Indigenous Peoples Human Rights Defenders Field Handbook on Human Rights Documentation and Advocacy

This handbook provides comprehensive step-by-step instructions on how to document human rights violations, particularly indigenous peoples’ collective rights, and use the data gathered for advocacy.

The concern for documentation or conducting fact-finding activities related to human rights violations has intensified due to the increasing cases of human rights violations and aggression committed against indigenous peoples, individually and/or as a community. These violations range from the violations of individual rights and collective rights, such as harassment/ intimidation to extrajudicial killings, from vilification of individuals to forced relocation of communities. Seeking redress for these violations to entails the presentation of complete, credible, reliable, accurate and verifiable data on the human rights violations. These data will facilitate greater awareness, attention and actions to resolve the case and improve the situation of victims and hold duty-bearers accountable.