Additional Resources for Witnesses

Examples

• "Speaking Out for Love" - A story of witnesses in Nazi Germany protecting Jews from death.

Web Resources

• Amnesty International Online - Amnesty International is a worldwide campaigning movement that works to promote all the human rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international standards. In particular, Amnesty International campaigns to free all prisoners of conscience; ensure fair and prompt trials for political prisoners; abolish the death penalty, torture and other cruel treatment of prisoners; end political killings and "disappearances"; and oppose human rights abuses by opposition groups. One of the primary ways Amnesty International carries out their mission is to send out fact-finding missions to research reports of violations. The people carrying out these missions may serve as witnesses in order to corroborate allegations.
• Human Rights Watch (HRW) - This is the home page of Human Rights Watch (HRW), which is a nongovernmental organization that works to protect the human rights of people around the world. This includes exposing human rights violations, pressuring those in power to end abusive practices, and bringing offenders to justice.
• Early Warning, Timely Response: A Guide to Safe Schools - This guide to safe schools was published by the U.S. Department of Education in response to several violent acts that took place in American schools in the late nineties. The guidebook is focused on preventing violence in schools through the development of effective early warning systems. It discusses the qualities of safe schools, outlines early warning signs of potentially violent situations, provides advice on how to help troubled students, and also offers advice on how to respond to crisis in the school setting.
• International Check Point Watch - This report from International Check Point Watch (ICW), describes the findings of a fact-finding mission sent to the village of Deir Ibzi'a, west of the Palestinian city of Ramallah. The purpose of the mission is to, first, reassess the needs of the village in terms of medical supplies and other provisions and to report to Palestinian and International relief and development agencies. Second, to be in solidarity with the villagers as they demonstrate against the closure of their village, providing extra security for them vis-a-vis the Israeli soldiers patrolling the roadblock. Third, to go advance the cause of villages such as Deir Ibzi'a to the international media so that every effort will be made to alleviate the situation of the villagers affected by closures, curfews, roadblocks, and checkpoints.
• Remember.org - Witnesses - This section of Remember.org provides eyewitness accounts of the atrocities of the Holocaust. It includes stories from actors with various points of view, including survivors, victims, bystanders, liberators, resuers, and perpetrators.
• Environmental Monitoring Systems - This website helps to monitor smoke, gas and fire emissions to prevent environmental catastrophes.
• United Nations Watch - United Nations Watch aims to promote the balanced, fair, and non-discriminatory application of the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter, and to encourage respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, gender, culture, language, or religion. It is a non-governmental organization based in Geneva whose mandate is to monitor the performance of the United Nations by the yardstick of its Charter. UN Watch was established in 1993 under the Chairmanship of Ambassador Morris B. Abram, the former US Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva.
• The Guardian Angels - This is the home page of the Guardian Angels, a non-profit organization that started in the Bronx, NY with the aim of organizing citizens to patrol the streets and take the city back from criminals. Since the late 1970s, the organization has grown and chapters have started around the world. The Angels can potentially serve as witnesses to crime and therefore help deter it from happening in the first place.
• Neighborhood Watch - This is the home page of the well-known national crime prevention movement in the United States, called Neighborhood Watch. The program provides support for private citizens to help patrol their own streets and prevent crime. The entire program revolves around insights and knowledge relayed by witnesses at the local level.
• Witness for Peace - Witness for Peace is a politically independent, grassroots organization made up of people who are committed to nonviolence and led by faith and conscience. The mission of the organization is to support peace, justice and sustainable economies in the Americas by changing US policies and corporate practices which contribute to poverty and oppression in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Print Resources

• V. Barnett, "Bystanders Conscience and Complicity During the Holocaust." West Port, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1999. - This book discusses the detrimental effects of the passivity of bystanders. It examines how and why the Holocaust occurred and the author argues that the bahavior of bystanders in this case must be understood with a complex framework.
• "Preventing Genocide: The Power of Bystanders." In Boston Research Center for the 21st Century Newsletter #9, 1900. - This article discusses how bystanders, if they do not stand by passively, can help in preventing atrocities like genocide or other forms of brutality.
• Ervin Staub, "Bystander Psychology: Studying the Pivotal Role of Bystanders." In Deathly Silence Guide, 1998. - This article discusses the important role and influence bystanders can have on each other.

For More Information

• What Do Witnesses Do?
• Early Warning Checklist for Witnesses
• Third Sider Roles
• Main Third Side Page