Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards

This blog has often referred to the growing role of images in the protection of human rights. The Activists Guide to Archiving Video produced by the NGO Witness is one tool that can greatly help those who want to be part of this development. The term “archive” may turn off many human rights defenders as something boring or at least not deserving priority but to neglect it would be a big error. As the Witness guide explains very clearly:

• Do you want your videos to be available in the future?
• Do you want your videos to serve as evidence of crimes or human rights abuses?
• Do you want your videos to raise awareness and educate future generations?

The risks of not archiving are big:

1. Your videos may exist somewhere, but no one can find them.
2. Someone may find your videos, but cannot understand what they are about.
3. Your videos cannot be sufficiently authenticated or corroborated as evidence.
4. Your videos’ quality may become so degraded that no one can use them.
5. Your videos may be in a format that eventually no one can play.
6. Your videos may be accidentally or deliberately deleted and lost forever.

In further sections the Guide help to understand how videos can be made accessible (shared) and brings clarity to tricky issues such as the different formats and copyright.

Worth a visit!!

Activists Guide to Archiving Video | archiveguide.witness.org.