ABSTRACT
Non-governmental human rights organizations are part of the rapidly growing field of non-state actors and civil society movements that include private agencies, development agencies, labour unions, churches, foundations and companies. These organizations promote, protect and implement human rights. Common citizen networks across boundaries are often labelled as civil society organizations (CSOs) or non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Since Keck and Sikkink’s studies on Activists beyond Borders (1998) and Risse et al.’s The Power of Human Rights (1999) NGOs stand under the assumption that they contribute to the dissemination and implementation of human rights through naming and shaming of state actors that are responsible when violating or not complying with internationally-agreed human rights norms and standards. Naming and shaming campaigns against state authorities were successful strategies developed during the Cold War period (1960s to mid 1990s). After that a major shift took place, given that states worldwide democratized, at least in formal terms, and NGOs have increasingly challenged the traditional obligations and duties of nation-states to protect, promote and safeguard human rights. At the same time they compete with countless other private or semipublic national, international and local actors in the field (Alston 2005: 4–6).
