Posts Tagged ‘technology’
September 5, 2013
On 7 April 2013 I posted on this blog the announcement of the Anti-kidnap alarm for human rights defenders in form of the Natalia bracelet launched in Stockholm by Civil Rights Defenders.
This was followed 10 days later, 17 April, by a post referring to the Panic Button developed by Amnesty International (“How to turn a mobile phone into an alert system for human rights defenders: AI’s Panic Button”).
Now the New York based Human Rights foundation announces its Partnership with global encrypted communications firm Silent Circle to protect the private communications of political dissidents, human rights groups, and civil society organizations in at-risk scenarios. (http://humanrightsfoundation.org/HRF-Announces-Silent-Circle-Partnership-to-Support-Dissidents-04-09-2013.php)
There exist already the older and more wide-ranging tools of: “Security in a Box” (a collaboration between Front Line and Tactical Tech Collective – see http://security.ngoinabox.org/welcome) and Protection International‘s on-line Manual: http://protectioninternational.org/publication/new-protection-manual-for-human-rights-defenders-3rd-edition/.
While these (and perhaps other tools that I have missed!) may have all different features, the question could be asked who among the hard-pressed human rights defenders on the ground have the time and energy to sort through all this and pick what is most meaningful for them? Competition may well bring out the best but can also be confusing.
Posted in Front Line, human rights | 4 Comments »
Tags: Amnesty International, Civil Rights Defenders, Human right, human rights, Human rights defender, Human Rights Foundation, information technology, internet, Natalia project, Panic Button, protection, Protection International, Security-in-a-box, Silent Circle, Tactical Tech Collective, technology
September 5, 2013
Priscila Neri, WITNESS Senior Program Manager, discusses digital media, freedom of speech and advocacy at the Nordic Creative Commons Film Festival Thursday 5 September at 10:40am ET. She will present two short videos – you can watch them anytime online: People Before Profit and How to Film Protests: A WITNESS Guide to Video for Change) and discuss the use of Creative Commons and why it’s an important resource for activists. You can watch the live discussion on Google Hangout On Air and send Priscila your questions on Twitter using #WITNESSlive or @witnessorg.
Posted in films, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: creative commons, film festival, google, Google Hangout On Air, Hangout, internet, media, on-line, technology, twitter, Witness (human rights group)
May 23, 2013
On 22 May 2013 the Global Network Initiative (GNI) announced that Facebook had become the sixth company to join GNI. “Advancing human rights, including freedom of expression and the right to communicate freely, is core to our mission of making the world more open and connected,” said Elliot Schrage, Vice President of Communications, Marketing and Public Policy at Facebook.
GNI brings information technology companies together with NGOs, investors and academics. Founding companies are: Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo!, as well as Evoca and Websense who joined the initiative in 2011. GNI’s principles and guidelines provide companies with a framework for responding to government requests in a manner that protects and advances freedom of expression and privacy. Companies that join GNI agree to independent assessments of their record in implementing these principles and guidelines.
“By joining this important collaboration between companies, human rights organizations, investors, and academics, Facebook is fully embracing its responsibility to protecting the rights of its users and setting an example that other companies should follow,” said Leslie Harris, President and CEO of the Center for Democracy and Technology.
Contacts: David Sullivan, GNI, dsullivan@globalnetworkinitiative.org
via Facebook Joins the Global Network Initiative | Global Network Initiative.
Posted in human rights | 2 Comments »
Tags: advancing human rights, democracy and technology, digital security, Elliot Schrage, facebook, Global Network Initiative, GNI, google, human rights, human rights organizations, information technology companies, internet, Microsoft, privacy, technology, Yahoo
April 17, 2013
Last week I reported on the Natalia bracelet and yesterday my eye fell on a lengthy piece posted on Amnesty International‘s Livewire by Technology and Human Rights Project Officer Tanya O’Carroll. It describes how emerging digital tools will help activists and human rights defenders. http://livewire.amnesty.org/2013/04/15/how-to-turn-a-mobile-phone-into-an-alert-system-for-activists/.
As a student activist speaking out against the government, Hassan is at constant threat of being arrested. The Sudanese government tracks and harasses members of the student movement he belongs to. Reports of his friends and contacts being detained, tortured and even killed by the authorities are frighteningly regular. But Hassan’s network is also well organized. His phone is always on him and he uses it to help organize demonstrations, to record and disseminate video of violent crackdowns against the students and to keep his network updated every minute – a network that stretches from Khartoum to the rest of the globe in the time it takes to send a tweet. If he is able to get word out that he’s been arrested, Hassan knows that his network’s response will be swift and structured. The problem is that he knows the first thing the authorities will seize is his mobile phone. And here’s the double danger of not getting word out: the authorities will use the phone book, call log, messages and any open apps – such as G-Mail or Facebook – to identify and track others. Without knowledge of the arrest, the whole network will be easily compromised. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in AI, Amnesty international, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | 2 Comments »
Tags: activists, AI, Amnesty International, Human right, Human rights defender, Human Rights Defenders, information technology, Livewire, mobile phones, Natalia project, Panic Button, protection, Security-in-a-box, technology, ThoughtWorks, tool
April 16, 2013
UNHCR’s Refworld 2013 goes live this week at http://www.refworld.org. The website has undergone significant changes based on a feedback received from internal and external users over the years.
Refworld started almost 20 years ago as an ever-expanding series of DVD’s containing the different databases of documentation centre of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. With the wider availability of broadband it switched in 2007 to internet only. It was already then considered an advanced protection information resource which aims to facilitate evidence-based and effective decision-making in refugee status determination procedures. Now it functions more broadly as a key tool for evidence-based advocacy relating to resettlement, statelessness, internal displacement, as well as specific protection concerns. The database, updated on a daily basis, now contains more than 167,000 documents relating to countries of origin or asylum, case law, legislation and policy. Especially the ‘country of origin’ information is relevant to human rights defenders as it is in fact a selection of human rights violations documentation. Also the legal information section is a unique collection of worldwide documentation concerning refugee law and statelessness.
Refworld 2013 features a number of improvements, such as: Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in books, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, UN | 2 Comments »
Tags: databases, documentation, DVDs, Human Rights and Liberties, human rights violations, information, internal displacement, refugee law, refugee status determination, refugees, Refworld, refworld 2013, search tool, statelessness, technology, text search engine, UNHCR, united nations high commissioner, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, User experience
February 25, 2013
The HURIDOCS network publishes a Newsletter with many items that are of importance to Human Rights Defenders. The latest issue carries e.g. interesting news on access to human rights case law from the Asian and American scene. In the future it should be possible to have on-line access to the case load of these regional systems which until now are very difficult to find. Connecting these two databases in the future will be possible, but only if they are built on common standards. Developing these is a core function of HURIDOCS as illustrated by an interview with Judith Dueck who has been involved in standard formats for almost 25 years (Judith Dueck looks back upon how it was done).
One reason to refer to this article of course the youth picture of me (from 1988) they added!
To get the HURIDOCS newsletter free every 15 days subscribe via the homepage: http://www.huridocs.org/
Posted in human rights | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Advocacy Organizations, Africa, Americas, case law, documentation, documenting, Hans Thoolen, human rights, Human Rights and Liberties, Human Rights Defenders, HURIDOCS, information technology, internet, Judith Dueck, jurisprudence, Latin America, newsletter, Standard formats, technology
Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 