Posts Tagged ‘protection’

The Natalia (GPS Alarm) Bracelet wins Golden Egg Awards in Stockholm

April 24, 2014

The Natalia Project [http://www.nataliaproject.org], the assault alarm for human rights defenders which I referred to in previous posts, won two gold and one silver at the 53rd annual Guldägget Awards in Stockholm. Guldägget [Golden Egg] is Sweden’s oldest and most prestigious competition in creative communication. The Natalia Project earned recognition for using innovative technology to safeguard individuals at risk. In his acceptance speech, Robert Hårdh of Civil Rights Defenders said, “This campaign is for real, it saves lives.” The Natalia Project was launched in April 2013 as a security solution for human rights activists at risk. In the case of an assault, a wearer can directly notify the Civil Rights Defenders, as well as the world through social media. PFO Tech developed the assault alarm bracelet, GPS tracking system and social media integration behind the Natalia Project. The bracelet and system, which is easily integrated into individual company security platforms, now protects journalists and human rights defenders around the world.

via PFO tech AB: GPS Alarm Bracelet Wins Big at Golden Egg Awards – MarketWatch.

for previous posts see: https://thoolen.wordpress.com/tag/natalia-project/

Cambridge Activists Train Human Rights Defenders in Sweden

April 8, 2014

On 8 April 2014 Sarah Cortes posted a short report on Cambridge Community Television about how Cambridge internet freedom advocates trained human rights defenders at the recent Civil Rights Defenders Conference in Stockholm.

Civil Rights Defenders [CRD] brought 121 human rights defenders from over 30 countries together last weekend to share their stories and participate in training by legal, security and technology specialists. One of them is Andrew Lewman from Cambridge-based Tor who provided training in internet and digital security to help activists who may be under surveillance from governments whose policies and activities they protest. “Activists may not realize the extent to which their governments may monitor their computers, cellphones and other devices,” said Lewman. “Learning to improve digital security may save their life, in some cases“. CRD itself has not yet published a general report.

The post describes also the Natalia Project, named in memory of Natalia Estemirova, a Russian activist murdered in 2009.  See my earlier posts via: https://thoolen.wordpress.com/tag/natalia-project/

via Cambridge Activists Train International Civil Rights Defenders in Sweden | Cambridge Community Television.

“20 YEARS OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND HUMAN WRONGS” 17 March in Geneva

March 13, 2014

Another interesting side event taking place in the margin of the UN Human Rights Council is the one organized by the Human Rights House Foundation on Monday 17 March 2014 from 10h00-11h30 in room XXI in the Palais des Nations.

The subject is:: 20 YEARS OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND HUMAN WRONGS IN THE BALKANS, CAUCASUS AND EASTERN EUROPE.

women human rights defenders will share their experience and present the new Human Rights House Network info graphics on the protection of human rights defenders:

  • Lara Aharonian, Women’s Resource Center Armenia Human Rights House Yerevan,
  • Anna Dobrovolskaya, Youth Human Rights Movement, Human Rights House Voronezh, Russia
  • Shahla Ismayil, Women’s Association for Rational Development, Human Rights House Azerbaijan, Baku
  • Sanja Sarnavka, Be active. Be emancipated (BaBe), Human Rights House Zagreb, Croatia
  • Maria Dahle, Human Rights House Foundation. Oslo, Norway

Human Rights House Network (HRHN) was established 20 years ago and now unites 90 human rights NGOs in 18 independent Human Rights Houses in 13 countries. HRHN aims to protect, empower and support HRDs locally.

The info graphics themselves, which try to cover all the key topics in the creation of an enabling environment for human rights defenders as laid down in the latest report of the Special Rapporteur, will be publicly available as from 17 March on http://humanrightshouse.org or contact <anna.innocenti[at]humanrightshouse.org>

NEW TACTICS in Human Rights: 2013 accomplishments and plans for 2014

January 3, 2014

We start the year with a little survey of what New Tactics in Human Rights accomplished in 2013: they trained 114 human rights defenders from the Middle East and North Africa [MENA region] on Strategic Effectiveness method and expanded their capacity in the MENA region for training and mentorship for human rights defenders. New material, including 20 new human rights tactics, were added to the website and there is now a French-language landing page. New Tactics also launched an Arabic version of its website and online community. In the Arabic-language community, it hosted 6 online conversations that engaged 60 human rights defenders from around the MENA region. In its English-language community, it hosted 10 online conversation that engaged 153 human rights defenders. Summaries of all of these conversations can be found on its website. In 2014 it will launch its New Tactics Strategy Toolkit, an online collection of tools to help defenders create effective strategies.

via Our 2013 accomplishments & plans for 2014.

