breaking the silence: using popular culture to engage young people in human rights reporting...

8/9/2019 Breaking the Silence: Using popular culture to engage young people in human rights reporting (English)

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by Rafa Pankwski

edited by Liam Mahony

Breaking the SilenceUsing popular culture to engage young people in human rights reporting

A Tactical Notebook published bythe New Tactics Project

of the Center for Victims of Torture


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Published byThe Center for Victims of TortureNew Tactics in Human Rights Project717 East River RoadMinneapolis, MN 55455 USAwww.cvt.org, www.newtactics.org

Notebook Series EditorLiam Mahony

Layout and CopyeditingTricia Cornell

Support for the Tactical Notebook Series

The Tactical Notebook series was produced with the support of the following funders: the United States

Institute of Peace, the National Philanthropic Trust, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in

Europe, the United States Department of State, the Sigrid Rausing Trust (formerly known as the Rubenand Elisabeth Rausing Trust), the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and a foundation and an

individual donor who wish to remain anonymous.

Additionally, the King Baudouin Foundation provided grants to our partner the ICAR in Romania to support

the regional training workshop held there and the production of tactical notebooks by workshop

participants.

Disclaimer

The views expressed in this report do not necessarily reflect those of the New Tactics in Human Rights

Project. The project does not advocate specific tactics or policies.

2004 Center for Victims of TortureThis publication may be freely reproduced in print and in electronic form as longas this copyright notice appears on all copies.


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54Author biography

Letter from the New Tactics project manager

Editors Preface

Breaking the Silence

8Mobilizing Youth Culture

The Center for Victims of TortureNew Tactics in Human Rights Project

717 East River Road

Minneapolis, MN 55455 USAwww.cvt.org, www.newtactics.org

10Building the Network

12Investigating the Murder of Piotr Wozniak

13Using the Correspondents Reports16Applying the Tactics Elsewhere


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Nigdy WicejNigdy Wicej(Never Again) is an anti-racist, anti-fascistorganization that monitors and documents racist and fas-

cist activities and conducts educational campaigns cen-tered on music and sports. The organization publishes

the magazineNigdy Wicej .

Rafa PankwskiRafa Pankwski has served as secretary of the Never

Again Association (Nigdy Wicej) and deputy editor of

Nigdy Wicej magazine since 1996. His bookNeo-Fas-cism in Western Europewas published by the Polish Acad-emy of Sciences in Warsaw in 1998.

Born in 1976 and a native of Warsaw, Pankwski hasstudied at Eton College and Oxford University. He earned

his masters degree from the Institute of Political Scienceat Warsaw University in 1998 and is currently a Ph.D.candidate at the Institute of Applied Social Sciences at

Warsaw University. His thesis focuses on racism in popu-lar culture.

Contact InformationStowarzyszenie NIGDY WICEJPO Box 603-700 Warszawa 4

[email protected]

http://free.ngo.pl/nw


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September 2004

Dear Friend,

Welcome to the New Tactics in Human Rights Tactical Notebook Series. In each notebook a humanrights practitioner describes an innovative tactic that was used successfully in advancing humanrights. The authors are part of the broad and diverse human rights movement, includingnongovernment and government perspectives, educators, law enforcement personnel, truth andreconciliation processes, womens rights and mental health advocates. They have both adapted andpioneered tactics that have contributed to human rights in their home countries. In addition, theyhave used tactics that, when adapted, can be applied in other countries and other situations toaddress a variety of issues.

Each notebook contains detailed information on how the author and his or her organization achievedwhat they did. We want to inspire other human rights practitioners to think tactically and tobroaden the realm of tactics considered to effectively advance human rights.

IThis notebook features several tactics used by a volunteer organization, Nigdy Wicej (Never Again),in Poland. Like many organizations,Nigdy Wicejuses a number of tactics to carry out its work. Twoof the tactics explained in this notebook are the use of cultural resources in the community to recruitactivists and the organization of activists into an information-gathering network. The experiencehighlighted here demonstrates how these tactics have been used to engage and involve young people,a segment of the population whose attention can be challenging to capture and even more difficult tohold onto. The author also illustrates how different tactics are combined to reinforce and strengthen

each other. While Nigdy Wicej used these tactics to fight racism and neo-fascism, one can imagineother ways they might be applied to broaden involvement in human rights, especially among youth.

The entire series of Tactical Notebooks is available online at www.newtactics.org. Additionalnotebooks are already available and others will continue to be added over time. On our web site youwill also find other tools, including a searchable database of tactics, a discussion forum for humanrights practitioners and information about our workshops and symposium. To subscribe to the NewTactics newsletter, please send an e-mail to [email protected].

The New Tactics in Human Rights Project is an international initiative led by a diverse group oforganizations and practitioners from around the world. The project is coordinated by the Center forVictims of Torture and grew out of our experiences as a creator of new tactics and as a treatment

center that also advocates for the protection of human rights from a unique position one of healingand reclaiming civic leadership.

We hope that you will find these notebooks informational and thought-provoking.

Sincerely,

Kate KelschNew Tactics Project Manager


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Editors PrefaceNever Again (Nigdy Wiecej) is an anti-racist networkand publication in Poland. More importantly, it is partof a growing movement against racism in Europe.RafaB Pankowski describes here several tactics usedby Never Again to break silence around racism and

build a human rights culture among the youth popula-tion in Poland. The tactics described in this notebook

include how Never Again uses cultural events such asconcerts and football games to recruit young peopleto this movement. Through this recruitment, they haveorganized an extensive network of volunteer corre-spondents throughout Poland to report on and chal-lenge the tolerance of extreme-right and racist groupsand ideas in their society. These correspondents are

taught to carefully and regularly report any and allincidents of racism and xenophobia in their districts.Never Agains organizers then process and synthesizethis information, publishing it in a magazine that isdistributed to thousands of readers, including manymainstream journalists throughout Poland and Europe.

Hundreds of thousands of people have been intro-duced to the concepts of human rights and anti-rac-

ism at Never Agains concerts. Thousands have signedup to join the organization. Of these, more than 150have been trained to serve as volunteer correspon-dents, each producing monthly reports. The result isthe most exhaustive source of information on hatecrimes and racism in Poland. The publication servesnot only for general education, it has also provided

important investigative reporting that has promptedcoverage of these issues in the mainstream Polishmedia. This strategic combination of cultural recruit-ment, maintenance of a broad volunteer network,careful documentation and public education is NeverAgains unique contribution to our tactical notebookseries.

