25 years of safeguarding theright to defend human rightsPeace Brigades International welcomes youto their 25th Anniversary and invites you tojoin us in celebrating the courage of thehuman rights defenders working for justiceand peace around the world.

We are paying tribute to the commitment ofthe men and women struggling on thefrontline for social justice, non-violence andrespect for human rights. In particular werecognise the bravery and remarkable workof women human rights defenders and therole they play in the struggle for change.

I’ve never before done a job that was asintense, challenging, absorbing andultimately satisfying as working with the PBIteam in Colombia. It brought me into contactwith Colombia’s bloodstained reality wherelife and death are everyday issues. But I wasconstantly inspired by the commitment andbravery of the Colombian human rightsactivists that I was accompanying – peoplewho are putting their lives on the line tomake changes.Tessa Mackenzie, ex-volunteer, Colombia

I get the opportunity to meet andwork with a wide range of interestingand inspiring people, and to see theworld from a completely differentangle.Helen Woodcock, ex-volunteer, Guatemala

PBI wishes to honour the many peoplewhom we have accompanied in ElSalvador, Haiti, East Timor, NativeAmerican communities in North America,the Balkans and Sri Lanka. At the sametime PBI also celebrates the indigenousorganisations, human rights defenders,lawyers, trade union leaders, women’sorganisations, peasant groups and otherpopular organisations which currentlywork under threat of violence and deathin Colombia, Guatemala, Indonesia,Mexico, Nepal and the DemocraticRepublic of Congo.

PBI recognise their exceptional courageand dedication and thank them for 25 years of inspiration.

Suraya Kamaruddin from Flower Aceh is accompanied to theairport. Suraya was one of the most visible activists in Asiaconfronting violence against women. She was extremelythreatened in Aceh, Indonesia, and asked for PBI accomp-animent whenever she travelled anywhere in the country.

Global pressureLocal impactPeace Brigades International was formed 25 years ago at Grindstone Island in Canada by a smallgroup of people who believed that the course of history could be changed and had thedetermination to do something about it.

In the spirit of Quaker non-violence and Mahatma Ghandi’s Shanti Sena (Peace Brigades), PBI’swork involves peace education and security workshops, observation and analysis of the conflictand protective accompaniment of individuals, organisations and communities working underthreat of violence.

PBI is non-partisan and does not interfere in the workor lives of the local people they protect. Crucially,PBI only becomes involved upon request fromindividuals and organisations working for thedevelopment of human rights and social justice in anon-violent way.

Solidarity and support for grassroots groups isprovided by the physical presence of our volunteersbacked up by a broad international emergencynetwork. Members from 16 countries in Europe, NorthAmerica and the Pacific play a vital part in PBI’sstrategy to deter violence and to promote active non-violence.

International support reinforces the work done byhuman rights defenders while exposing the dangers and risks which they face. This creates a safetynet enabling them to carry out their work.

The willingness of PBI volunteers to risk their own safety by shadowing human rights defenderswhose lives are in danger has won them a place in the hearts of the people they accompany.Accompaniment missions often involve volunteers travelling, eating, and breathing with theiraccompanied companions.

This gives them a rare insight into the daily lives of communities and cultures and a good look atthe world from a very different angle. It can be an inspiring, humbling, enlightening, and veryintense experience for the PBI volunteer.

A quarter century is a bittersweet anniversary for PBI. This is a propitious opportunity tocelebrate the people who have worked with and supported PBI in the past. But it is with mixedemotions that we recognise the fact that after 25 years, we are receiving more requests foraccompaniment than ever before.

PBI’s volunteers literally embody inthemselves the expression ofinternational concern and support forhuman rights defenders on the frontline. Their courage and selflessnessexpress the highest ideals in the defenceof human rights… Those who calmlyand knowingly put their lives at risk toprotect others should be recognisedmore than ever.Hans Thoolen, Chair of the Martin Ennals Foundation In 2001 Peace Brigades International was a recipient of theMartin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders.

Strengthening the internationalhuman rights movement

Protective accompaniment opens a space forhuman rights defenders to work in bypushing back the boundary where threats ofviolence, both real and perceived areencountered.

