Making vs. posing a threat

People issue threats against human rights defenders for many reasons, and only some have the intention or capacity to commit a violent act. However, some individuals can represent a serious threat without ever articulating it. This distinction between making and posing a threat is important:

• Some people who make threats ultimately pose a threat.
• Many people who make threats do not pose a threat.
• Some people who never make threats do pose a threat.

A threat is only credible if it suggests that the person behind it has the capacity to act against you. It has to demonstrate a minimum level of force or have a menacing element designed to provoke fear.

The person behind the threat can demonstrate his or her capacity to act quite simply, for example by leaving a written threat inside a locked car, even when you have left it parked for just a few minutes, or by phoning just after you have arrived home, letting you know you are being watched.

People can try to instil fear in you by introducing symbolic elements into threats, for example by sending you an invitation to your own funeral or putting a dead animal on your doorstep or on your bed at home.

Many threats show a combination of the above characteristics. It is important to distinguish between them, because some people who send threats pretend to have the capacity to act by using symbolic and frightening elements.

Anyone can make a threat, but not everyone can pose a threat.

At the end of the day, you need to know whether the threat can be put into action. If you are reasonably sure that this is unlikely, your approach will be completely different than if you think a threat has some basis in reality.

The two main objectives when assessing a threat are:

• To get as much information as possible about the purpose and source of the threat (both will be linked to the impact of your work);
• To reach a reasonable conclusion about whether the threat will be acted on or not.