This notebook provides an overview of the creationand functions of Never Agains volunteer correspon-dents network. It includes some basic background in-formation, describes how cultural mobilization is usedas a recruiting method, discusses the way the net-work functions, both in the field of gathering and ofdistributing information, and explains difficulties in-

volved in sustaining a network on a voluntary basis.Finally, some attention is given to possible applications

of Never Agains experience in human rights struggles

in other countries.

Liam Mahony, notebook series editor

Poland remains a society in which the issues of racism, xenophobia, anti-semitism and intolerance are stillrelatively unacknowledged. The general attitude of society seems rather closed towards difference, and

feelings of anti-semitism remain pervasive. There appears to be little concrete knowledge or monitoring ofthe extent and manifestations of racism and discrimination within society, which in turn means that specificmeasures to combat these phenomena are often lacking in various fields. [M]any cases of racist attacks

and violence may not be considered as such by the authorities.From a June 2000 report by the European Commission Against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI), a Council of

Europe body.


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Breaking the Silence 7

Breaking the SilenceThere are no official statistics on hate crimes in Po-

land. The police do not keep records on ideologicallymotivated crimes and thus the issue of racist extrem-ism is generally kept off the agenda and away fromthe eyes of the public. One may suspect that even if

the state collected such statistics it would be limitedto the most obvious cases of racial (i.e. white vs.black) violence and it would not include the extreme-

right attacks on people who do not necessarily belongto ethnic minorities but are considered anti-national

by the perpetrators. It is important to remember thatin Poland the majority of the victims of extremist vio-lence do not belong to ethnic minorities.

Recognizing a problem is a pre-condition for solving it.This is why Never Again has defined as its main goalbreaking the silence surrounding the issue of extreme-

right violence.

The voices of the targeted groups are weak and rarelyheard in public debates. Ethnic minorities constituteonly about two percent of the population and theyare hardly visible in the media and in the corridors ofpower. Other victimized groups are sociallymarginalized as well: they belong to religious minori-

ties (often labeled sects, e.g. Hare Krishnas), or dis-sident youth subcultures (e.g. punks) with little or noaccess to channels of mass communication. The roleof Never Again is therefore to give a voice to thevoiceless.

Never Again believes that gathering and publishingreliable information that demonstrates the persever-ance and the relatively large scale of extreme-right

activities (including violence) has to be the backboneof all serious anti-fascist initiatives aiming to contrib-ute to social change. It is necessary to use concretecases of racist and fascist violence in order to chal-

lenge the tolerance of extreme-right groups and ideasin society.

Being a relatively small organization, with very mod-est financial means at our disposal, we could not baseour tactic on expensive investigating operations, mass

advertising or costly legal battles. What we could counton, however, was the very real concern about thespread of violence shared by many people all over

Poland and their willingness to help us raise aware-ness of this very real social problem.

THE RISE OF THE EXTREME RIGHT AND THEDENIAL OF RACISMAfter 1989, Poland along with other post-communistcountries throughout the region underwent majorpolitical, economic and cultural changes resulting fromthe collapse of the authoritarian regime and a widely

shared determination to join the Western bloc. The

political breakthrough enabled various minoritygroups to preserve and develop their cultural heri-tage in a democratic environment. It also unleashedre-emerging extreme-right organizations promotingracist and chauvinistic ideologies.

Expectations for a democratic renewal were high and,

undoubtedly, the country has changed for the betterin many ways since 1989. At the same time, the 1990switnessed a steady erosion of the moral fundamentsof Polish democracy, a growing cynicism and a brutal-ization of the language of social and political life. Thenew democratic culture has often proved superficial.

The breakdown of solidarity and trust among socialgroups has been accompanied by a rising unemploy-ment rate (20 percent of the work force in the spring

of 2002). This context provided fertile ground for right-wing extremism. The rise of the far-right was enabledas a result of the weakening of state social and politi-cal control over society, combined with the failure of

the new system to replace this con-trol with democratic ways of deal-ing with extremism.

Since the late 1980s racist political

groupings have been growing

slowly but visibly. The extreme rightadvocates a mono-ethnic statebased on a single national cultureand it questions the basic values ofdemocracy. Over the past decade it

has traveled from the margins ofpolitics to the Sejm (Polands parlia-ment). Since October 2001 and forthe first time in Polish post-war his-tory the extreme right has had itsown independent parliamentaryrepresentation with the League of

Polish Families (Liga Polskich Rodzin,

LPR), which won seven percent ofthe vote and 40 seats (out of 460)

Polish and American neo-Nazis. Note the Polish national emblem on the top left.


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8

in the Sejm andcounts as one of the

several important po-litical forces in thecountry.

Meanwhile, duringthe 1990s the farright extended its

political-cultural basethrough numerous

publications, discus-sion clubs and socialevents. A watershedmoment was the cre-ation of a Catholic-nationalist radiostation under the

name Radio Maryja,

which has hundredsof thousands of lis-teners daily. It fre-

quently allows members of extremist organizationsto broadcast their political message and thus providesan important public space to xenophobic (and, espe-cially, anti-semitic) ideas.

The influence of the extreme right among Polish youthstems largely from, and is reflected in, the develop-ment of the fascist skinhead subculture and its ac-companying racist music scene as well as the closelyrelated soccer hooligan scene. The first organized at-

tempt to use the skinheads for political aims came inthe late 1980s from National Rebirth of Poland(Narodowe Odrodzenie Polski, NOP). Festivals have

been organized and records produced and distributedwithout difficulty. Many neo-nazi cultural events havetaken place in state-owned cultural centers.

In general the attitude of the authorities to racist ex-tremism has been conspicuously tolerant, despite aconsiderable wave of violence committed by neo-nazi

skinheads and encouraged by extremist politicalgroups. None of the racist organizations were banned

despite existing legal provisions, such as Article 13 of

the new constitution enacted in 1997 which specifi-cally forbids racist activities. The introduction of Ar-ticle 13, similar to constitutional provisions in otherEuropean countries, was a result of a joint campaignby Never Again and the Polish Union of Jewish Stu-dents. The Polish anti-fascist youth movement origi-

nated in the early 1990s in response to neo-fascistviolence. Never Again started as an informal group in1992 and registered as an association in 1996 as theonly national anti-fascist organization.