It also provides these individuals andorganisations with moral support and thereassurance of international solidarity. This isthe second element with leads directly to thethird; the confidence to continue their workof growing and supporting a non-violent civilsociety.

These combined factors strengthen theinternational movement for peace andhuman rights.

That is why the work that Peace BrigadesInternational is doing is so important. It is avery concrete initiative by individuals fromall over the world, regardless of their way ofthinking or their political or culturalaffiliation, to promote human rights in aconcrete situation, by working for the peoplewhere accompaniment and solidarity aremost needed.Anders Kompas, Director of the Office of the United Nations High Commissionerfor human rights

PBI represents a unique model fordemonstrating international solidarity in Colombia.Mr Gilbert Boss, Dutch ambassador to Colombia

By accompanying the human rightsdefender, a PBI volunteer is able to help inthree mutually supporting ways.

First of all the physical presence of aninternational witness protects threatenedactivists by creating awareness of them andof any potential threat they face.

PBI offices around the world can generate arapid international response by contactingkey government and military officials, alliesin the diplomatic community and membersof our international support network.

Aggression, violence and terror hinder thevoices of civil society by making people fearthat their actions will meet severeconsequences.

Empowering female humanrights defendersWomen human rights defenders (WHRD) work topromote and protect everyone’s human rights as wellas women’s rights.

However they face gender related risks ofharassment, abuse and marginalisation by both stateand non-state oppressors. This could include threatsagainst their families and communities.

Because of the barriers facing women they requirethe greatest support so that their voices can be heardand recognised.

The UN Special Representative on Human RightsDefenders has designated the support and protectionof women HRDs as one of her four priority areas.

In the city of Barrancabermeja, the Colombian PopularWomen’sOrganization(OrganizaciónFemeninaPopular, OFP)actively worksto protect therights ofwomen in anareatraditionallycontrolled byparamilitarygroups.

OFP memberscarry outessential workraisingawareness ofthe impact ofmilitarisationon society andempower poorwomen todenounce anyviolations oftheir humanrights.

President of OFP Yolanda Becerra has recentlyreceived death threats allegedly from army-backedparamilitaries operating in the city ofBarrancabermeja.

We’ve cried many times but we’ve also laughed manytimes when we managed to escape death’s clutches.We’ve been capable of escaping the grasps of atotalitarian model that threatens individual andcollective rights every day.Yolanda Becerra, Popular Women’s Organisation,Barrancabermeja (Colombia)

I have decided to do this for the organisations and formy family. I want justice to be done. I wantaccompaniment from PBI because it helps me a lot toknow that I am not alone, that there are people in othercountries that are interested in my situation, in theproblems that indigenous peoples face. Obtilia Eugenio Manuel Organisation of the Indigenous Me’phaa People

Popular Women’s Organisation (OFP) in Barrancabermeja, Colombia.

Obtilia Eugenio Manuel, Mexico from the Organisation of theMe’Phaa Indigenous People (OPIM) accompanied by PBI volunteer.

Their work investigating the alleged raping of womenby the military in 1997 triggered death threats,surveillance, harassment and intimidation.

An anonymous death threat was sent to Mrs Manuel’shome, saying: “you’ve got it coming, and we’re goingto give it to you; did you forget what you said. Youkeep hitting us hard with your lies about the rape ofValentina and Ines. We are going to give it to you hard.You will rest in peace very soon. Your house is beingwatched night and day.”

Supporting grassrootsorganisations In all the countries where PBI has a presence,grassroots organisations have formed to seek truthand justice. PBI accompanies many of theseincluding prisoners of conscience, families of thedisappeared and victims’ movements.

Members of the National Coordination ofGuatemalan widows (CONAVIGUA) have beeninvolved since the 1980s in the exhumation ofclandestine cemeteries from the “dirty war” period.This dangerous and difficult work is an essentialphase in the process of recovering historicalmemory and working for justice in Guatemala.

There are always people on the street cornersspying on us to watch our movements. Sowhen they see that internationals arephysically entering our offices, this helps ustremendously. Aura Elena Farfari, Guatemalan Families ofthe Disappeared (FAMDEGUA)

PBI volunteer accompanying Panchita in Bogotá, Colombiafrom the Association of the Families of the Detained and theDisappeared (ASFADDES).

An exhumation of the disappeared inGuatemala: Indigenous woman mourningover the grave of her loved one

Resisting displacement

More than 3 million people have been internallydisplaced in Colombia over the last 10 years. Familieswho have been displaced from their lands areresisting the violent conflict by purposefully nottaking sides and refusing to have dealings with anyarmed groups. They want to build a peaceful futurefor the children.

Cacarica communities were forcibly displaced in 1997after paramilitary troops allegedly operating togetherwith government forces entered the region. In amerciless incursion they killed dozens of inhabitantsand forcebly displaced 3,800 people. In 2000 thecommunities returned to their land and in 2001 therewas a second incursion. After this attack the CacaricaCommunity of Life and Dignity (CAVIDA) createdhumanitarian zones to prevent further attacks againstthem based on the principle of distinction betweencombatants and noncombatants.

Since their displacement in 1997 more than 80members of the Cacarica community have beenassassinated or disappeared. PBI volunteers maintain aprotective presence in the community along withComision Intereclesial de Justicia y Paz (the Inter-Church Justice and Peace Commission) who providesthem with vital humanitarian, legal and psychologicalsupport.

To speak of the importance of Peace BrigadesInternational’s presence [in Colombia] over the last fiveyears is to speak of the possibility of life. Attacks andthreats have come up against the solid wall which PeaceBrigades International has become in the region. Thedeath sentences against each and every one of us havenot been carried out, only because we are not alone,because we have Peace Brigades International’saccompaniment and unconditional defence.Danilo Rueda, Inter-Church Justice and Peace Commission, Colombia

[In Colombia] the presence of internationalpersonnel, such as… Peace BrigadesInternational, has served to provide protectionto civilians at risk in outlying areas.Dr. Francis Deng, Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General on Internally Displaced Persons

PBI volunteerwith sisterCeciliaNaranjo fromComisiónIntereclesialde Justicia yPaz (the Inter-ChurchJustice andPeaceCommission)in theCacarica,river, Chocó,Colombia.

PBI volunteer with the children of the Cacarica (Cavida)community, Colombia.

Protecting lawyers workingon key cases The Human Rights lawyers that PBI accompanies playa vital role in the struggle for recognition of humanrights around the world, bringing to court some of themost important cases of massacres, extra-judicialkillings and disappearances. Women lawyers workingon theses cases receive gender related threats. Oftentheir families become targets.

Human rights lawyer Kopila Adhikari works forAdvocacy Forum against illegal detention and extra-judicial killings, in Kathmandu, Nepal.

PBI accompanies Advocacy Forum, an organisationthat during a five-year period (July 2001 to April 2006)documented 5682 cases of human rights violationsfocusing on extra-judicial killings, forceddisappearances, torture, rape of women; and illegaldetention committed by the state security forces andthe Maoists. The founder of the organisation, MandiraSharma, received Human Rights Watch’s highesthonour in 2006.

Soraya Gutierrez is a lawyer. She suffers threatsand intimidation on a daily basis. Earlier thisyear she received a package containing a dollwith its head torn off, covered with red nailpolish resembling blood and a cross drawn onthe torso. A handwritten note was sent with thedoll, reading “You have a very beautiful family -take care of them, don’t sacrifice them.” Manyother lawyers in Colombia have had attempts ontheir lives, been tortured, disappeared andmurdered. Soraya Gutierrez, President of theJosé Alvear Restrepo Lawyers Collective (Ccajar),faces a level of threat that requires dailyaccompaniment by PBI.

Kopila Adhikari Human rights lawyer inAdvocacy Forum working against illegaldetentions and extra-judicial killings, inKathmandu, Nepal.

Soraya Gutierrez, Lawyer and one of thefounders of the Lawyers Collective of JoseAlvear Restrepo (Ccajar). Ccajar is seekingto bring to justice some of the worstmassacres in Colombia.

