International Attention and the Protection of Human Rights Defenders: Campaigning for Agents of Change [Paperback]

This book uses a practice-driven and empirically founded approach to address the question of whether and how international attention can protect and enable domestic human rights activists in authoritarian settings. It examines the untold origin story of the human rights defender term and its uptake among international advocacy organizations, which coalesced with the rise of a theory of human rights change centered around the support for local actors.

Rich with analyses of original qualitative and quantitative data, the author spells out this theory of change and tests its assumptions in two case studies: the individual casework of the UN special procedures, and the case of Tunisia under Ben Ali.

This book is of key interest to scholars and students of human rights, of the United Nations, and more broadly of international relations and politics in general, and to practitioners working with human rights defenders at risk.

Introduction  Part I: The Human Rights Defender in International Politics  1. A Short History of the Human Rights Defender  2. Unpacking the Human Rights Defender Theory of Change  Part II: Can UN Attention Protect Human Rights Defenders?  3. What Do the UNs Independent Eyes and Ears See and Hear?  4. Making a Difference: The Protective Effect of UN Casework  Part III: Defenders Protection and Human Rights Change in Tunisia  5. The International Protection of Tunisian Defenders under Ben Ali  6. Translating Protection into Human Rights Change for Tunisia  Conclusion

This book uses a practice-driven and empirically founded approach to address the question of whether and how international attention can protect and enable domestic human rights activists in authoritarian settings.

Janikal“(