Numerous legal and human rights organizations have followed the Corrie case and monitored the lawsuit in Haifa, Israel. We highlight these organizations and a small spectrum of the important work they do in support of human rights, equal rights, legal rights, justice, and accountability in Israel and Palestine – and throughout the world. Links to organizational websites are provided. We encourage you to visit and learn more!
Search Organization Listings by Alphabet
Return to the list of direct responses to the Corrie verdict
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Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel
Adalah (“Justice” in Arabic) is an independent human rights organization and legal center. Established in November 1996, it works to promote and defend the rights of Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel, 1.2 million people, or 20% of the population, as well as Palestinians living in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT).
Publications Highlighted:
- The Prawer Plan (2012) for mass expulsion of the Arab Bedouin Community in the Nqab (Negev) desert. Media reports indicate that on 1 August 2012, a special police force will begin work to implement Prawer and demolish homes. More than 1,000 houses were demolished in 2011 alone, and civil society is seeing the same practices in 2012.
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Al Dameer – Association for Human Rights
Al Dameer Association for Human Rights is an independent and unaffiliated NGO that defends human rights and aims to ensure the development of the principles of internationally recognized human right standards and values in the Gaza Strip. Al Dameer is guided by these principles as well as accountability and rule of law, transparency, tolerance, empowerment, participation and inclusion, equality, equity, non-discrimination and attention to vulnerable groups.
Publications Highlighted:
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Al Haq
Al-Haq is an independent Palestinian non-governmental human rights organization based in Ramallah, West Bank. Established in 1979 to protect and promote human rights and the rule of law in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), the organization has special consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council. Al-Haq documents violations of the individual and collective rights of Palestinians in the OPT, irrespective of the identity of the perpetrator, and seeks to end such breaches by way of advocacy before national and international mechanisms and by holding the violators accountable.
Publications Highlighted:
- Legitimizing the Illegitimate – The Israeli High Court of Justice and the Occupied Palestinian Territories
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Al Mezan Center for Human Rights
Located in Gaza, the Al Mezan Center for Human Rights promotes respect and protection for human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT), with a focus on economic, social and cultural rights (ESCR). The organization’s guiding principles include equal human worth and equal respect for all human rights, including individual and collective rights, as enshrined in international law and jurisprudence. Al Mezan monitors and documents human rights violations, coordinates awareness and capacity building programs in Gaza, provides legal aid and representation, participates in legal review, and conducts research and analysis.
Publications Highlighted:
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Amnesty International
Amnesty International is a global movement of more than 3 million supporters, activists, and volunteers in more than 150 countries, that fight injustice, promote human rights, and work worldwide to protect people wherever justice, freedom, truth and dignity are denied. Amnesty investigates and exposes abuses, educates and mobilizes the public, and helps transform societies to create a safer, more just world. Amnesty has received the Nobel Peace Prize for their life-saving work.
Publications Highlighted:
- Rachel Corrie, Michael J Fox and the Right to Housing – August 30, 2012
- Rachel Corrie Verdict Highlights Impunity for Israeli Military – August 28, 2012
- Verdict Expected in Death of Rachel Corrie – August 27, 2012
- Human Rights Basics (An overview of the foundation of the international system of protecting human rights).
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Arab Association for Human Rights (HRA)
The Arab Association for Human Rights (HRA), founded in 1988 by lawyers and community activists, is an independent, grassroots, non-governmental organization (NGO), registered in Israel. HRA works to promote and protect the political, civil, economic, and cultural rights of the Palestinian Arab minority in Israel from an international human rights perspective.
Publications Highlighted:
- US Report Conceals Israel’s Discrimination Against Palestinian Arab Minority (2012) (also see report’s relevance in light of US Leahy Laws at RCF submission to UN’s US Universal Periodic Review)
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Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI)
ACRI is Israel’s oldest and largest human rights organization, dealing with the entire spectrum of rights and civil liberties issues in Israel and the Occupied Territories. ACRI’s mandate is to ensure Israel’s accountability and respect for human rights, by addressing violations committed by the Israeli authorities in Israel, the Occupied Territories, or elsewhere. ACRI is committed to promoting the universality of human rights and defending the human rights and civil liberties of all, regardless of religion, nationality, gender, ethnicity, political affiliation, sexual orientation, or socioeconomic background.
