Tactic case studies provide first-person, detailed information on the use of a tactic and how it may be adapted to other situations.
The authors -- from diverse walks of life and human rights issue areas -- recount their personal experiences in these detailed tactical notebooks. Although their backgrounds and situations differ, all used innovative tactics to help address an urgent human rights situation. Read these case studies to learn how a tactic was actually implemented, what factors influenced its use, and the challenges that surfaced along the way. We hope these examples of how tactics were used in sometimes dangerous, real-life situations will help you think tactically, to consider adapting these tactics to your own context, and adding these tactics to your own tactical repertoire.
Unemployment is a significant issue in Jordan, with the Department of Statistics reporting an unemployment rate of 24.7% in the fourth quarter of 2021. Youth unemployment, in particular, was even higher, reaching 47.3% for individuals aged 15 to 24.
Since 2003, Iraq has suffered devasting conflict and insecurity. The country witnessed large-scale violence caused by the terrorist group Da’esh, also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS). From June 2014, ISIS launched a genocidal campaign against ethno-religious minorities in Iraq. The targeted violence sought to erase the presence of religious minorities in Iraq altogether, and particularly the Yazidis. ISIS decried the Yazidis as devil-worshippers. ISIS executed those who refused religious conversion.
Iraqi Al-Firdaws Society was founded in 2004 in Basra. (It was officially registered with the Organizations Department according to the Iraqi Civil Society Organizations Law No.
The Association of Medicine Students and Interns (Associa-Med) focuses on human rights, health and humanitarian issues, outreach activities and equipping medical students with the tools necessary to their future careers and as leaders in society. Members of the Standing Committee on Human Rights and Peace (SCORP) within Associa-Med attended New Tactics in Human Rights’ Strategic Effectiveness Method training and subsequently developed an advocacy campaign focused on protecting endangered children by reinforcing the need for doctors to report abuse cases.
The United States’ use of torture and cruelty in post-9/11 counterterrorism operations spurred U.S. human rights and civil liberties organizations to form powerful coalitions that fought for a reversal of this misguided policy. The New Tactics in Human Rights Strategic Effectiveness method was one tool used to by these groups to collectively move their work forward.
Women for Women’s Human Rights (WWHR)-New Ways in Turkey gained the support and use of government resources for furthering human rights education of women at the local level. WWHR-New Ways developed a highly successful human rights education curriculum for women. They developed a partnership with government run, local level community centers, these community centers offered not only professional social workers who could be trained by WWHR-New Ways in facilitating the human rights education curriculum, but also a safe and accessible place for women to learn about their rights.
The Advocactes for Human Rights (formerly known as the Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights) uses traditional human rights monitoring methods to document human rights abuses. The group has also made a practice of adapting this methodology to emerging human rights issues. Minnesota Advocates has identified and developed practical and sustainable strategies for adapting human rights monitoring methods to address domestic violence (in Eastern Europe and the U.S.), child survival (in Mexico, Uganda and the U.S.) and transitional justice (in Peru).
Human rights activists as well as the museum community can make effective use of the spatial impact of historic sites to help educate people about social change and human rights. The Tenement Museum in New York City has joined with more than a dozen other institutions that have focused their attention on “sites of conscience”—places where terrible human rights abuse has occurred that should never be forgotten. Their goal is not only to remember the past, but also to use the emotional power of these places to catalyze critical thinking about the ongoing social issues of today, through dialogue and educational activities.
When the Canadian government refused to make public draft documents in their negotiations over the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas, Operation SalAMI organized hundreds of citizens to show up holding “Search and Rescue Warrants” for the release of these draft documents. The government responded by arresting one hundred citizens for requesting their right to information.
Find resources to support your human rights work.