* Content * Last Page * Next Page * 3.3 International Federation for Human Rights/Fédération Internationale des Ligues des Droit de l´Homme (FIDH) www.fidh.org 3.3.1 General evaluation of the organisation 3.3.1.1 Substantive content The International Federation for Human Rights has been in existence since 1922, when 20 national human rights leagues founded it under the motto of´Peace for human rights´ (88). As a federation of nationally based human rights organisations, it has shown monotonic growth with a total of 64 member organisations in 1993, 89 in 1995, 106 in 1997, and 116 in 2001. The current total 116 member organisations are located in 90 countries around the world. Its International Secretariat is in Paris and it has shown linear growth in the number of permanent staff over the 1990s with only 2 in 1990, 10 in 1995, 19 in 1997, and 21 in 2001. It now has 27 permanent members of staff and expects to appoint new posts in the coming year to bring the total to 36 by the end of 2003 (89). The mandate of FIDH is ´to act effectively and practically to ensure the respect of all the rights laid down in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and in all other international human rights instruments´ (90). Since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, there has been a proliferation of international human rights law that has resulted in new international treaties on human rights for civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights, as well as specific treaties on the rights of racial and ethnic minorities, women, and children. At the regional level, treaties have established human rights mechanisms in Europe, the Americas, and Africa. In addition, 2002 saw the establishment of the International Criminal Court after the Rome Statute came into force. FIDH uses all aspects of this emerging international human rights regime to bring about the protection and respect for all human rights articulated in these various treaties. It thus has a very broad mandate. The member organisations that comprise the federation ´must operate on a non-partisan, secular basis´, which is independent from national governments, while they are obliged to have a general mandate ´to promote all human rights´ (91). Beyond the main aim of promoting the respect for all human rights, FIDH works to put an end to the violation of fundamental rights and freedoms, obtain effective improvements in the protection of victims, the prevention of human rights violations and the prosecution of those who are responsible for those violations. FIDH has either consultative or observer status with the Economic and Social Council in the UN (ECOSOC), UNESCO, the Council of Europe (CoE), African Commission for Human and Peoples´ Rights, the Organisation internationale de la francophonie, and the International Labour Organisation (ILO). In addition, it is in regular contact with the European Union (EU), the Organisation for Security and Co- operation in Europe (OSCE), the Organisation of American States (OAS), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the World Trade Organisation (WTO), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank (IBRD), and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). 3.3.1.2 Main activities and output FIDH seeks to realise its aims and objectives through a series of main activities and output. In general it mobilizes the community of states, prevents violations, supports civil society, and observes and alerts the global community about rights violations through information and denunciation campaigns. It carries out these activities through a variety of methods, including international advocacy, legal interventions on behalf of victims of violations, lobbying inter-governmental organisations, legal cooperation programmes, and other partnerships for carrying out specific forms ofaction (92). Beyond these general activities, FIDH has the following three main programmes: (1) the Observatory for Human Rights Defenders, (2) International Justice, (3) Globalization and Human Rights. The Obervatory for Human Rights Defenders was set up in 1996 and is jointly run by FIDH and OMCT, which is evaluated separately in section 3.3.4. The Programme on International Justice draws on FIDH´s long-standing commitment to establish an International Criminal Court, which was made initially in 1927, but had gained increasing importance in the 1950s, owing to FIDH´s lobbying efforts to establish a permanent judicial body to complement the Tokyo and Nuremberg military tribunals. From 1997, the programme helped lobby and contribute to the drafting of the Rome Statute that has now come into force (93), and since 1999 it has been actively involved in the Preparatory Commissions for the ICC (94). The Hague has yet to find sufficient space for the Assembly of State Parties, and FIDH continues to operate in the New York meetings for the ICC. FIDH will open an office in The Hague to work on all aspects of support for victims and to help create a realistic view of the ICC. Through the programme, FIDH has contributed to the ad hoc tribunals for Rwanda (ICTR) and the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) by providing information, eyewitness accounts and expertise (95). The programme pursues the notion of ´universal jurisdiction´ and fights the ability for international crimes to be brought to justice before national courts. An example of FIDH involvement in court involved the April dilution of Belgium´s Law on Universal Jurisdiction surrounding Jan Fermon's case on behalf of Iraqi plaintiffs against General Tommy Franks of the US Military for committing crimes against humanity in the execution of Operation Iraqi Freedom (96). FIDH sees such universal jurisdiction