Publications Highlighted:
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Avocats Sans Frontières (ASF)
The primary goal of ASF is to contribute to the establishment of institutions and mechanisms that allow for access to independent and impartial justice, and which are capable of guaranteeing the protection of fundamental rights (civil and political, economic and social), including the right to a fair trial. In agreement with the United Nations (UN), ASF supports the principle that the establishment of the rule of law is an indispensable precondition to the emergence of lasting peace, to the eradication of poverty, and to sustainable economic and social development.
Publications Highlighted:
- The Corries Case Clears the Israeli State of All Responsibility – Aug. 28, 2012 – Press Release
- Le procès Corrie dédouane l’Etat israélien de toute responsabilité – Aug. 28, 2012 – Press Release (French)
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B’Tselem – The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories
The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories was established in 1989 by a group of prominent academics, attorneys, journalists, and Knesset members. It endeavors to document and educate the Israeli public and policymakers about human rights violations in the Occupied Territories, combat the phenomenon of denial prevalent among the Israeli public, and help create a human rights culture in Israel.
Publications Highlighted:
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Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR)
The Center for Constitutional Rights is dedicated to advancing and protecting the rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Founded in 1966 by attorneys who represented civil rights movements in the South, CCR is a non-profit legal and educational organization committed to the creative use of law as a positive force for social change. CCR uses litigation proactively to advance the law in a positive direction, to empower poor communities and communities of color, to guarantee the rights of those with the fewest protections and least access to legal resources, to train the next generation of constitutional and human rights attorneys, and to strengthen the broader movement for constitutional and human rights. Their work began on behalf of civil rights activists, and over the last four decades CCR has lent its expertise and support to virtually every popular movement for social justice.
Publications Highlighted:
- Corrie vs Caterpillar (updated 2010)
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Gaza Community Mental Health Programme (GCMHP)
Founded in 1990 and located in Gaza, the Gaza Community Mental Health Programme (GCMHP) is a Palestinian NGO which provides mental health services to the inhabitants of the Gaza Strip. GCMHP’s vision is a Palestinian society that respects human rights and in which people live in dignity, free of oppression, and feel that their well- being is promoted. The organization works with three major target groups: children, women, and victims of organized violence and torture. The main objectives are to empower vulnerable groups in the society, develop local human resources through mental health training programs, provide humane and high quality community-based mental health services, promote principles of democracy and human rights in the Palestinian society, combat the stigma attached to mental illness in the Palestinian society, and familiarize the international community with the conditions of Palestinians to gain support and solidarity as well as respect for human rights in Palestine in order to enhance mental health of Palestinians.
Publications Highlighted:
- Violence in Gaza – March 19, 2012
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Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch (HRW) is one of the world’s leading independent organizations dedicated to defending and protecting human rights. By focusing international attention where human rights are violated, they give voice to the oppressed and hold oppressors accountable for their crimes. HRW’s rigorous, objective investigations and strategic, targeted advocacy build intense pressure for action and raise the cost of human rights abuse. For more than 30 years, Human Rights Watch has worked tenaciously to lay the legal and moral groundwork for deep-rooted change and has fought to bring greater justice and security to people around the world.
Publications Highlighted:
- Israel: Dangerous Ruling in Rachel Corrie case (2015)
- Yes War Does Have Rules – HRW’s Bill Van Esveld in response to the Corrie trial (2010)
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Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD)
Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD) is a non-violent, direct-action organization established in 1997 to resist Israeli demolition of Palestinian houses in the Occupied Territories. As ICAHD gained knowledge of the brutalities of the Occupation, they expanded their resistance activities to other areas – land expropriation, settlement expansion, by-pass road construction, policies of “closure” and “separation,” the wholesale uprooting of fruit and olive trees, the Separation Barrier/Wall, the siege of Gaza and more. ICAHD engages in a vigorous campaign of international advocacy to end the Occupation altogether and to achieve a just peace between Israelis and Palestinians.
