Articles

Using ICTs in human rights and development
Case Studies*

Marlyn Tadros, Ph.D. - 2004

Undoubtedly the Internet, with its speed and ease of use has contributed greatly to the human rights movement around the world. Human rights activists have been among the first to extensively use the Internet in their work and activities, from sending email alerts to using the web as an alternative form of media to publicize their opinions, releases, and human rights violations. Networking internationally has become important in breaking barriers of silence, isolation, and oppression. ICTs also may not have necessarily democratized countries since it is still a small, mostly elite group that have access to them in general and the Internet in particular, yet they have no doubt helped the flow of information and encouraged active participation which are important strides towards democratization.

In addition to human rights organizations, development projects have also used information communication technologies [ICTs] to empower communities, and to support the flow of information even in the most remote regions. Such information includes medical and health information as well as methods to improve communities' wellbeing in general. ICTs in this sense include the use of fax machines, telephones, computers, media [radio and television], CDs and the Internet among others to facilitate the flow of information.

Needless to say the primary obstacles towards such empowerment are cultural understanding, lack of training and skills, language barriers, and lack of adequate infrastructure. It is for this reason that radio continues to be the most powerful medium and one accessible to most people throughout the world.

The cases below demonstrate that there are many creative activities from around the world that helped bridge the digital divide and improve the flow of information in spite of the absence of an infrastructure. Many, though not all of the cases below, have been possible through Virtual Activism's help and support.

Case studies in human rights:

Egypt

Nawal El Saadawi [a project of Virtual Activism]

An international Campaign to support Dr. Saadawi and Dr. Hetata: In 2001 renowned Egyptian writer Nawal El Saadawi and renowned husband/writer Serhif Hetata faced a law suit to divorce them on the basis of 'hisba'. Lawyer Nabih Al Wahsh filed a suit against them because of a published interview conducted by Al-Midan newspaper [March 6, 2001] in which Dr. Saadawi had expressed opinions that the lawyer perceived as anti-Islamic. The Egyptian Committee for Solidarity with Nawal El-Saadawi was formed in Egypt comprising Egyptian human rights activists, feminists, women's organizations, human rights organizations and individuals to lead the campaign to support Dr. Saadawi and Dr. Hetata. Virtual Activism set up a website which served as the resource on the case. It included statements from Dr. Saadawi as well as solidarity letters from people from all over the world. It included legal documents, news and counter news, as well as almost daily updates on the case. The site has also served to publicize Dr. Saadawi's articles and publications, and is currently serving as a resource for the new case that was filed against her in 2004.
http://www.nawalsaadawi.net

Saad Eddin Ibrahim: Trial and Error [a project of Virtual Activism]

Dr. Saad Eddin Ibrahim, an internationally renowned sociologist and advocate of democracy and human rights, and Director of the Ibn Khaldun Center for Developmental Studies (ICDS), was arrested on June 30, 2000, together with 27 of his employees. ICDS is a non-governmental research organization seeking to promote the use of research in the social sciences in the policy-making process in Egypt and the Arab world, and to advocate this objective among influential pressure groups in policy making circles.

In the initial trial, Egyptian State Security pressed three charges: receiving funding without authorization, dissemination of false information abroad, and appropriating money by fraudulent means. Dr. Ibrahim was sentenced to seven years in prison on May 21, 2001. His co-defendants were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 1-5 years. A retrial was ordered shortly after and it began on April 27th, 2002. The prosecution essentially retried the case from the first trial with few changes. The defense delivered witness after witness refuting all of the claims, and even questioned the constitutionality of the Emergency Law. With no deliberation, the second trial ended within minutes of the last defense presentation. Saad and four of his associates were immediately hauled of to unknown locations. Three of the defendants who had cooperated with State Security received suspended sentences and were released.
The case was clearly politically motivated and was considered a direct assault on Egypt's fledgling civil society, and has sent shock waves through the community of human rights groups, professional syndicates and other NGOs.
Immediately upon his arrest, Virtual Activism, an organization working on providing Internet access to NGOs around the world, created a website on the case. Petitions and emails surfaced on the web and connected people who had no previous connection with each other. The Internet had a powerful impact on the case, giving activists the ability to know each other and connect and network, as well as increase in international pressure. The website served also as a primary source of information, from family statements to the legal documents, to refuting claims and accusations from official media resources. According to family sources interviewed by this researcher, the website had a powerful impact on the case with its ability to disseminate immediate information.
http://www.democracy-egypt.org

