SweFOR´s international accompaniment programme in Latinamerica

We have been running our international accompaniment programme – Programa Servicio para la Paz – in Latin America for over thirty years. Through the use of the methods preventive presence, observation and international accompaniment, we want to amplify and protect the scope for action that local human rights defenders have to work towards creating a sustainable peace. By working hand-in-hand with local civil society actors who share our nonviolent tradition and method of working, SweFOR aims to promote a sustainable peace based on human rights.

What does the programme do?

Thanks to having run our international accompaniment programme for over thirty years, SweFOR has extensive experience in providing support to human rights defenders, and thereby safeguarding and amplifying their scope to act to continue to advance the construction of peace.

SweFOR’s peace observers and specialist staff are present in countries with a history of ongoing violent conflicts, where they accompany human rights defenders, who often threatened, harassed and attacked. Our presence aims to bring protection and support to these human rights defenders, who are often being threatened, harassed, abused and attacked because of the work they do.

Our physical accompaniment and observation are often centred on being present at specific moments, such as during trips, meetings, protests and court proceeding, that could generate risks for local human rights defenders. By accompanying and being present with them we manifest, in a concrete manner, that the international community is present and observing, thereby decreasing the level of risk.

We also support human rights defenders through advocacy and strategic communication, for example by meeting with national authorities and international organs, and by bringing public attention to the work they do and the risks they face. Through the advocacy and communication work we do, we want to showcase that the work that the actors we accompany conduct and highlight that it is legal, legitimate and that it is the state’s obligation to protect them.  Moreover, as part of our observation and communication work, we also we gather and share information about certain emblematic human rights defence cases.

Furthermore, we want to strengthen human rights defender´s capacity of self-protection as part of allowing them to continue the work they do in the face of the risks they face. We do this through workshops where we focus on context-based risk analysis and nonviolent methods of protection.

What is international accompaniment and how does SweFOR operate?

International accompaniment is based on an nonviolent methodology of peace promotion called proactive presence.

The methodology, and consequently SweFOR’s work, is based on the key principles of nonviolence, impartiality, solidarity, non-discrimination and noninterference. In practice it means that:

• Our accompaniment is always based on a request from the local human rights actors and is adapted to the local context.
• We only accompany actors who share our nonviolent means and methods
• We are impartial in the conflict, but not neutral in relation to violations of human rights and international humanitarian law.
• We do not interfere in the internal affairs of the actors we accompany
• We maintain a differential and gender conscious approach in all the work we do, meaning we seek to recognise and address the specific needs, vulnerabilities, and rights of different population groups (e.g., women, children, ethnic minorities, people with disabilities).

Organisation

Currently our international accompaniment programme consist of projects in Guatemala, Colombia and Mexico. The programme regional office is located in Bogotá, where the management and specialist functions for the programme is based.