In an effort to disrupt military combat, members of this unarmed cadre perform acts of civil disobedience. Says NP, "Strategies could include accompanying local peace or human rights advocates, facilitating communication among the groups in conflict, monitoring elections or cease fires, [or] training locals in conflict resolution …" Confident of the potential efficacy of its methods, NP says: "it's estimated that only 1,000 people trained in nonviolence could have prevented the violence and genocide that devastated Yugoslavia in 1998." Nonviolent Peaceforce's first campaign, however, was an unsuccessful effort, begun in 2003, to end tensions in Sri Lanka, a nation torn by civil war.
All NP peace workers go through a six-week basic training period during which they are educated in the local languages and cultures of the areas where they will be deployed. They also learn about the basic issues underlying the conflicts there, and are taught "ways to engage participants peacefully." Each field member commits to serving two years, and is paid while on duty. The cost of supporting one field member for a year is $29,900. NP is currently making arrangements so that in the future, college scholarships and contributions to retirement funds will also be part of the compensation package. Moreover, because the risk of death or injury during nonviolent interventions is considerable, NP is exploring the possibility of providing death and injury benefits to Peaceforce field members.
At David Hartsough's request in April 2004, NP actively sought to disrupt the fighting between American and insurgent forces in the city of Najaf, Iraq, where Islamic terrorists were overrunning the streets. A Nonviolent Peaceforce statement reported, "The Najaf Emergency Peace Team, 'Peace Between Peoples' ... has now arrived in the area, to place themselves 'nonviolently, symbolically and physically' between the U.S. armed forces massed nearby and the civilian population of the ancient holy city -- in the way of any American military assault."
Nonviolent Peaceforce is a member organization of the United for Peace and Justice anti-war coalition led by Leslie Cagan, a longtime committed socialist who aligns her politics with those of Fidel Castro's Communist Cuba.
