How do I deal with community security issues?

 

Contents List:

 

What community security issues could affect me?

Physical security threats and how to address them

Dealing with other hostile tactics by adversaries

 

 

 

What community security issues could affect me?

 

When communities and their advocates challenge powerful economic and political actors, they can face very real physical, social, legal, and financial threats.  Defendants do not always “play fair” and let their cases play out in the courts according to the rules; rather they may try to abuse their position of wealth and influence to threaten, overwhelm, or otherwise upset the case against them through both legal and extra-legal tactics.

 

 

 

Physical security threats and how to address them

 

Physical security threats and how to address them

 

• Community activists and advocates may come under physical security threats as a result of their work.  These threats can include, for example, actual armed attacks, threatening phone calls and other communications, and intimidating shadowing or surveillance.  Threats can come from companies and other economic actors whose interests are threatened by a lawsuit or other legal action, government officials that wish to stop the legal action, or even other community members who are opposed for financial, ideological, or other reasons.

 

• Security experts agree that the first crucial step toward managing security risks is to undertake a mapping analaysis that identifies potential threats, sources of support, and other influences that relate to a community’s particular objectives.  You should know whom you can go to – both locally and internationally – if you face a threat, and under which circumstances.  A more complete description of this type of analysis can be found in Chapter 1 of the Frontline Defenders Protection Manual for Human Rights Defenders.

 

• This mapping exercise should feed into a more complete risk analysis, in which you compare the threats you face and the vulnerabilities of your own community or organization with your capacity (internal and external) to handle those threats.  (See Chapters 2 and 3 of the FD Manual.)

 

• Finally, you should use the results of the risk analysis to prepare a security strategy and plan for the key spaces in which you operate.  This may involve physical security strengthening for your office and home; it may also involve plans to regularly update or touch base with key supporters to keep them informed of possible threats.  Based on the threats you have identified, your priorities, and your vulnerabilities, you may choose to shift your activities in some areas, seek to build up alliances, obtain better technology that may better shield your activities, and/or change the way you communicate and travel.

 

• One key aspect of physical security for communities and advocates involved in human rights defense is the possibility of seeking international solidarity.  A number of governments – such as the European Union – and non-governmental organizations – such as Amnesty International, Frontline Defenders, and the Asian Human Rights Commission – offer support and accompaniment to human rights defenders who are threatened by physical violence or intimidation.  This can take the form of letters written to authorities and other public advocacy, visits to affected areas, physical accompaniment to court hearings or other events, or – in the extreme case – assistance for threatened persons to leave the country.  Having these sorts of contacts could provide some level of security or assurance in case threat or attack; however, in some contexts, communities and adovcates conclude that they are in fact better off not being associated with foreigners or the international community.

 

 

 

Dealing with other hostile tactics by adversaries

 

Dealing with other hostile tactics by adversaries

 

• Powerful and well-connected adversaries often respond to communities and advocates that challenge their interests by means that are more subtle than physical threats.  Communities should be aware of these tactics and seek the resources necessary to defend against them.

 

Defendants in lawsuits may seek to discourage their opponents by filing retaliatory legal actions against the plaintiffs – for example, charging the plaintiffs with defamation, trespass, or conspiracy.  These lawsuits, often referred to as SLAPPs (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation), can exhaust plaintiffs’ resources, force anonymous plaintiffs to reveal themselves, and expose them to potential financial liability that they likely cannot afford.  Many U.S. states have anti-SLAPP statutes that are intended to help SLAPP victims, but most countries do not.  If your lawsuit may provoke a SLAPP, you should seek legal advice prior to filing and line up legal defense in advance if possible.

 

Similarly, defendants may engage in dilatory tactics within the plaintiffs’ litigation.  For example, they may file multiple, repetitive motions or requests, taking advantage of their superior resources to swamp the plaintiffs in paperwork.  Or they may seek marginally relevant, mandatory disclosure of information from the plaintiffs in an effort to intimidate the plaintiffs and uncover personal information that they can then use against the plaitniffs.  Plaintiffs and their counsel should thus be well aware of these aggressive tactics and the procedural options open to them to in order to quash attempts to “drown them in paper.”

 

Defendants may seek to win their case in the media by attacking their opponents and spreading untrue rumors about them.  While many communities and advocates may not care much about their public image, such attacks – if left unaddressed – can drive away supporters and weaken an advocacy campaign.  Communities should develop their own media strategy if possible in order to counter this tactic.

 

Defendants may try to infilitrate community opponents or advocacy groups in order to gather information on their strategies, spread dissension and division, or merely to break the trust that holds together a unified group.  Communities and advocates should choose their advisers, consultants, and new hires carefully; have extensive up-front discussions to clarify their aims and objectives; and consider contingency plans if they learn that their information security has been compromised.

 

Defendants may also seek to corrupt the system in order to protect their interests, either by bribing judges or by prevailing on legislators and other officials corruptly to change the laws.  Advocates should be vigilant for the appearance of corruption and seek to use both the media and any criminal or administrative remedies to root out public bribery.  For example, many Latin American countries have judicial commissions that are charged with removing corrupt judges.