One reason for this situation is the determination ofthe authorities to maintain Polands self-image as a

tolerant democratic country soon to be accepted inthe European Union. The government vigorously re-

jected the report by ECRI and the official responseincluded the following argument:

Investigations generally indicate the hooligan natureof such offenses. ... A breeding ground for misdemean-ors or felonies of the above-mentioned type are con-

flicts with local communities or incidental acts of ahooligan nature which may affect Polish citizens or

white aliens to the same degree. 1

Unfortunately, many in the Polish media also tend tofollow the official line of denying racism, due either toapathy and a lack of a critical approach to social issuesor, at times, to overt nationalist sympathies.

Mobilizing Youth Culture

The mobilization of cultural resources is the key com-ponent to Never Agains success in building its volun-tary network of correspondents. By anchoring ouractivity in the field of youth culture, we have beenable to recruit and sustain popular involvement. Popu-lar culture is an important tool in building a social move-ment and it has played a major role in the constructionof the Never Again correspondents network. Authen-

tic and noncommercial youth culture forms the basisfor the involvement of many Never Again membersand sympathizers. Two campaigns in particular havemade an impact on our ability to mobilize a youthconstituency: Music Against Racism and Lets Kick Rac-

ism Out of the Stadiums. Both these campaigns stressthe need for young people to involve themselves ac-tively in the struggle against racism. The message of

Never Again to young people is not just Dont beracist, but also Get involved!

MUSIC AGAINST RACISMThe Music Against Racism campaign in Poland was in-spired by the British Rock Against Racism movementinitiated by Tom Robinson in the late 1970s. As part of

the Polish campaign, several compilation CDs havebeen released in cooperation with independent music

labels, featuring well-known Polish and foreign rock

bands, and Music Against Racism concerts have beenorganized. One such event, the environmentalist andanti-racist Przystanek Woodstock Festival in August2000 organized by the charity Wielka Orkiestra

Poland for the Polish, neo-fascist graffiti inSosnowiec.

My first contact with Never Again was because of the MusicAgainst Racism campaign. I had heard about other anti-racistinitiatives before, but it was the Music Against Racism CDthat sparked my active engagement in this field. I read the CDcover, took a pen, wrote a letter to the address given there and

got in touch with Marcin [the network coordinator]. Thatshow it all started.Arkadiusz Zacheja, a long-time NeverAgain correspondent1 The official reaction of the Polish government to the European

Commission Against Racism and Intolerance (Council of Europe)report on Poland adopted December 1999.


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Swiatecznej Pomocy, gathered a massive crowd of250,000 young people who responded enthusiastically

to the anti-racist message. Many musicians made anti-fascist statements from stage and the Never Againinformation booth was busy throughout the three-day festival. The event was repeated successfully in

August 2002 with the strong presence of Never Againand its proactive anti-racist campaigning.

In addition, numerous artists have put the MusicAgainst Racism campaign logo on the sleeves of their

recording. Never Agains success in convincing manyrespected musicians to take a stand against racismwas possible thanks to a wide range of personal con-tacts in the music scene, especially those of theassociations chairman, Marcin Kornak. The musiciansappeared very responsive to the campaign. It is diffi-cult for me to talk about specific reasons for my in-

volvement in this campaign, because resistance against

racism for me is as obvious and natural as blood in theveins, said Krzysztof Grabaz Grabowski, the singerof the Polish rock legend Pidzama Porno. Grabowskiwrote a special song called Antifa, which has be-come the anthem of the campaign.

The campaign uses data gathered by the correspon-

dents network to illustrate the seriousness of the prob-lem of racism and includes a call to action for allmembers of its audience. The Jedna rasa ludzka rasa(One Race Human Race) compilation CD cover in-

cludes a list of victims of racist murders committed inPoland in recent years, while Support, Help, Join Us

was the message repeated on all Music Against Rac-ism compilations. The idea was to inspire listeners tobecome active agents of social change rather thanpassive consumers of the CDs and concerts.

More than 100 concerts were held under the bannerof Music Against Racism all over Poland and many of

the organizers were members of Never Agains infor-mation network. At numerous other concerts (of all

musical styles!) anti-racist information desks were setup by activists encouraging young people to reflect onthe issue of racism and intolerance.

In 1998 the Music Against Racism campaign was votedone of three major music events of the year by read-ers of Brum, a popular music monthly. The campaign

was supposed to end in 2001, but it has been contin-

ued spontaneously by people all over the country.

LETS KICK RACISM OUT OF THE STADIUMNever Agains other, more recent major campaignconcentrates on sports, soccer in particular. It differsfrom the music campaign in that rather than prima-rily serving as a recruitment possibility, it is often more

of a defensive attempt to combat the evidentracismin an influential cultural scene.

The sports campaign is considerably more difficultbecause soccer stadiums until now have been almostcompletely dominated by a xenophobic subculture.

Lets Kick Racism Out of the Stadiums is the only anti-racist campaign in Poland aimed at soccer fans, but itis inspired by the success of similar campaigns in En-

gland, Germany, Italy and Austria. We publish Stadion,an anti-racist magazine for soccer fans, and usuallyrun a sports column in the Never Again magazine it-self. In April 2002, in the run-up to the World Cup, incooperation with the Football Against Racism in Eu-rope (FARE) network we released the CD Lets Kick

Lets Kick Racism Out of the Stadium poster featuring Polish soccer player Emmanual Olilsadebe (left). Kids displaying the poster duringan international soccer match (right).


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Racism Out of the Stadiums and printed a posterfeaturing Emmanuel Olisadebe, Polands first black

international player, also a supporter of our campaign.Several amateur soccer tournaments have been or-ganized as part of the campaign, most notably duringthe Przystanek Woodstock Festival. In addition, Never

Again gives support to local anti-racist groups of soc-cer fans by providing leaflets, posters, banners, etc.Until now, the best results have been achieved at

smaller clubs such as Orkan Sochaczew and WkraZuromin, which now have a strong anti-fascist follow-

ing.

Many genuine soccer fans no longer go to matchesbecause of the violent, xenophobic environment. Itaffects women and minorities in particular, but alsomany other fans who still love the game but are dis-gusted by the atmosphere which prevails at the stadi-

ums. Other fans still attend but do not like the

xenophobic culture there. Until recently such fans feltisolated from each other. These people have re-sponded in increasing numbers to the anti-racist cam-paign and, in some cases, they have volunteered tobecome correspondents for the network. The enor-mous popularity of the Nigerian-born EmmanuelOlisadebe, who became the best player on the Polish

national team, added momentum to the anti-racistsports campaign. Emanuel has consistently supportedNever Again in its attempts to highlight the problemof racism in the stadiums.

Building the Network

As a direct result of the CDs, concerts, meetings andother popular culture events, Never Again has re-ceived many thousands of letters from young people

expressing their willingness to become volunteers forthe anti-racist movement. A majority of the currentregular correspondents made their first contact withNever Again through the music and sport campaigns.

Many of them, in addition to participating in informa-

tion-gathering, have initiated campaigns and eventson a local level. Thus, the correspondents network isalso a living social movement.

And by linking itself to popular culture, Never Againhas proven that social activism can be fun, too.

Of course it would not be realistic to expect everyyoung person who expresses interest in Never Agains

activities to become a regular correspondent. It is onlynatural that young peoples interests are not always

stable. All those who make their first contact by phone,e-mail or in person are asked to write a letter withtheir personal details. This is the first filter, since manypeople do not do even that much. In return they re-

ceive a standard package consisting of Never Againleaflets. At this step, again, many people do not re-spond. Those who respond a second time can be as-

sumed to stand a chance of longer-term involvementas correspondents and they receive the one-page in-

troductory information on the correspondents duties.

All correspondents are required to provide personaldetails regarding their background that can bechecked to establish their credibility. We try to be verycareful about who we work with. We learned the hardway that racists will try to infiltrate our network. Luck-

ily we discovered quickly that people connected with

the extreme right were trying to feed us false infor-mation by, for instance, sending us information abouttheir own enemies within the extreme right. Fortu-nately, Never Again has accumulated enough experi-ence to be able to detect such attempts early on. NeverAgain only uses information from proven reliablesources and often holds off on publishing information

not confirmed by an independent source.

HOW THE NETWORK WORKSCurrently there are approximately 150 correspondentsin the Never Again network nationally. The voluntarycorrespondents come from a variety of backgrounds

and age groups. The majority, however, are youngpeople. They need guidance about what kind of infor-mation has to be included and how it should be pre-

sented.

Every correspondent is provided with a simple one-page checklist to be used in the preparation of monthlyreports. The list details the kinds of incidents thatshould be reported, as well as possible accompanyingevents that would give some context: extreme-right

marches and demonstrations, the distribution of rac-ist and fascist publications (including papers, pam-

phlets, books, records, tapes, etc.), racist and fascist

graffiti, racist and nationalist statements in the me-dia, etc. The correspondents are constantly remindedof the necessity to include all available details (what,where, when, etc.) so their reports will be as specificas possible. The work of the correspondent is entirely

voluntary, but nevertheless they must be disciplinedand responsible. Never Again stresses that all corre-spondents have the right to withdraw from the net-work at any moment for any reason as long as theyinform Never Again that they can no longer continuetheir reports. As long as they are serving as corre-spondents, though, they are obliged to send written

reports every month on extreme-right activities in

their local areas. It is important that the informationflow is regular. Even if there is no news, it should be

My name is Pawel. I am 18. I live in Szczecin and I am a fan of Pogon [abig soccer club]. I would like to receive more information about the LetsKick Racism Out of the Stadiums campaign and to learn more about ways

to fight neo-fascism in Polish stadiums. Along with my friends (34 people)we want to join the Never Again Association. Letter from a NeverAgain supporter


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reported. In this field no news is indeed good news,but if there is no report, we have cause to worry about

the safety of the correspondent.

In return for regular reports, every correspondentreceives a monthly internal bulletin produced by

Marcin Kornak, the network coordinator. The bulletinincludes an overview of the most important develop-ments on the far-right and serves as a forum for ad-

vertising planned anti-racist and anti-fascist events,concerts and conferences. Through the bulletin the

correspondents learn about each others work and seethat they are part of a wider social movement.

The correspondents use diverse information sources,varying according to local circumstances. Local media,for instance, may often publish some highly relevantinformation which does not make it into national head-

lines. The Piotr Wozniak murder case (see below) dem-

onstrates how important monitoring the local mediacan be.

Correspondents frequently report incidents which theythemselves witnessed. Many became involved in thenetwork because the issue of racist and fascist vio-lence related to their own (sometimes everyday) ex-

perience. In some small towns, the neo-nazi skinheadculture of violence is pervasive and observable on adaily basis and correspondents simply narrate theirown experiences or those of their friends or othermembers of the community.

The correspondents are not limited by strict contentguidelines: They may also report on the issues andincidents they consider important or relevant. In this

way the network remains responsive to grassrootsconcerns and problems affecting various constituen-cies.

Because of funding constraints we have been unableto organize systematic, uniform training for correspon-dents or a large meeting of the whole national net-

work. Undoubtedly this is a weakness of theorganization. Nevertheless, members of the core

Never Again team do try to arrange personal meet-

ings with each correspondent. We talk to them infor-mally and ensure that they are clear about what theirrole is. Usually they understand the role quite well.We sometimes have to encourage them to includemore detail in the reports. Continuous education ofthe correspondents (and of the core team, too!) is a

permanent feature of the network, and a personalconnection with the participants is important as well.Never Again, therefore, also feels like a group offriends, which is an important aspect of a living socialmovement comprised of young people.

The safety of our correspondents is a primary con-

cern. Members of the Never Again team have beenthreatened numerous times and attacked in the far-

right press. The godfather of the Polish extreme right,

Father Tadeusz Rydzyk, himself attacked Never Againin a broadcast on Radio Maryja in April 2002. He re-ferred to members of the Never Again Association asmongrel dogs who piss on everything. Several hitlists have circulated within the neo-nazi skinheadmovement containing personal details and addressesof Never Again activists (fortunately, the neo-nazis

got the addresses wrong). In light of such threats, ev-ery Never Again participant is informed about therisks involved. They are also assured of maximum soli-darity from the whole network in case of any prob-lems. A separate security instruction sheet isdistributed to those network members who need it.

All network correspondents are strongly advised notto give their home addresses to anybody who cannotbe fully trusted.

On several occasions when the culprits could be identi-fied, Never Again issued a warning against continuingthe threats. This certainly surprised the culprits whohad, like cowards, expected to remain anonymous,and the threats ended.

In 1998 a correspondent of Never Again was severelybeaten and threatened with a gun by a group of neo-

nazis linked with the German fascist party NPD in the

border city of Frankfurt am Oder. Never Again mobi-lized its extensive media contacts to alert the Polishand international public before the trial so that theauthorities could not let them go unpunished.

In the spring of 2002 a female correspondent wasbeaten and threatened by a group of neo-nazis in theeastern city of Zamosc. Never Again initiated a na-tional letter-writing campaign to give her support andencouragement. Her story was covered by the nationalmedia, too, and subsequently the threats ended.

Correspondents are strongly encouraged to establish

working relationships with local social organizationsand communities of potentially vulnerable groups such

Anti-fascist demonstration in Tarnobrzeg.


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as ethnic and religious minorities, immigrant commu-nities, gay and lesbian groups, disabled peoples orga-

nizations, youth groups and others. These local groups

are often willing to share information they themselveshave gathered on issues of discrimination and violence.In some cases Never Again is the only channel for thisdata to be used outside of the victimized communityitself. Of course, in each case it is important that thecorrespondents obtain as many verifiable details aboutthe nature and the circumstances of the incidents aspossible.

Many of the incidents documented by Never Againare not reported to the police. This is due to the gen-eral distrust of the police that is still widespread amongmany sections of Polish society, and especially among

minorities and youth. Never Again encourages victimsto report attacks to the police because the state hasan obligation to combat hate crime and to protect its

citizens. (Never Again does not have special expertisein dealing with legal issues, but it provides basic legalassistance to the victims whenever necessary.) Never-theless, Never Again respects the decision of the vic-tim if he or she declines to report the incident to thepolice and/or chooses to remain anonymous.

In some cases, Never Again correspondents provideother important assistance to victims such as basic

psychological support when the victim feels isolated

and intimidated. In June 2001, Never Again was con-tacted by a disabled peoples organization in the cityof Sosnowiec where a neo-nazi skinhead gang hadbeen harassing a disabled couple. They were repeat-edly abused and threatened by the young neo-nazisand fascist symbols were painted on the door to their

flat. The police refused to protect the couple. A localcorrespondent of Never Again was asked to researchthe situation and she offered to stay in the couplesflat for a few days to help them overcome the stressof harassment. She helped connect the disabledpeoples group to community authorities, who in turn

pledged their solidarity and assistance to the previ-

ously isolated and intimidated victims of harassment.Never Again issued a special letter asking the local

institutions to provide all necessary assistance to thecouple.

Never Agains network of correspondents is not amembership organization. We do not issue formalmembership cards or anything like that. Sometimes

the correspondents need a press card, and we do some-times provide this. According to the Polish Press Law,authorities are especially required to assist journalists

who produce a press card. Never Again press cardsare therefore issued to those correspondents who

have a record of reliability and who really need themin their activities.

Occasionally we have received information fromsources inside the far right. In some cases it was aresult of rivalry between extreme-right organizationsand leaders trying to topple each other. Such informa-

tion, while often very helpful, does not constitute a

significant part of our work and cannot always betrusted. On several occasions we have received verygood insights from former members (or indeed formerleaders) of fascist groups who broke their ties withracist politics on moral grounds and felt they owedsomething to society to repay any wrong doing.

Thanks to the network, Never Again has been able tocollect information about racist and extreme-rightincidents, especially violent acts, from all over the coun-try. With extensive contacts at the grassroots commu-nity level and in the youth scene, Never Again hasaccess to information unavailable to the well-funded

establishment NGOs, mainstream journalists or aca-demics. No other organization or institution in Polandhas this kind of data at its disposal. Because of this,

Never Again has become an unrivaled source of infor-mation on racism and neo-fascism in contemporaryPoland.

Example: Investigating the Murderof Piotr WozniakThe Nation comes first. If they dont understand it,

we will kill them, says an angry young man with shorthair wearing a bomber jacket with political symbols

on his sleeve as he points to anti-fascist protesters

during a nationalist skinhead rally in the center ofWarsaw. The camera focuses on his face and thethreatening words are repeated. The crowd ofskinheads nods in approval.

Then Michal Warchala, a member of Never Again,

appears on screen in a different setting. He explainsthat the angry young man is Damian Mikulski, a 21-year-old activist in the National Rebirth of Poland(NOP), the main neo-fascist organization in the coun-try. Mikulski is also the leader of the White Legion, anNOP-infiltrated noe-nazi skinhead gang active in thestadium of Legia Warszawa, a popular soccer club.

Warchala explains that shortly after the video at thedemonstration was shot, Mikulski was sentenced to

When I saw a review of theMusic Against Racism CD in the Januaryedition ofBrum [a music magazine], I decided to write you. Congratula-tions on this wonderful idea. Music is a thing that unites people andeducates them. The release of your record is in my opinion the event of the

year. I am very interested in your anti-fascist activities. I believe that if manypeople unite against racism, it can be eradicated. Letter from a NeverAgain supporter

My name is Lukasz. I am interested in the Lets Kick Racism Out of theStadiums campaign. I sometimes go to the stadium of Lech [a big soccerclub in Poland] but recently much less frequently. I am afraid Ill see a gangof bald idiots [skinheads] starting a riot or be stopped by a policeman whowants to find a scapegoat. I dont want the soccer fans scarf to beassociated with nazism or soccer games to be associated with riots. This iswhy I want to join you.Letter from a Never Again supporter


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nine years in prison for his part in a brutal killing ofPiotr Wozniak, a 25-year-old student, in

Wladyslawowo in northern Poland. The three culpritstried to drown their victim and when that was unsuc-cessful they took turns stomping on his head with theirheavy boots.

The murder was briefly reported in a local paper as acase of hooliganism and the possible political or ideo-

logical background of the attack was not mentioned.Because the murder and the trial took place in the

north of the country, nobody knew about it in War-saw and the national media kept silent, too.