India:

Punjabjustice: [a project of Virtual Activism]

In May 2003, after five years of fieldwork, the Committee for Coordination on Disappearances in Punjab (CCDP) published the first volume of its final report: Reduced to Ashes: The Insurgency and Human Rights in Punjab. This report provided the first authentic record of over 600 personal testimonies of disappearances from one of Punjab's districts, as well as an extensive analysis of: legislative and administrative impunity; the historical background to insurgency and human rights violations in Punjab; and the patterns and practices of systematic human rights abuses by the state.

The CCDP had conducted this work with minimal resources and although the report, of which activist Jaskaran Kaur was a co-author, was a breakthrough in Punjab human rights advocacy, we could not print enough copies for distribution. With the help Virtual Activism, the Punjab Justice site was created and they were able to disseminate internationally not only the report, but also key supporting materials.

The punjabjustice.org website contains the report, as well as an extensive database of around 3000 illegal cremations of people who were extrajudicially executed or disappeared by state security forces; video interviews with victims and perpetrators of human rights violations; court documents; news articles and reviews; and other literature. The database shows the picture of the victim, where we had one, and the personal testimony of a family member of the victim. It also gives other information about the cremation of the victim, provided by the state.

This website has proved instrumental in our advocacy with non-governmental organizations in England and the U.S., as well as at the United Nations. Organizations, activists and scholars are able to access the report and supporting material instantly. According to the group's founder:

"We can thus establish our credibility, build further relationships, and work efficiently despite international borders. It has also facilitated collaboration among activists working on similar issues in India. Several lawyers working on asylum cases have also contacted us through the website. We have, for example, used the website to build relationships with Human Rights Watch, as well as further cases in India, such as the Punjab illegal cremations matter proceeding before the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC)."

The punjabjustice.org website is unparalleled in terms of providing an authentic resource on Punjab human rights issues. It has benefited the thousands of victims and the activists working to fight impunity in Punjab and India. The website is thus helping to counter decades of misrepresentation of the role of state security forces in Punjab during the police counter-insurgency campaign.
http://www.punjabjustice.org

Jordan:

Ammanet:

Daoud Kuttab, a renowned Palestinian journalist and founder of Ammannet.net, has fought for a free media in Palestine under both the Israeli occupation and the Palestinian Authority. As president of the Palestinian Audio-Visual Union, he had been active in protesting censorship and access violations by both the Israelis and the Palestinians. Prior to Ammannet, Kuttab had been the founder of the Arabic Media Internet Network - Amin [literally truthful in Arabic]- to provide censorship-free Arab-language news to media organizations in the Middle East and to "encourage constructive and thoughtful debate on issues of concern to the Palestinian public and international community." The website is a collection of online newspapers and articles in Arabic.

In 2000 Kuttab created Ammanet, an Internet audio broadcasting website that provides information on diverse Middle East issues, including a section on human rights and human rights violations.The website is primarily in Arabic, but includes a section in English as well. The site has received wide recognition for its innovation and ability to overcome a seemingly impossible situation by being able to broadcast an independent radio station in a country that bans independent radio stations.

