Tactics story
Learning skills to defend rights, Mexico

Tactic: Build skills

The Network of Community Human Rights Defenders trains indigenous community members nominated by poor rural communities to monitor and defend their human rights. They are trained in human rights and in practical skills, such as photography and computer use.

When violations occur, they collect testimonies, gather video and photo evidence, present complaints to the government and inform the press and human rights monitoring groups. They also seek the release of people unjustly detained and know how to file a request for precautionary measures when human rights violations are imminent. Their experience demonstrates that marginalised communities can get involved in defending their own rights.

Source: New Tactics in Human Rights, www.newtactics.org