Because of the existence of its national network ofvoluntary correspondents, Never Again was able toput together different pieces of the puzzle, uncoverthe ideological motivations behind the killing and hand

the national media a critical story on a silver platter.

A Gdansk Never Again correspondent sent in the smallnote published in the local newspaper. A Warsaw cor-respondent reported that a local neo-nazi skinheadhad been arrested for something he had done in thenorth of Poland. Upon checking the information itbecame apparent both reports related to the same

event. Then another network member noted thatMikulski had been present at an Independence DayNOP rally in Warsaw. Never Again had some videofootage of this rally in its archive. The video was rein-spected and members of Never Again discovered withhorror that it had been Mikulski who had mentioned

killing people as a possible way to affirm his politicalviews.

The story was published in Never Again magazine andRadek Dunaszewski, a TV journalist, became inter-ested. With the cooperation of the national televisionchannel TVN, Mikulskis political ties were exposed ina documentary using the video from the demonstra-tion and an explanation by a Never Again expert.

Thus the ideological nature of the crime was broughtto public attention: The murder was not simply ran-

dom, but was a result of the culture of violence pro-

moted by racist extreme-right organizations whotarget anybody who is deemed alien because oftheir race, religion or lifestyle. Piotr Wozniak wasmurdered because he had been classified as an anti-national element by the extreme-right thugs: Theydid not like his alternative clothes.

The murder of Piotr Wozniak was not an isolated inci-dent. Since 1989 Never Again has registered 31 deathsresulting from xenophobic attacks, usually by neo-naziskinheads who are members or sympathizers of ex-treme nationalist organizations. In 2001 alone, Never

Again collected evidence of 228 hate crimes, acts of

violence committed by nazi-skinheads against thosewho are considered alien on the basis primarily of

race and ethnicity, but also of religion or lifestyle. Butthe issue of racist and fascist violence very rarely fea-

tures on the national agenda and it is hardly reportedin the mass media.

Using the Correspondents Reports

Never Again does not aspire to be an academic insti-tution. Our data-gathering and publishing activitiescan more appropriately be labeled activist journal-

ism. At the same time, Never Again magazine pub-lishes articles offering an in-depth analysis of the

problems and thus constitutes an important intellec-tual forum.

Of course, gathering all this data would be a waste ifwe couldnt use it effectively to promote politicalchange. Never Again takes great pains to carefullydecode and analyze information from its correspon-

dents and produce reports that can maximize its im-

pact on Polish society.

DECODING AND ANALYZING THE DATAThe first step is to understand and occasionally de-code the information received. For this purpose it isnecessary for the Never Again team to use their in-sight into the cultural characteristics of different youth

scenes. For example, the meaning of various symbolscan be essential to comprehending the nature of anincident.

One such symbol is the Celtic cross, also known as theWhite Power symbol. It originated in medieval Ire-

land and is still used as part of an ancient Celtic iden-tity. However, in the latter half of the 20th century itacquired a totally different meaning across Europe,

becoming an international symbol of the neo-fascistmovement. The Celtic cross has been used increas-ingly as a replacement for the swastika, both becauseof negative reactions from the public and for legalreasons. The use of the swastika as a political symbolis prohibited in many European countries. The Celticcross, however, is less widely known and therefore

more acceptable to the public and authorities alike. Inrecent years it, too, has been banned in Germany. The

White Power symbol has now been adopted by the

racist element in the soccer stadiums. The sight ofCeltic crosses and other neo-nazi skinhead signs is com-monplace in Polands stadiums and the sports authori-ties generally choose not to intervene. This is partlydue to their ignorance of the meanings of fascist sym-bols.

The knowledge of such symbols is necessary to estab-lish the background of the culprits if they wear thesesigns on patches, badges, T-shirts, etc. Sometimes it isimportant to take into account whether fascist graf-fiti appeared in the area shortly before an incident

took place. We then try to put different aspects of

information together like pieces of a puzzle. Thus wecan sometimes pinpoint the ideological connections


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14

of certain crimes, confronting the standard officialargument that extremist violence is just harmless hoo-

liganism.

In early December 2000, Roma families living inZakonnic, Piastowska and Rybacka streets in the town

of Brzeg were subjected to repeated harassment bygangs of neo-nazi skinheads who invaded the areaunder the cover of night, sprayed racist graffiti on the

houses, tried to break in doors and broke windows.The police were called several times but failed to ar-

rive in time to arrest the perpetrators. Speaking tothe local press, police officers dismissed the attacks asbogus stories, made up by the Roma themselves.Stefan Gornicki, a deputy commander of the localpolice, claimed the Roma painted the racist graffitithemselves. Gornicki said the Roma were prepared topay each other for false testimonies, and that they

pretend to be persecuted in order to be able to go to

Switzerland or England. After Never Again was askedfor assistance by a Roma rights organization, a localcorrespondent undertook an independent investiga-tion. It was discovered, among other things, that someof the racist graffiti had been made with special pat-terns, similar to those used by a fascist organizationunder the name the White Eagle Union Polish Na-

tional Party (ZBO-PPN). Shortly before the attack, achapter of the ZBO-PPN had been opened in the nearbycity of Opole.

NEVER AGAIN MAGAZINE AND THE MEDIAThe uses of the data are manifold, but the most im-

portant means of communicating the cases of violenceto the public is the Never Again magazine. Every issueof the magazine, edited by

Marcin Kornak, includes a listof violent incidents with a rac-ist or extreme-right back-ground. The list is based on thecorrespondents reports. In ad-dition, the magazine carriesanalyses of the situation re-

garding racism and xenophobiain Poland and in Europe, inter-

views, reports from anti-racist

events, legal documents, etc.

The magazine is distributednationwide and currently has acirculation of 3,500 copies. Thismay not be a huge number in

itself (although it is one of thehighest-circulation anti-fascistmagazines in Europe), but toassess the impact the magazinehas nationally, the number ofcopies needs to be multiplied:

many of the readers are jour-

nalists working for mass-circu-lation newspapers, radio and

television. There have been numerous cases when theyused stories first published by us for their own articles

and programs. Members of Never Again are not of-fended. They are always happy to see that their workis useful (of course we always ask the big media tomention Never Again as a source). In many cases we

have helped journalists with their inquiries and inves-tigations. Occasionally we have provided specific sto-ries to trusted journalists in the mass media knowing

they would make good use of them. As illustrated bythe case of Piotr Wozniak, the cooperation between

Never Again and the mainstream media can result inbreaking the wall of silence around the issue of racistand fascist violence. Building up a network of main-stream media contacts has been a long and gradualprocess. Sometimes we identify a journalist who mightbe interested in our work on the basis of a relatedarticle on youth or human rights. More often, though,

journalists have tended to approach us themselves

for the information.

