New Tactics in Human Rights: A Resource for Practitioners

Introduction by Justice Richard J. Goldstone

[A]ll around the world and at all levels, in small villages and in national governments as well as at the highest levels of international justice, people are creating and using innovative tactics to make their work more effective. The New Tactics in Human Rights Project captures these tactical innovations and shares them with others striving to advance human rights. I invite you to join me in celebrating this work and in making use of the valuable resource you now hold in your hands.

– Justice Richard J. Goldstone Justice of the Constitutional Court of South Africa, retired Chief Prosecutor of the UN International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda Chairperson of the International Independent Inquiry on Kosovo Chairperson of the International Task Force on Terrorism established by the International Bar Association

In reflecting on my own area of work, I have seen new opportunities for obtaining justice arise for victims of the gravest human rights abuses. The establishment of the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, which were the first war crimes courts to be created with the full weight of international opinion behind them, opened new doors for justice. The international teams working on the tribunals, people from dozens of countries, were doing something that had never been attempted before – making new law, setting new precedents, handing down indictments that did not look like indictments that had ever been handed down before in any country. Together a new tactic was created, one that paved the way for another, even more powerful tactic, the International Crimi-nal Court. This court could now provide a tool to achieve justice no matter where or by whom crimes against humanity are perpetrated. (read more)

All sections of New Tactics in Human Rights: A Resource for Practitioners are available to download for free on this page.
New Tactics in Human Rights: A Resource for Practitioners

The Center for Victims of Torture
http://www.cvt.org/
New Tactics in Human Rights
http://www.newtactics.org/