Guidelines for Field Reporting of Basic Human Rights Violations

Abstract

In recent decades, many governments around the world have engaged in the widespread violation of basic human rights of their peoples by the practices of killing, disappearances, physical and psychological torture, arbitrary detention, and exile. Such practices, particularly prevalent under undemocratic and repressive military regimes of Third World countries, involve varying degrees of state participation, from active violations by state officials to passive failure to protect citizens from the actions of private or paramilitary groups. In an effort to stop these practices, national and international groups opposed to human rights abuses have mounted a variety of campaigns of documentation, publicity, and protection.' The work of national human rights groups has been shaped by the particular political conditions in the countries where they operate and has, therefore, resulted in the development of various methods of human rights documentation. This lack of uniform standards for human rights reporting