By the summer of 2002 the national and internationalprint media had run 289 stories with assistance fromNever Again. About 11 hours of TV programs and 26hours of radio programs about the issue were broad-cast nationally thanks to assistance from Never Again.

We often act as consultants for such productions andquite frequently we have appeared in the programsas experts. On a few occasions we have provided spe-cial undercover video footage, too. A number of se-lected television programs with our input have beenput together on a single video collection, which is used

as an educational resource for schools, youth groupsand other audiences.

Each issue of the magazine isaccompanied by a press re-lease. The magazine is sold ina national chain of news-stands as well as at concerts,meetings, events, universitybookshops, etc. A significant

number of copies are distrib-uted by the correspondents inour network who promote

the magazine among theirpeers.

The readership of NeverAgain also includes ethnic and

religious minority activists,educators, human rightsNGOs, institutions such as theOmbudsmans Office, andmembers of parliament. Onseveral occasions formal ques-tions have been posed by

members of different politi-

cal parties to governmentministers in both chambers of

Never Again magazine.


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parliaments based on the data published on the pagesof Never Again demanding explanations for the au-

thorities lack of action against organized racism andneo-fascism.

In addition to the national level, the information gath-

ered by the correspondents network is used both lo-cally and internationally.

THE LOCAL LEVELOn the local level, the news about cases of violence

published in the nationally-distributed magazine canand often does play an important role. The list of inci-dents that includes hate crimes committed in the areacan be photocopied and distributed in the local com-munity. Sometimes the local media and institutionssuch as schools become interested after a local issue ispublicized by Never Again. The publication of infor-

mation on right-wing extremist attacks in an area can

also serve as a deterrent for the perpetrators in thefuture. On one occasion members of Never Again run-ning an information booth at a rock concert were ap-proached by a skinhead leader who asked not to bementioned on the pages of Never Again anymore andpromised not to take part in any further anti-minor-ity activities.

In some cases, Never Again issues press releases whenan expected incident can be prevented, e.g. in March1999 a violent anti-semitic NOP demonstration in frontof a synagogue in Lodz was cancelled after NeverAgain publicized a statement warning against it. Simi-

larly, a visit to the Sejm by French ultra-nationalistJean-Marie Le Pen was canceled in May 2001 afterNever Again issued a warning to the public about the

possible scandal.

THE INTERNATIONAL LEVELOn the international level, the information from thecorrespondents network has proven vital, too. NeverAgain constantly cooperates with anti-racist and anti-fascist organizations abroad, most notably Searchlight

(the London-based international anti-fascist monthly),with the Amsterdam-based European anti-racist net-

work UNITED for Intercultural Action and with the

Football Against Racism in Europe (FARE) network.There is a constant exchange of information amonganti-fascists internationally, which is made necessaryby the increasingly international nature of extreme-right activities.

In addition, Never Again has provided informationabout the extent of extreme-right activities to inter-national institutions such as the European Commis-sion Against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) set up bythe Council of Europe, the EU Accession MonitoringProject of the Open Society Institute and the Euro-

pean Roma Rights Center. Each of these institutions

has included information from Never Again in theirreports and publications. The Brzeg case, for instance,

was included in several high-level international reportsthanks to assistance from Never Again. In July 2001,Jolanta Skubiszewska, the coordinator of NeverAgains sports campaign, addressed an Extraordinary

Congress of the International Football Federation(FIFA) in Buenos Aires on the spread of racism inPolands soccer culture.

In this way, information about racist extremism trav-

els from the grassroots level to the international leveldespite the denial of racism by officials in the Polishgovernment.

IMPACTIt is difficult to measure the impact of our activities onthe level of xenophobia in Poland. Never Again con-

ducts a wide range of activities in diverse fields such

as research, education, awareness-raising, advocacy,lobbying, etc. The information-gathering network ofcorrespondents is but one important part of thesewide-ranging activities. Of course the level of xeno-phobia in society depends on many other factors, andthe activities of one association cannot eradicate it.Nevertheless, Never Again has managed to raise

awareness of the problem of racism at least in somesections of Polish society, especially among youth, butalso to some extent among politicians. There is stillmuch to be done.

FUNDING

A serious roadblock to publishing Never Again maga-zine is a persistent lack of financial resources (themagazine is intended as a quarterly), resulting in de-

lays in the publishing schedule. This is alleviated by theexistence of a regularly updated Web site, http://free.ngo.pl/nw, managed by Bartlomiej Gutowski, amember of the Never Again team.

The possibilities for funding anti-racist work in themajority of Central and Eastern European countries

are generally very limited. Support comes more oftenfrom outside rather than from inside the countries.Our work can be threatening to those inside the gov-

ernment because our very existence makes it impos-sible for them to deny the existence of racism. FundingNever Again would not be in their best political inter-est. Never Again survives on the enthusiasm of itsvolunteers. It has no paid staff and no regular office.

And yet, it has managed to continue and to expand itsactivities for the past decade, the development andmaintenance of the national correspondents networkbeing its major achievement.


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16

Applying the Tactics ElsewhereThe tactics used by Never Again can certainly be used

by other groups focusing on human rights issues, par-ticularly unacknowledged violations of rights, like rac-ism and nationalism in Poland. What Never Again hasdone is combine a set of tactics into a campaign: a)

cultural mobilization to recruit activists; b) organizingof activists into an information-gathering network;and c) production and dissemination of analyses and

publications based on this networks work. Clearly allthree of these tactics are applicable to other settings

and other countries.

We will focus here on the first two, since publicationand dissemination are methodologies that are alreadywidely-understood and used in the grassroots humanrights movement.