In an interview with Virtual Activism, Kuttab said: "The Internet and satellite TV can insure fast movement of information. This can have a positive or negative effect depending on how it is used and by whom. These new mediums are the best hope for more democracy in the Arab world, which hopefully will contribute to better understanding of the need for peace and the opposition to war, although this is not a guarantee."
http://www.ammannet.net

Palestine:

Rafah Today:[a project of Virtual Activsim]

Mohammed, a 21 year old Palestinian man with no knowledge of the Internet and no knowledge of journalism, armed with a digital camera, decided to use the power of the Internet in disseminating information on human rights violations in Palestine. His target audience is the international community. The site has been online for 3 years now, and it has gained worldwide attention and coverage. In fact some individuals wrote to us telling us that their lives have changed because of the power of the information on the site. The entire concept of the site is providing day to day information on life as a Palestinian, documented with pictures. The purpose is that it helps humanize what the media otherwise dehumanizes: it mentions people by name, and provides personalized stories of deaths and injured by name and provides pictures of them and their families. The site was created by Virtual Activism
http://www.rafahtoday.org

Weekly Radio Report from Palestine:

The International Middle East Media Center (IMEMC) seeks to provide readers with fresh non-partisan up to date accounts and analysis from Israel/Palestine, IMEMC has established an online English language daily. In cooperation with FOJO, IMEMC is training and developing local journalists in international news standards and employing them with the organization following training, such that they can more freely publish and syndicate their work to a global audience. The radio is an alternative radio station.
http://www.imemc.org/audio/

Palestine Children's welfare Fund:[a project of Virtual Activism]

Following a call by a concerned individual for a website to begin a project that helps sponsor Palestinian children through the sale of Palestinian projects, Virtual Activism responded and created the pcwf.org website. The project brings together individuals from all over the world including Israel, to sponsor children and families from Palestine. The project also helps plant trees in place of ones that had been removed by the Israelis, and helps dig water wells and connect people. This project could not have been possible without the Internet. Currently the project supports no less than 400 children with monthly payments.
http://www.pcwf.org

The Electronic Intifada:

A site that serves as a resource of information on the situatin in Palestine. It is a parallel site to the physical world's intifadae, but serves as an alternate media and a focal point for dissemination of information. It publishes news, commentary, analysis, and reference materials about the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict from a Palestinian perspective. EI is the leading Palestinian portal for information about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and its depiction in the mediaWhile based in the USA, it is nevertheless focused on Palestine and has day-to-day information from the ground.
http://electronicintifada.net/new.shtml

South Korea:

The South Korean labor movement experience:

The massive Korean labor upheaval and general strike held in December 1996 and January 1997 had brought not only the ignition of the Korean labor movement but an international communication net work that helped back the strike. In the winter of 1996-7, Kim was trying to push through a "modernisation" of South Korea's labour laws which would have continued restrictions on trade union rights while simultaneously making it easier for employers to fire workers. His attempt to "reform" South Korea's labour laws was answered by the first general political strike in the country in more than a generation. Hundreds of thousands of workers led by the semi-legal Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) walked off their jobs, took to the streets in massive demonstrations, prevented the Government from arresting their leaders and in the end won important concessions.

These technologies helped build an international day of solidarity on January 10, 1997 of rallies and protests at dozens of Korean embassies and consulates around the world. The importance of international labor communciation links was not lost on the Korean labor movement.

The Korean Confederation Of Trade Unions had been the leading force behind the general strike and had seen the need to use labor communication technology to build labor solidarity links. The KCTU was not only a sponsor of the conference but also an active participant with many of it's top leaders attending sessions and hosting a reception for the international delegates.

More and more Korean unionists are setting up computer networks for information discussion and debate. The Democratic Seoul Subway Workers Trade Union and the Hyundai Heavy Industry Workers Union both have computer user groups and there are thousands of unionists now going on line. The KCTU's officers all have email and we learned from the conference that there is a continuing debate and democracy and other issues in their computer networks. In fact, according to participants, workers who were critical of various polices were using these networks to express their points of view.

In fact, the government wasso worried about the democratic use of the internet that it banned access to Geocities for Koreans because of the Korean labor and political sites. Geocities hosts more than 1,000,000 web sites. One discussion that too k place was on the qestion of security and the use of Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) outside the United States.

The response to the video screening was a packed theater of students, workers and teachers. Many of the labor struggles from India, Japan, Palestine, Canada and the US had never even been heard of by Koreans. Many were stunned by the power of these image s and the similarity between the Korean struggles and those around the world.