Exposing environmentalabusesThe violation of human rights, the destruction of theforests and the resulting likely extinction of manywild animals by the palm oil companies in South EastAsia is well known and documented. Less well knownis the deforestation and violent displacement of Afro-Colombian communities linked to illegal palm oilcrops exploitation in Colombia.

The industrial cultivation of palm oil cash crops hascaused displacement for the largely Afro-Colombiancommunities and jeopardise environmental protectionin the region, the second largest bio-diverse region inthe world. Afro-Colombian communities originallybased in the Curvaradó and Jiguamiandó river basinshave been victims of 111 assassinations and forceddisappearances. Orlando Valencia, a renownedcommunity leader who had publicly denounced theplantations was allegedly assassinated byparamilitaries on 15 October 2005. PBI has beenproviding protection to leaders of the community andto Colombian NGOs playing a major advisory andadvocacy role in denouncing the illegal cultivation ofAfrican palm in collective territories in the Chocóregion (Medio Atrato River). They have sufferedcontinuous intimidation and threats and attribute theircurrent level of risk to the very public role they havetaken in denouncing the situation.

Girl amidst the environmental destruction inChocó, Colombia. Destruction of the rain forestis being caused mainly by logging and palm oil companies.

PBI volunteers accompanying Inter-Church Justice andPeace Commission (CIJP) and the communities fromthe “Humanitarian Zones” of the collectively ownedterritories of Jiguamiandó, Colombia.

Upholding indigenous rights

Land concentration and the lack ofacknowledgment of ancestral land rights is oneof the main problems affecting indigenouspeople. PBI accompanies indigenous peoplesat risk as they fight for social, cultural andeconomic rights.

Dominga Vazquez is the first femaleindigenous mayor of Sololá, Guatemala. She isa prominent member of the indigenous rightsgroup FUNDAMAYA (Maya Foundation), whowas charged with acts of terrorism and anti-constitutional behaviour because she spokeout in opposition against the expansion ofmining in the Sololá region. Mrs Vásquez hasreceived anonymous threats by telephone. Inone the caller stated Mrs Vasquez would“suffer the consequences for having led [thisopposition]”. She was also warned to “becareful with what will happen to you”.

Indigenous peoples the world over continue to be amongthe most marginalised and dispossessed sectors ofsociety, the victims of perennial prejudice anddiscrimination.Louise Arbour, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

The work of PBI shows that the accompanimentof people who suffer from authoritarianism,intolerance and state violence is invaluable andnecessary, making the struggle for human rightsmore effective and the dream of democracy areality.Rigoberta Menchú, Guatemalan human rightsactivist, Nobel Peace Laureate and GoodwillPeace Ambassador for UNESCO

Dominga Vazquez,The Maya Foundation (Fundamaya)Guatemala, winner of the International Service HumanRights Award 2006.

Building tools for peace and securityIncreasingly civil society groups in addition to thosedirectly accompanied by PBI are asking for assistanceand training in techniques for building security, non-violence and peace.

In Aceh, Indonesia PBI continues to make a positivecontribution to the end of 30 years of armed conflict.

PBI’s work is focussed on meeting the increasingrequests for peace education by delivering trainingprogrammes and participatory workshops aimed atstrengthening and empowering civil society.

In partnership with Indonesian organisations anddrawing on local wisdom, methods and tools ofpeace-building, PBI continues to develop flexible andcreative peace education activities for people withlimited resources.

PBI works together with local facilitators to developstrong networks and to build local capacity for conflicttransformation in various segments of society,including religious and traditional leaders, youth,women’s groups, human right’s activists andauthorities.

In Nepal and the Democratic Republic of Congo, PBIis providing security training programmes to localactivists. The aim is to help human rights defendersdevelop coherent and effective strategies in order tostrengthen their ability to protect themselves andothers.

Workshops on topics such as evaluating threats,dealing with fear and building security strategieshave been attended by human rights defenders andjournalists as well as other international NGOsworking in areas of conflict.

Participants in a PBI workshop on Security in the DemocraticRepublic of the Congo.

Participatory PBI Peace Education Workshop inIndonesia.