We especially invite submissions from representatives of peace groups -
defined as organizations working to prevent, resolve, transform, or manage
conflict - and human rights organizations in troubled regions of the world.
Submissions are welcome from any country where human security is threatened
by ongoing internal conflict resulting from ethnic, political, religious and
other forms of inter-group tensions, resource wars, flows of refugees and
internally displaced persons, troubled states, collapsed regimes, etc.

Peace efforts create important opportunities for dialogue, organizing and
action on a range of human rights issues that can ultimately advance the
struggle for human rights in countries suffering internal conflict. Peace
and human rights groups share the goal of establishing a stable environment
within which human dignity and fundamental freedoms are respected. However,
opinions vary on the role of human rights actors and issues in arriving at
and maintaining such a stable environment. When and how should human rights
be integrated into peace efforts?

The wide variety of organizations engaged in peace and human rights work
seem to have differing perspectives on how to best protect and promote human
rights, which rights to give priority to, and which strategies successfully
advance human rights and when to use them. For example, some argue that
demanding immediate justice for human rights abuses, seen by some as a
precondition for sustainable peace, can derail peace efforts. Others argue
that continued conflict only furthers human suffering and the denial of
basic needs and rights. Still others see a need to focus less on
denunciations for past and present abuses and more on building the
institutions that will prevent abuses and ensure justice in the future. No
matter what the issue, human rights absolutes are constantly challenged by
the realities on the ground. Difficult tradeoffs seem inevitable, and
therefore the need for greater dialogue and cooperation among human rights
and peace groups is essential.

The next issue of Dialogue seeks to provide an analysis of the relationship
between local peace groups and human rights groups in different contexts and
reveal the possibility for developing common goals and mutually enforcing
actions.

Successful essays should seek to address the following questions by
analyzing a concrete case/situation in the author's country that he or she
has first-hand knowledge of:

· What are the inherent contradictions between human rights and peace groups
in your particular context? What are the issues underlying the
contradictions? (Please provide readers with an overview on how established
human rights and peace groups are in your country and what their
relationship is to each other and to the government and/or conflicting
parties.)
· To what extent and how have efforts to overcome the conflict in your
country opened up opportunities for groups to advance the struggle for human
rights? How have human rights and peace organizations acted to take
advantage of these opportunities? (Please use at least one detailed,
concrete example of an opportunity for human rights action that arose, the
outcome and its human rights impact.)
· Has the peace process empowered people or institutions to better protect,
claim and defend basic rights in the future? (Again, please focus on a few
concrete examples.)
· Based on your organization's experience, what is the practical
significance of using the international human rights framework or human
rights norms for peace work?

Contributors should focus on sharing concrete experiences that shed light on
the relevance and legitimacy of applying the human rights framework to peace
efforts in their region of the world. The goal is to facilitate greater
collaboration among human rights and peace organizations, as part of an
overall strategy to overcome the barriers to greater popular legitimacy for
human rights.

Essays may wish to provide the following:
--A description of the nature of the relationship between local peace groups
and human rights groups in your country, taking into account:
--Their views on the human rights-related root causes of and solutions for
the conflict
--The relative priority they give to democratization, development, and rule
of law
--Their human rights-related goals and priorities. Namely, what part of the
international human rights framework is most relevant to their work?
--Their operational strategies, methods, approaches to protect and promote
human rights in the short and long-run

Your ideas on the operational implications of using the international human
rights framework for your organization's work.
--Specifically, if you do not use the human rights framework, why not?
--What discourages you from making, on the operational level, a connection
with human rights norms?
--What constraints exist? Please describe.
--Concrete recommendations or a description of best practices that could
inform a more transformative approach to guide the work of human rights and
peace groups in conflict situations.

Some contributors may also wish to focus their essays on whether the
conflict prevention/resolution/management strategies of the various
bilateral, multilateral and transnational actors working in your region
adequately reflect the priorities, concerns and needs of local organizations
and communities in conflict. Where do the priorities of different actors
diverge? Please use concrete examples to make your points.

We define human rights broadly to include social, economic and cultural
rights, and group as well as individual rights.

The Human Rights Dialogue is a regular publication of the Council's Human
Rights Initiative. Dialogue's 5000 readers include influential actors and
organizations throughout the world. Thousands more access the publication
through our website. (See below for a description of the Initiative and
http://www.cceia.org/themes/hrd.html for previous issues of Human Rights
Dialogue.)

Publication in Dialogue is competitive. All submissions should be in
English, no longer than 1200 words, and written in an engaging testimonial
yet analytical style. Where possible, contributors are encouraged to use
interviews to bring out local viewpoints and illustrative anecdotes. The
Carnegie Council pays an honorarium of US$100 for those essays chosen for
publication. Submissions for the Fall/Winter issue on human rights and peace
work are due by 17 September.

Authors whose submissions are selected for print must be prepared to respond
to edits and queries. Submissions that exceed the stated word length will,
due to space constraints, be shortened. The authors of selected essays will
be asked to provide us with a biography, contact details for the
organizations that they are affiliated with as well as for those mentioned
in their articles, and if possible a photograph of themselves. Please also
be prepared to provide photos or art to be considered for publication
alongside the article.

We encourage those planning to submit an essay to contact us about their
plans for their articles as soon as possible. Interested parties should
direct their inquiries to: Tonya Cook, [email protected], tel: 212-838-4120 or
fax: 212-752-2432.

ABOUT THE CARNEGIE COUNCIL AND THE HUMAN RIGHTS INITIATIVE

The Carnegie Council, based in New York City, is a nonpartisan, nonsectarian
organization dedicated to research and education at the intersection of
ethics and international affairs. The goal of the Carnegie Council's Human
Rights Initiative is to provide a vehicle for new voices to enter into the
international human rights debate, and thereby provoke innovative thinking
about human rights among actors in the international community.

The Carnegie Council's Human Rights Initiative was launched in 1993 and is
now in its second phase. The first phase, structured around a series of
workshops in Asia and the United States, provided topics for eleven issues
of Dialogue (See http://www.cceia.org/themes/hrd.html) and a
widely-reviewed edited volume The East Asian Challenge for Human Rights
(Cambridge University Press, 1999).

The second phase of the Initiative continues to engage new and diverse
voices from around the world in global dialogue and mutual learning around
human rights concepts and action, with the goal of exploring how the human
rights movement could be better configured intellectually and operationally
to cope with the challenges of 21st century. The underlying assumption
being explored in the second phase is what we have termed "the human rights
box": namely, that the human rights movement is constrained by a set of
historical and structural circumstances that have enabled the human rights
framework to gain currency among elites while limiting its advance among the
broader population of the world. Participants' testimony, working knowledge,
strategies, analysis and reflections are shared through the regular
publication of our Human Rights Dialogue.

Please contact us or consult our website, www.cceia.org, for more
information.

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