Publications Highlighted:
- The Rachel Corrie Verdict: Justice Denied – August 28, 2012
- Obstacles to Peace (2009)
- The ABCs of Home Demolitions in Israel – April 18, 2007
- Stop the Massive Demolition of Palestinian Homes in Gaza – May 17, 2004
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International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH)
FIDH is an international NGO defending all civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, set out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It acts in the legal and political field for the creation and reinforcement of international instruments for the protection of Human Rights and for their implementation. FIDH deploys a large range of actions that have proved to be effective: urgent reactions, both public and confidential; international fact-finding, trial observation and defence missions; and, political dialogue, advocacy, litigation and public awareness campaigns. FIDH acts through a network of international experts (chargés de mission) who give their time on a voluntary basis, at the same time fostering exchanges of experience among defenders worldwide in order to encourage mutual sharing of know-how.
Publications Highlighted:
- Shielded from Accountability: Israel’s Unwillingness to Investigate and Prosecute International Crimes – Sept. 2011
- Stop Escalation of Violence in the Occupied Palestinian Territories – April 14, 2003
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National Lawyers Guild International Committee (NLG-IC)
The NLG International Committee supports legal work around the world “to the end that human rights shall be regarded as more sacred than property interests.” As lawyers, law students, and legal activists, they seek to change U.S. foreign policy that threatens, rather than engages, or is based on a model of domination rather than respect. The Guild provides assistance and solidarity to movements in the United States and abroad that work for social justice in this increasingly interconnected world. The NLG IC plays an active role in international conferences, delegations and on-going projects that examine and seek to remedy conditions caused by illegal U.S. or corporate practices. By bringing an alternative perspective to multinational institutions, schools, community centers and congressional hearings, the IC and its members actively educate, litigate, and truth-seek toward the end of social justice.
Publications Highlighted:
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Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR)
Established in 1995 by a group of Palestinian lawyers and human rights activists and based in Gaza City, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) is an NGO dedicated to protecting human rights, promoting the rule of law and upholding democratic principles in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT). The Center’s activities protect human rights and promote the rule of law in accordance with international standards, create and develop democratic institutions and an active civil society, while promoting democratic culture within the Palestinian society, and support all the efforts aimed at enabling the Palestinian people to exercise its inalienable rights in regard to self-determination and independence in accordance with international Law and UN resolutions. The work of the Center is conducted through documentation and investigation of human rights violations, provision of legal aid and counseling for both individuals and groups, and preparation of research articles relevant to such issues as the human rights situation and the rule of law.
Publications Highlighted:
- Continuing Impunity for the Death of Rachel Corrie (August 28, 2012)
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Public Committee Against Torture in Israel:
The Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI) believes that torture and ill treatment of any kind and under all circumstances is incompatible with the moral values of democracy and the rule of law. PCATI advocates for all persons – Israelis, Palestinians, labor immigrants and other foreigners in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) – in order to protect them from torture and ill treatment by the Israeli interrogation and law enforcement authorities. These include the Israel Police, the General Security Service (GSS), the Israel Prison Service and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). PCATI acts in accordance with moral and democratic values, and the standards set in Israeli and International law. PCATI was founded in 1990 in reaction to the ongoing policy of the Israeli government, which permitted the systematic use of torture and ill treatment in GSS interrogations.
Publications Highlighted:
- Report: Accountability Still Denied (Jan 2012)
Physicians for Human Rights – Israel
Publications Highlighted:
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Yesh Din
Yesh Din is a volunteer organization working to defend the human rights of the Palestinian civilian population under Israeli occupation. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), which is anchored in international human rights law and international humanitarian law, guides the organization in its work to uphold the rule of law in the occupied territories and monitor the Israeli law enforcement system in those territories. Yesh Din views the occupation as a main source of the violation of the human rights of the Palestinian population and therefore seeks to end it. Yesh Din’s activities focus on the extent of Israel’s implementation of its duty to protect the Palestinian civilians under its armed forces’ occupation. They work on individual cases to achieve justice for those whose rights have been violated. On the systemic level, they use the accumulation of individual incidents to highlight structural violations of human rights and advocate for change, through a variety of means: publishing reports and disseminating information on human rights abuses; taking legal actions and engaging in direct advocacy with the authorities in order to remedy the situation; and working with the media to encourage debate on these issues.
Publications Highlighted: