2. MONITORING AND DOCUMENTING HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS: SOME BASIC CONCEPTS
In this example, three separate events can be identified and recorded: the raid on the ABC
trade union headquarters including the arrest of its President, the arrest of the DEF federation
Secretary-General, and the raid on the XYZ trade union office. In addition, one can record a
further event, that of the labour crackdown in general, and name it, for instance, The Labour
Crackdown of May 1998. This event encompasses the other three events.
This example can be viewed in graphical terms as follows:
Event 1
Title: Labour Crackdown of May 1998
Acts: None
Type of chain:
Large event
encompassing a
smaller event
Event 2
Title: ABC raid
Acts:
Act 1
Type of act: Raid
Victim: ABC trade union
Type of chain:
Large event
encompassing a
smaller event
Event 3
Title: DEF Secretary-General
Arrest
Acts:
Act 2
Type of act: Arrest
Victim: ABC trade union
President
Act 1
Type of act:
Arrest
Victim: DEF
Secretary-General
Type of chain:
Large event
encompassing a
smaller event
Event 4
Title: XYZ raid
Acts:
Act 1
Type of act: Raid
Victim: XYZ trade union
Act 2
Type of act: Confiscation
of property
Victim: XYZ trade union
Figure 2.4 Graphical presentation of a large event encompassing a smaller event
Event preceding a related event
The following example illustrates this kind of chain:
On 1 May, a violent clash between police and student demonstrators erupted during a
demonstration. A student leader was arrested. A second student was beaten.
After four days, the headquarters of RISE, a student federation, was raided, and its
President was arrested. A large volume of documents was confiscated. The police
claimed that the raid was done because the students had planned the demonstration
that occurred four days earlier and had intended to use it to stir up trouble.
16
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