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Asamblea Permanente de derechos Humanos de Bolivia

Founded in 1976, APDHB has grown into one of the reference human rights organisations in Bolivia. It was established by representatives of various churches and religious leaders one of whom was later assassinated under the regime of Garcia Mesa for his consistent defence of the rights of the Bolivian people. APDHB has been engaged in the launching of legal processes against various dictators and notorious violators of human rights. It has, for example, successfully run legal cases against ex-president Garcia Mesa and against the paramilitaries under the Banzer regime. The first one resulted in a verdict of 30 years imprisonment, making this a unique successful case of condemnation of an ex-dictator. Next to litigation and the legal support to human rights defenders, APDH's work comprises of human rights policy advocacy; for the signing, ratification and implementation by the Bolivian state of regional and international human rights treaties and protocols; denunciations of torture and other human rights violations; human rights education; and the forging of solidarity in the fight for the upholding of human rights.
Based in La Paz, APDHB has branches and assemblies in all the nine departments of the country, two of which (Santa Cruz and Pando) are still in establishment, five district and tenths of local assemblies. Being an association with more than 200 members, much of its work is done by volunteering activists and persons committed to human rights. APDHB's prominence in the area of human rights advocacy is reflected in its participation in the National Council for Human Rights and in several national platforms and campaigns for legal and policy reforms, including those contra discrimination, racism and impunity. In conducting advocacy on those areas, it leads the lobby at the UN system and the European Union.
Hivos cooperates with APDHB on a project basis, and started to do so by support for a legal process against the perpetrators of the Pando massacre in 2008.

Type of organisation	Membership organisation
Sector	Human Rights & Democratisation
Country	Bolivia
Founded	1976
Hivos partner since	2009

Justice for the victims of Pando, 2009-2011

DAC-sectors:	Legal and judicial development Human rights
Location:	La Paz
Beneficiary:	refugees, victims of persecution
activity	Legal charge, preparation and court process
Direct outreach	100 - Policy level/ institutional
Indirect outreach	500 - Policy level/ institutional
activity	Human rights awareness raising and education
Direct outreach	3000 - Policy level/ public opinion
Indirect outreach	10000 - Policy level/ public opinion
activity	Investigations, evidence collection and forensic surveys
Direct outreach	200 - Intermediary level
Indirect outreach	300 - Policy level/ institutional
activity	Strengthening the victims' organisation and solidarity with them
Direct outreach	300 - Intermediary level
Indirect outreach	5000 - Beneficiaries: poor and/or marginalised women and men
Contract total:	218.932
Contractperiod:	20-08-2009 until 19-08-2011

Description:
The project is centred around a major legal case against the perpetrators of and intellectual actors behind the massacre of Pando on the 11th of September 2008, which resulted in 18 deaths, an unrecognized number of disappearances and numerous injuries. To coordinate and run the case, and to implement the accompanying information campaigns and mobilization of victims as well as the public at large, APDHB has formed a comittee, the Comite Impulsor, together with the Association of Families of the Detained, Disappeared and Martyrs for National Liberation ASOFAMD, and the human rights organisation CBDHHD. The legal charge, formally submitted by the massacre's victims, is directed in the country's capital as to underscore its national significance and enhance its effectiveness. The mobilization of wide solidarity with the victims is key to the project and is realized through the set up of a support structure in Cobija and Riberalta, the formation of a Support Committee at the national level and the organisation of solidarity events and regional meetings with people from all walks of life, including citizens organisations, academics, trade and farmers unions etc. The legal charge needs to be elaborated with testimonies and other evidence, for which investigation has to take place. Forensic surveys may have to take place when the disvovery of new graves urge the conduct of exhumations. Legally, the process is led by three lawyers whom are recruited by APDHB for the project. Along the process, they can count with advice and support from a group of (other) professional lawyers. To provide the victims with legal assistance, a specific commission of young lawyers is formed. The information campaign is realized through the dissemination of a monthly bulletin, leaflets, radio broadcasting and special informative events, directed at specific audiences, including the farmers communities in Pando, and the public at large. The project is expected to result in a solid and well-argued charge which runs in the court. Two years will not be sufficient to reach a favourable verdict. But the mobilization of the victims and the public campaign will have resulted in a strengthened victims' organisation and a strong public support for the case. The set up and significance of the project must be understood in the politically extremely polarized situation in the country and the fallacies in the judicial system.

Description:

The project is centred around a major legal case against the perpetrators of and intellectual actors behind the massacre of Pando on the 11th of September 2008, which resulted in 18 deaths, an unrecognized number of disappearances and numerous injuries. To coordinate and run the case, and to implement the accompanying information campaigns and mobilization of victims as well as the public at large, APDHB has formed a comittee, the Comite Impulsor, together with the Association of Families of the Detained, Disappeared and Martyrs for National Liberation ASOFAMD, and the human rights organisation CBDHHD. The legal charge, formally submitted by the massacre's victims, is directed in the country's capital as to underscore its national significance and enhance its effectiveness. The mobilization of wide solidarity with the victims is key to the project and is realized through the set up of a support structure in Cobija and Riberalta, the formation of a Support Committee at the national level and the organisation of solidarity events and regional meetings with people from all walks of life, including citizens organisations, academics, trade and farmers unions etc. The legal charge needs to be elaborated with testimonies and other evidence, for which investigation has to take place. Forensic surveys may have to take place when the disvovery of new graves urge the conduct of exhumations.
Legally, the process is led by three lawyers whom are recruited by APDHB for the project. Along the process, they can count with advice and support from a group of (other) professional lawyers. To provide the victims with legal assistance, a specific commission of young lawyers is formed. The information campaign is realized through the dissemination of a monthly bulletin, leaflets, radio broadcasting and special informative events, directed at specific audiences, including the farmers communities in Pando, and the public at large. The project is expected to result in a solid and well-argued charge which runs in the court. Two years will not be sufficient to reach a favourable verdict. But the mobilization of the victims and the public campaign will have resulted in a strengthened victims' organisation and a strong public support for the case. The set up and significance of the project must be understood in the politically extremely polarized situation in the country and the fallacies in the judicial system.

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