Inputs requested for making a “context guide” for LGBTI security in Africa

December 3, 2013

For 10 years, Tactical Technology Collective have worked with human rights defenders, in order to help them better to protect their sensitive data, their communications, themselves and their communities when carrying out their work, through developing online resources, books, and carrying out regular trainings around the world. As part of this process, it has developed the “Security in a Box” book and toolkit (https://securityinabox.org) which now receives around 200,000 visits per month.
However, in order to continue improving our materials and make digital security easier to understand and contextualise for specific communities of human rights defenders, they have begun a process of creating “context guides” which make the guide more accessible for certain communities at risk. The idea of this survey is to help create and improve such a guide, for LGBTI activists from Africa, which would help the community understand the need for healthy digital security practices by demonstrating the risks they face and providing stories of best practices from others in the community.
You can find the survey at https://tacticaltech.org/africa-survey. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Daniel Ó Clunaigh: dan@tacticaltech.org.
[to get an idea of such a guide, created for LGBTI human rights defenders from the Arabic-speaking world, see in English: https://securityinabox.org/en/context/01]

The double face of technology for Human Rights Defenders

November 13, 2013
Technology is becoming increasingly important in documenting and preventing human rights abuses. But emerging technologies can also pose a threat to human rights defenders. Two pieces on AI’s blog demonstrate that:

On 11 November Tanya O’Carroll, Technology & Human Rights Project Officer, and Danna Ingleton, Individuals & Communities at Risk Research & Policy Advisor, blogged under the title: “An Invisible Threat: How Technology Can Hurt Human Rights Defenders“while Sami Goswami used the headline: “How Technology Is Helping Us Better Protect Human Rights”. 

The piece focusing on the negative aspects says inter alia Read the rest of this entry »

New campaign in Macedonia and Honduras makes use of radio announcements for LGBTI rights defenders

October 25, 2013

A post of 24 October in LGBT Weekly informs about a cooperation between Front Line Defenders and the LGBTI Support Centre of the of the Helsinki Committee for human rights of the Republic of Macedonia and the ACI-Particpa in Honduras in a new campaign RADIOHRD.  LGBTI rights defenders attempt to increase their recognition and capacity to carry out their work by sharing a clear message on Public Service Announcements [PSAs] in each country in order to change societal attitudes and institutional frameworks that lead to violence and discrimination. This new campaign utilizes radio as one of the most powerful tools for awareness raising and reform. “In a time where technologies of information play an increasingly important role in the processes of social change, we find that the radio is still the most reliable, trusted and widely used media amongst all sectors of society all around the world, and Honduras and Macedonia are no exception to this”, explains Kocho Andonovski, program director of the LGBTI Support Centre in Macedonia. Through this awareness raising campaign, eight human rights defenders give their testimony to illustrate the reality faced by the LGBTI communities and those working to promote their rights and end violence and discrimination. During the coming months, national and local radio stations in Macedonia and Honduras will broadcast the series of Public Service Announcements PSAs, short radio spots aimed to promote the recognition that LGBTI rights defenders are engaged in legitimate and valuable work to promote human rights. The campaign will also be broadcasted via the website http://www.radiohrd.org, where video interviews, petitions in support of the defenders and further information are also available.

via Front Line Defenders uses radio to promote the security of LGBTI rights defenders | LGBT Weekly.

 

Human rights defenders are not enemies of the state, says national conference in Dhaka

October 3, 2013

The Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in Bangladesh, a member of the Law Commission, and several rights activists and academics said on Saturday 28 september that the state should not treat human rights defenders as its enemy. They also expressed concern over the use of several laws against human rights defenders Read the rest of this entry »

Natalia bracelet starts being used by human rights defenders in Belgrade

September 27, 2013
Kristi Pinderi, LGBT activist from Albania, is one of the human rights defenders included in the Natalia Project.

(Kristi Pinderi, LGBT activist from Albania, with Natalia Bracelet)

Stockholm-based Civil Rights Defenders announced today, 27 September 2013, that Kristi Pinderi, LGBT activist from Albania, will be one of the first human rights defenders to be included in the Natalia Project security system. His bracelet is activated just in time Read the rest of this entry »

Protection International opens inscription for new e-learning course on Security for HRDs

September 12, 2013

On 7 October 2013, a new course on “Security and protection management for HRD and social organisations” begins on the e-learning platform of Protection International (http://www.e-learning.protectioninternational.org/course/info.php?id=21).

•       Enrolment until 24 September 2013 Read the rest of this entry »