MOBILIZING CULTURAL RESOURCES

The tactic of mobilizing cultural resources to create anational network of voluntary correspondents tobreak the silence around difficult social issues can beused in other settings. The national context will de-termine what the underreported social problem mightbe, and what cultural resources can be mobilized tohighlight the issue and to build a national network. In

the case of Poland, music and sports were powerfulmobilizing tools, especially for youth. In other cultures,this might also be true as music and sports are notalways merely fields of entertainment, but also im-portant defining features of the social landscape. It isnot a coincidence that neo-nazi skinheads have been

able to take advantage of the stadiums to mobilizetheir message. Never Again is a positive example ofusing the opportunity that these cultural gathering

places represent to involve people with a strong hu-man rights consciousness or change peoples opinionsand commitments about injustice.

Youth culture mobilization can be particularly effec-tive for anti-racist organizing in a setting where ayoung and violent skinhead movement is active. These

movements create environments that can be very dis-tasteful for the majority of young people. Thus in ad-

dition to an altruistic concern for justice, there will be

people interested in rescuing a part of their own cul-ture from deterioration. There is a constituency ofpeople who are disgusted with their stadiums or con-cert halls being dominated by obnoxious groups, andthis disgust may be an important resource from whichan organizing campaign can draw. Sadly, racist and

violent movements are spreading throughout youthculture in many parts of the world, so there are plentyof places where an effort to mobilize for justice andagainst racism and violence may be able to draw fromthis constituency.

The idea of using cultural resources for political mobi-

lization to break the silence around some difficult so-cial issue can be much more universal. A similar effort

might be recruiting young people to take action aboutother social problems, such as a war affecting their

country, the AIDS epidemic or gender violence. Am-nesty International has used concerts to build mem-bership all over the world. Comedians and musicianshave often been recruited to build support for cam-

paigns against hunger, homelessness, etc.

On a small-scale, an organization might start by try-

ing to set up information tables and recruitment tablesat cultural events, concerts, etc. Never Agains example

shows that such a movement may also be able to buildalliances among the artists themselves, and thus or-ganize concerts with specific political agendas, andinvite artists who are also building these political mes-sages into their art. An organization considering suchan effort may already have some connections to theworld of cultural performers that can be taken ad-

vantage of, or it may be able to approach artists whose

artistic message suggests an affinity to involving them-selves with such a campaign. Thus, Never Again wasable to ally with artists as well as record labels to helpspread their message. The same is true in other areasof culture thus a major step forward for Never Againsstadium campaign was the involvement of a popularsoccer star.

ORGANIZING ACTIVISTSFor Never Again, it isnt enough to simply spread amessage at cultural events. If you really want to takeadvantage of this tactic, you also need to organize aprocess to channel the positive interest your culture

work sparks. You need to develop ways to recruitpeople who are inspired by your message into an or-ganizational framework, and give them an ongoing

role in the good work you are trying to promote. ForNever Again this involved building a correspondentsnetwork. In another setting it might involve buildinglocal chapters for a movement or campaign to con-front injustice, advocate or lobby.

Once the function of the network is defined, the net-

work itself must be built up through recruitment.Never Again had such success with its concerts andCDs that it was able to build a network with a rela-

tively passive recruitment process after that stage.From thousands of initial inquiries there was a pro-cess of self-selection wherein those who became net-work correspondents were those who showedpersistent initiative to stay in touch with the organi-

zation. In another context this might not be sufficient,and the group might want to be more proactive inseeking out network members. It might produce ma-terials about the problem being addressed and theobjectives of the network, and take these out in avariety of settings, as well as presenting them at meet-ings of other similar minded organizations, with the

explicit goal of recruiting network members. It might

hold assemblies or trainings to excite and empowerpeople to take on this commitment.


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One thing that made this mobilization process effec-tive for Never Again was that the organizations pri-

mary product the Never Again magazine, was aregular effort and was a visible symbol and demon-stration of the importance of the volunteers work.Thus once volunteers were recruited, the magazine

provided a steady momentum and reason for themto stay involved. This is very important. In anothertype of campaign where cultural mobilization is used

to recruit young people, the organization needs tohave a concrete way to utilize members or volunteers

on a regular basis. It cannot merely ask new recruitsto show up at meetings or join a committee. Newrecruits have a great need to feel useful and to seevalue and outcome from their efforts. A regular pro-cess involving visible products or events can help main-tain their spirit and commitment.

Beyond this, Never Again also learned that to keep a

network alive, the connection needed to have a per-sonal emotional element. Since each correspondentwas facing a difficult, and perhaps lonely task in theirlittle corner of Poland, it was essential to empowerthem and create a sense of togetherness, of family,of a movement that would make a positive change.Its internal newsletter helped correspondents to see

the political importance of their efforts as well as tokeep them in touch with the activities of their col-

leagues in other parts of Poland.

Any organization involving volunteers in confrontingviolence and human rights abuse would do well to

learn from Never Agains careful concern for the se-curity of its people. Training must go into detail on thisaspect, ensuring that those who join the effort are

willing to accept the risks, and assuring them of thefull support of the organization if they are ever under

attack. Security procedures will vary from one con-text to the next, but the need to pay conscientiousattention to the risk will not.

In conclusion, while these tactics are being used in Po-land, they can be utilized in other countries and com-munities by adapting them and drawing upon

resources available in local contexts. We hope that

the explanation of the use of the tactics by NeverAgain will give you a good sense of how they wereapplied in one context and ideas for how you mighttap into cultural resources in your own country to breakthe silence around unspoken human rights concernsarising in your country.


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18

Appendix IUSEFUL READING

http://free.ngo.pl/nw. The Never Again Web site, includes information in English.

http://www.unitedagainstracism.org. Web site of UNITED for Intercultural Action, includes information book-lets such as Resistance Against Intolerance.

When Hate Comes to Town: Community Responses to Racism and Fascism: Searchlight Community Handbook.Searchlight Educational Trust, London 1995.

http://www.turnitdown.com. Practical information on using music in campaigns against racism.

http://www.farenet.org. Football Against Racism in Europe: combating racism in and through soccer.


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NOTES


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The Center for Victims of TortureNew Tactics in Human Rights Project

717 East River RoadMinneapolis, MN 55455

www.cvt.org / [email protected] / [email protected]

To print or download this and other publications in the Tactical Notebook Series,go to www.newtactics.org.

Online you will also find a searchable database of tactics andforums for discussion with other human rights practitioners.

breaking the silence: using popular culture to engage young people in human rights reporting...

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