Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Economic Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR),
and a number of other internationally recognised
covenants. These have been given effect to vary-
ing degrees at national level in order to provide
protection to individuals and to enable them to
realise their full potential as human beings.
In a 2003 Harvard University lecture, the
former UN High Commissioner for Human
Rights Mary Robinson said our challenge today
is to give meaning to the values of human rights
in our own communities as well as in the global
community of nations (Robinson, 2003). Echo-
ing the words of Eleanor Roosevelt who played
a vital role in the drafting of the UDHR, she said
that without concerned citizen action to uphold
human rights at home, we will look in vain for
progress in the larger world. In order for the hu-
man rights obligations of states to be understood
and taken seriously as legal obligations, there is
a need for research, analysis and reporting by
non-governmental organizations within and on
behalf of local communities. Respect for all human
rights - including civil, political, economic, social
and cultural rights - is primarily the responsibility
of national governments. Human rights groups
and activists, often with different agendas, work
together at local, national and international level
to hold them accountable and to bring pressure
to bear to address deficiencies in their human
rights record.
A number of factors have contributed towards
addressing traditional and emerging forms of hu-
man rights abuse. These include the emergence
of an international human rights regime, growing
transnational social movement networks, increas-
ing consciousness and information politics (Brysk,
2002). Globalization creates new opportunities
to challenge the state from above and below ac-
cording to Brysk, but it also creates new human
rights problems related to the shrinking of states,
the decision-making power of global institutions,
the integration of markets, international flows of
information and people, and the spread of cultures
of intolerance. Information and communication
technologies (ICTs) play an important role in all of
these.As the various players increasingly leverage
and apply new technologies we see significant
changes from the traditional distributions of power
in the international system (Selian, 2002).
This chapter looks at the role of ICTs in hu-
man rights advocacy, and provides an analysis of
some of the tools and techniques used to gather,
report, analyze and disseminate information on
human rights abuses. It outlines the opportunities
and challenges associated with the use of ICTs by
human rights actors and it examines the impor-
tance of rigorous documentation and verifiable
information sources to underpin human rights
work. This is followed by a case study describing
how an initiative that actively involves citizens
in the reporting and dissemination of information
contributes to awareness raising in relation to a
human rights issue. Finally the added value of
tools designed specifically to record and analyse
human rights data is discussed, and their value
in the context of the overall human rights regime
is described.
backgrounD
ICTs represent the most significant technological
breakthrough of the last half century. The costs are
declining dramatically, and new applications that
improve our human and organizational capabili-
ties are being developed every day. Communica-
tions and information flows are becoming more
instantaneous, more global and more content-rich
as a result of technological innovation and con-
vergence. These have contributed greatly to the
enhanced transparency and accessibility of hu-
man rights information for citizens, particularly
in terms of legal and administrative information,
but they have done even more to improve the
administrative, organizational and management
skills of community and grassroots organizations,
and thus 'to tip the scales of power slightly back
towards an equilibrium' (Selian, 2002, p.19).
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