Index of Human Rights, Conflict Resolution and Nonprofit Sector Reports

Almost all of the reports featured on our website are indexed here. Many of the reports are linked to their full text, but for information on studies that are not linked, please contact us. 

 

Resources

Congressional Research Service Issues Report on Material Support Laws

in
Date: 
August 16, 2010

A July 19, 2010 report entitled Terrorist Material Support: An Overview of 18 USC 2339A and 2339B, by the Congressional Research Service offers a descriptive summary of the material support laws, the procedural history of the Holder v. Humanitarian Law Project case, and the process under which an organization is designated as terrorist by the U.S. Department of State. There is notably no discussion of the U.S. Department of Treasury’s authority to designate an organization or individual pursuant to Executive Order 13224 – an authority frequently invoked to designate organizations and entities. The footnotes cited in the report offer a valuable roadmap of cases involving charges of material support to terrorism, a subsection of which include unsuccessful constitutional challenges to the validity of 2339B.

Abduction Management Tools for Aid Workers

in
Date: 
June 1, 2010

Resources for managing security concerns and risks for aid workers operating in dangerous environments. 

  • The May 2010 report, Security Risk Management: NGO Approach, provides the user with tools to identify and assess the NGO's operational context (activities and the security realities), evaluate the problem (risk analysis), and identify solutions (Mitigation Measures) to accomplish its mission of enabling operations while ensuring the safety and security of NGO personnel, assets, and programs. It is produced by InterAction Security Unit.
     
  • Abduction of aid workers has risen sharply in particular contexts in the past decade.  The May 2010 EISF Briefing Paper Abduction Management explores the dimensions of effective, proactive abduction and kidnapping response mechanisms.

  • On May 11, 2010, a Harvard sponsored seminar titled, Security on Mission: How to Survive a Kidnapping, addressed the prevention and mitigation of kidnapping. The event explored the causes, risks, and consequences of kidnapping for humanitarian professionals working in some of the world’s most dangerous areas. 

Handbook Targets Reducing Corruption of Aid Delivery

in
Date: 
June 1, 2010

Aimed at humanitarian assistance stakeholders working on the front lines of aid delivery, Preventing Corruption in Humanitarian Operations: A Handbook of Good Practices is a practical guide to help eliminate corruption in day-to-day operations and deliver more aid to those who need it most. The Handbook, produced by Transparency International, offers a catalogue of best practice tools for preventing and identifying corruption in humanitarian operations, including ways to track resources, confront extortion and detect aid diversion.

UPDATED: Compliance Toolkit Aims to Inform and Protect UK Charities

in
Date: 
May 28, 2010

An online toolkit was launched on Nov. 10, 2009 to help United Kingdom trustees protect their charities from harm and abuse. Produced by the UK Charity Commission, the first chapter from the Compliance Toolkit: Protecting charities from harm provides information about relevant terrorism laws, identifies risks from terrorism or other financial crimes and encourages best practices of self monitoring for charities.  The remaining sections will be released in 2010 and 2011.  

Peacebuilding Toolkit Offers Practical Advice for Mediators

in
Date: 
May 17, 2010

The United States Institute for Peace (USIP), in partnership with the United Nations Mediation Support Unit, has developed a series of best practices handbooks on mediation and peacebuilding. Each handbook focuses on a specific facet of the mediator's trade, offering real world examples and practical guidance from experienced conflict mediation practitioners from around the world. The toolkit is designed to be a valuable resource for professional peacebuilders, mediators, policymakers and students.

Film: Profiling Prejudice in National Security Measures

in
Date: 
May 17, 2010

An April 2010 documentary focuses on discriminatory profiling conducted by U.S. government officials in the name of national security. Americans on Hold: Profiling Prejudice and National Security, is a film based on a 2007 report by the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice at the NYU School of Law.  It describes the barriers that many Muslims, Arabs, South Asians and Middle Easterners encounter while applying to become a U.S. citizen. Both the film and report examine the uphill process of becoming a U.S. citizen that contributes to the weakening of political engagement by immigrant communities.

A Hungry Child Knows No Politics: 2008 ACS Report Calls for Reform of Material Support Laws

in
Date: 
April 23, 2010
Author: 
Suraj K. Sazawal

A June 2008 Issue Brief from the American Constitution Society outlines the unintended consequence of the “material support” laws that impede, and in some cases, entirely prevent, the distribution of critical humanitarian assistance in certain areas of the world. Recounting his personal experience in Sri Lanka immediately after the tsunami of December 2004, Ahilan Arulanantham, director of immigrant rights and national security for the ACLU of Southern California, demonstrates how the material support laws can undermine relief efforts. 

Additional Congressional Oversight Needed on Intelligence Sharing

in
Date: 
April 9, 2010

Ensuring proper intelligence storage and dissemination to law enforcement agencies is a complex process. As fusion centers become increasingly more integrated into the intelligence sharing process, a March 2010 report recommends additional Congressional oversight over these matters.

Book: Countering the Politics of Fear

in
Date: 
April 1, 2010

Countering the Politics of Fear features a collection of first-hand accounts of individuals and groups fighting against the repression and suppression of civil society and human rights. Written by Frank van Lierde, and distributed by the Dutch development agency, Cordaid, Countering the Politics of Fear examines myriad conflicts, and the affects they have on civil society, in Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East. 

Law Review Article Calls 2004 Intelligence and Anti-Terrorism Law a Failure

in
Date: 
March 31, 2010

“Enhanced intelligence and greater military and police forces alone cannot completely prevent or eradicate terrorism,” concludes an essay from the Spring 2010 Yale Law & Policy Review.  Are We Safer From Terrorism? No—But We Can Be characterizes the2004 Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act (IRTPA) as a failure.