The Prevention of Torture: A Comparative Analysis of Policy and Practice

This study examines how nongovernmental human rights organizations that advocate to end torture strategize around their relationship with government. These strategies are categorized into upstream, midstream, or downstream prevention approaches and by whether the NGOs have a collaborative, combative, or covert interaction with government. Where civil society is allowed to operate freely, NGOs prefer to have a collaborative relationship with government, but they can change to combative strategies when governments refuse to cooperate. Where governments greatly restrict civil society space, most anti-torture NGOs are forced to close down, operate covertly, or go into exile.