority oforganizations providing accompaniment do so with volunteers. The tactic could of course also be carried out by paid personnel, so thisterminology should not be considered exclusive of that option.

2 The analysis of this section is drawn from Unarmed Bodyguards: International Accompaniment for the Protection of Human Rights, LuisEnrique Eguren and Liam Mahony, Kumarian Press, 1997.

3 From a 2001 external evaluation of PBI’s Colombia Project by Cristine Iparraguirre and Javier Aguilar.

4 CPT also managed long-term projects in Haiti, starting in 1993, and currently sustains a presence in Colombia and Iraq as well. Theyhave also implemented shorter-term projects and delegations in Chechnya and other conflicts.

5 For more background on this idea, see Liam Mahony, “Unarmed Monitoring and Human Rights Field Presences: Civilian Protection andConflict Prevention,” August 2003, in the Journal of Humanitarian Assistance, at www.jha.ac, academic publications.

6 The author is lead researcher for CHD’s Unarmed Monitoring project and can be contacted at liammahony@comcast.net for moreinformation. More information about the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue can be found at www.hdcentre.org.

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