Litigation, Advocacy and Training

Litigation, Advocacy and Training

KHRP has pioneered the strategic use of international human rights mechanisms as a means to tackle human rights abuse. With our Legal Team, we continue to represent a huge number of victims and survivors of extra-judicial killings, 'disappearances', torture, unfair trials, censorship and other human rights abuses.
By doing so, not only do we find redress for the victims and their families, but we also create a culture of compliance among authorities and awareness among communities of their human rights under international law.
The success of our work also depends on maintaining close strategic links with other NGOs working within and outside the regions. We regularly attend strategy meetings with our partners, either with regards to the implementation of specific projects with which we are involved, or as part of broader discussions about the advancement of new mechanisms for human rights advocacy as a whole.
It is also our belief that protecting human rights is dependent upon the development of an independent and indigenous human rights culture in the Kurdish regions, and the capacity for human rights enforcement. KHRP has therefore developed a coherent programme of regional training seminars for the transferral of skills and capacity building among human rights defenders and advocates in the regions.

KHRP's successes are built upon an understanding of the need for an independent and comprehensive capacity for monitoring human rights abuses in the regions. During our 15 years as an organisation, we have dispatched numerous expert fact-finding missions to the regions, investigating issues ranging from media freedom to environmental rights and the civilian impact of war and regional instability. We have also pioneered a trial observation model that has been used internationally by other organisations.
Coupled with extensive desk research, these missions form the basis of our extensive publications, which are available both in printed and downloadable form.
KHRP's independence and reputation for high quality analysis make us the first port of call for policy and decision makers, journalists, academics and civil society organisations seeking updates about human rights and conflict in the Kurdish regions.
Informed discussion is imperative now as much as ever, at a time when Turkey's accession bid to the EU on the one hand, and the continued threat of regional conflict on the other constitute significant opportunities and risks to the overall human rights situation in the Kurdish regions.