as natural complement to the jurisdiction of the ICC and the ad hoc tribunals. The programme carries out training activities on international justice, and during the evaluation period, it carried out training in Dakar (1999), Bogotá (2000), and Casablanca (2001) (97). The third main area of activity is in globalisation and human rights. FIDH actively advocates for the justiciability of economic, social, and cultural rights all of which they argue are under threat from processes of economic globalization. FIDH contributed to the formulation of a collective complaints mechanism as part of the European Social Charter, and it is working toward establishing a similar mechanism for the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (IESCR) (98). In addition to these legal challenges, the programme seeks to make IFIs and other economic bodies more open and accountable, and has published position papers on the WTO and the World Bank (99). In the area of business and human rights, FIDH formed a partnership in 2000 with the Carrefour group in bringing about greater respect for human rights in all aspects of the corporation´s activities. In particular, FIDH works to improve the work conditions in which Carrefour operates (100). In 2001, FIDH launched an ethical savings fund, ´Libertés et Solidarités, which is comprised of 80% bonds and 20% shares in companies that meet FIDH´s set of ethical criteria. 3.3.1.3 Management and structure FIDH is a large federated organisation with 116 member organisations that meet as a group every three years. At this meeting, the member organisations either grant affiliation to new members or exclude members that no longer meet the mandate requirements of FIDH. The members elect the International Board, which is comprised of a president, a treasurer, fifteen vice-presidents and five secretaries- general. The International Board meets three times a year and board members work in the field helping to define strategies and oversee their implementation. In March 2001, the International Board adopted the 'Principes de fonctionnement interne', which create geographic and thematic teams; an organisational innovation that helped strengthen internal democracy, involvement of member-organisations, the capacity of FIDH to adapt to the needs of its local partners, and monitor the capacity of all activities. In addition, honorary presidents have consultative status in the International Board. The Executive Board meets once a month and is comprised of a president, a treasurer, and five secretaries-general. The Executive Board is responsible for the day-to-day management of FIDH and is consulted by the International Secretariat and member organisations for strategic decisions. The International Secretariat implements the decisions of the International Board and the Executive Board and maintains all correspondence with member organisations. The International Secretariat is comprised of separate sections on Management (two staff), Administration (five staff), Research and Operations (ten regional and specific programme officers), Permanent Delegations (EU and UN Geneva), and Communication and Development (five staff). All the staff meet every two weeks and file written progress reports on all aspects of their work, including progress, setbacks, funding, missions, etc. FIDH provided an in-house and confidential copy of these reports that were evaluated in situ. In general, they present a thorough documentation of micro-management within the International Secretariat and demonstrate good mechanisms for feedback, reflection, and monitoring of all activities. (88) FIDH (2002) Facts for Taking Action, Paris: FIDH, Euro RSCG Publishing, and Valpaco, p. 6. (89) Internal data generated by FIDH and web-site information (www.fidh.org). (90) FIDH (2002) Facts for Taking Action, Paris: FIDH, Euro RSCG Publishing, and Valpaco, p. 7. (91) FIDH (2002) Facts for Taking Action, Paris: FIDH, Euro RSCG Publishing, and Valpaco, p. 7. (92) FIDH (2002) Annual Report of Activities: General Overview for 2001; FIDH (2001) Annual Report of Activities: General Overview for 2000; FIDH (2000) Annual Report of Activities: General Overview for 1999; FIDH (1999) Annual Report of Activities: General Overview for 1998. (93) FIDH has been very critical of the US position with regard to the ICC. See FIDH (2002)´No to American Exceptionalism: Under Cover of the War Against Terrorism, a Destructive US Offensive Against the ICC´, Position Paper Number 8 International Criminal Court (ICC), Paris. (94) FIDH (1999) CPI: le temps est l™allé des bourreaux, Paris; FIDH (2000) CPI: La Commission préparatoire à mi-chemin, Paris; FIDH (2000) Preparatory Commission for the International Criminal Court, Paris; FIDH (2001) Guaranteeing an Independent International Criminal Court, Paris; FIDH (2001) Loi française d´adaptation - enjeux et tabous, Paris. (95) FIDH (2002) Facts for Taking Action, Paris: FIDH, Euro RSCG Publishing, and Valpaco, p. 18. (96) www.bbc.co.uk accessed on 30 April 2003. (97) FIDH (2002) Facts for Taking Action, Paris: FIDH, Euro RSCG Publishing, and Valpaco, p. 19. (98) FIDH (2002) Facts for Taking Action, Paris: FIDH, Euro RSCG Publishing, and Valpaco, p. 21. (99) FIDH (1999) The WTO and Human Rights: An Equation to be Resolved, Paris; FIDH (2001) The WTO and Human Rights: For the Primacy of Human Rights, For the Creation of an NGO Consultative Status, Paris; FIDH (2002) The World Bank and Human Rights, Paris. (100) FIDH (2001) Annual Report of Activities: General Overview for 2001, Paris, pp. 24-25; FIDH (n.d.) Human Rights and Corporations: Accountability at the Crossroads, Video tape recording of FIDH surprise visit to a Carrefour supplier, Paris. * Content * Last Page * Next Page *