Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI)

GOALS
To promote and protect the civil and human rights of all members of society, particularly the most marginalized and disadvantaged communities on the socioeconomic and geographic periphery.
The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) is Israel's leading human and civil rights organization and the only organization dealing with the entire spectrum of rights and liberties issues. Since 1972, independent and nonpartisan, ACRI has led the fight to protect and promote rights in Israel and the territories under its control through litigation, legal advocacy, education, and public outreach efforts. ACRI promotes a concept of civil and human rights as an integral part of democratic community building and as a unifying force in Israeli public life.

CURRENT ACTIVITIES/FUTURE PLANS

• Legal Advocacy
  In the legal arena, ACRI's highly trained cadre of attorneys submits petitions on behalf of those individuals and groups whose rights have been violated, and devotes a significant amount of resources to bringing about implementation and enforcement of existing legislative provisions and court judgments. Success has been achieved in precedent-setting cases, as well as through negotiations with governmental bodies.
  
• Litigation
  As part of an initiative to impact policy-makers and government officials, ACRI expanded the traditional focus on litigation to include building relationships with members of Knesset and representatives of government ministries. ACRI also actively monitors the legislative enactment process of laws proposed and drafted by ACRI, as well as laws that ACRI supports.
  
• Human Rights Education
  The goal of ACRI's comprehensive human rights educational program is to empower individuals and groups within the community through providing substantive rights information and methods for implementation of those rights.
  
• Public Outreach
  The public outreach component entails a public civil rights hotline, which fields inquiries and complaints from community members, and published reports on civil and human rights violations to highlight the widespread impact of the government's discriminatory practices, raising awareness about the extent to which the violations of rights are an entrenched social phenomenon and not isolated personal incidents. ACRI also uses the media as a central tool to bring about changes in governmental policy and practice.