Capacity Building

International Rights Advocates promotes human rights and corporate accountability through legal advocacy and capacity building.  Our legal advocacy most often takes the form of supporting litigation under the Alien Tort Statute (ATS), the Torture Victim Protection Act (TVPA), and state law. For more information on our legal advocacy, see Our Cases.

Our capacity building takes many forms, including coordinating with local partners who pursue advocacy initiatives at the local, regional, and international levels.  As leaders in the fight to end impunity for human rights abuses, IRAdvocates uses the skills it is has developed in bringing large-scale human rights cases in the United States to assist local partners in ways that are culturally and regionally appropriate.

IRAdvocates’ capacity building also includes hosting trainings on such topics as evidence gathering, the corroboration of evidence and ensuring accuracy of fact-gathering; developing and presenting persuasive cases; exploring the importance of confidentiality in community-based settings; forming client relationships; and advancing new advocacy initiatives that challenge and expand laws at the local, regional, and international levels. 

In addition, IRAdvocates works closely with partner organizations who serve as liaisons between U.S. counsel and foreign clients who often living in remote areas of Latin America and Africa. Local partners are able share their knowledge and skills to assist U.S. counsel in understanding the dynamics of their client relationships. IRAdvocates, in return, coaches and mentors local partners as they investigate claims, corroborate facts, and gather evidence to aid litigation.