The Paradox of Partnership: Amnesty International, Responsible Advocacy, and NGO Accountability

Full Article

Diana E. Hortsch, “The Paradox of Partnership: Amnesty International, Responsible Advocacy, and NGO Accountability.” Columbia Human Rights Law Review, Vol. 40, No. 1, 2010.

[Abstract]

This paper will explore questions raised by the controversy between Amnesty International and the former Director of their Gender Unit, Gita Sahgal, specifically those that relate to human rights lawyers’ obligations to their clients and other stakeholders. It will look to literature about how to best make NGOs more accountable, with a focus on the recent push to define and elucidate an understanding of “responsible advocacy.” It will seek to apply some of the core insights from the NGO accountability debate to human rights lawyering, concluding with suggested principles that could help to expand our understanding of the ethical and professional obligations that human rights lawyers may owe their “clients” and other stakeholders.

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