Nigeria

Life Tag: [a project of Virtual Activism]

LifeTage is an environmental organization whose mission is to ensure greater improvement in the living conditions of mankind through functional information management, and conservation of the environment upon which the human life is dependent.

Early in 2001, a highly combustible petroleum product was sold as domestic kerosene to the innocent consuming public, by the Benin City depot of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). This, however, resulted in deadly explosions in many towns and villages all over the state, as the unsuspecting victims put the product to use. The explosions led to over 230 deaths (and many are still dying); more than 900 sustaining varying degrees of burns and great loss of property. But, over three years after the incident, little or nothing has come as relief or compensation to the helpless victims. The victims still bear sores, wounds and injuries as they are living as destitute and have to beg for alms under inhuman conditions. Pathetically, most of the victims are vulnerable women and children, from the downtrodden of the Nigerian society. And most children are thrown out of school as it is unaffordable and some others are refused enrolment, because their monstrous look do scare other children away. Painfully, Edo Government, the primary representative of the victims, had criminally conspired with the NNPC to bury the findings of the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into the matter, which itself (state) had set up, despite public entreaties for its release. Obviously, NNPC was indicted by the commission's findings, as well as other panels established to look into the explosion.. Again, the same State Government, masterminded by Chief Lucky Igbinedion, its governor, did embezzled and refused to account for some charitable donations which government received as a trustee, for the victims' upkeep. But determined to get justice for the victims, LifeTag came to intervene in the issue.

LifeTag had established the Kerosene Fire Victims Welfare Association (KEVA), a body of the victims, which main object "is the pursuance of adequate compensation/rehabilitation, justice and equity. In a concerted effort to providing succor for the over 1,100 victims of the Kerosene Explosions which devastated Edo State, Nigeria, in 2001, and attain justice and equity thereby, Life Tag convened a coalition of Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and stakeholders.

The Website which Virtual Activism created for them was immensely supportive because it has come to narrate clearly in pictures and texts the concrete facts of the kerosene explosion issues, which government and NNPC have hitherto misinformed the public about it. And the site has been generating a wholesome outpour of outrage and condemnation of Edo State Government and the NNPC, over their insensitivity to the plight of the victims, from within and outside Nigeria.
http://lifetag.virtualactivism.net/

Latin America:

El Salvador:

Probidad - an anti-corruption organization. PROBIDAD aims to contribute to the reduction of poverty and other inequities and injustices, to increased social and political development, and to democratization processes and peace efforts by combating corruption in Latin America.

PROBIDAD works towards these goals vis-à-vis diverse and integrated anti-corruption initiatives, most which rely on the use of information and communication technologies and an extensive network of contacts. Over 20,000, mostly Latin Americans, subscribe to one of PROBIDAD's local or regional email lists and its web sites receive between 75,000 and 85,000 monthly visitors.

PROBIDAD's activities are designed to monitor corruption and control mechanisms; mobilize awareness about the complexities and costs of corruption and increased interest and participation in curbing it; enhance the anti-corruption capacity of other civil society organizations, media, government, business, and researchers in our region; and contribute to more informed local and context-specific measures that undermine corruption and promote good governance. PROBIDAD also monitors, defends and advocates on behalf of access to information, free expression and other conditions important to the watchdog role of the press.
http://www.probidad.org/english/

USA:

Moveon: The peace movement mobilization worldwide moveone.org and answer.org have utilized the Internet perhaps like no other. In the now famous anti-war mobilization march against the Bush government, the White House and the US Senate received over 250,000 emails in one day on the 26th of February (date of the first large scale virtual march against the Bush government) which was organized. Worldwide, millions of people marched against the war on the same day through a call on the Internet. Cyber actions of this sort are predominant tools of organizations among human rights and activist organizations.
http://www.moveon.org

International:

ICRC: finding relatives online

The International Red Cross has created a family links website that serves as a resource for families searching for other family members in conflict zones.
http://www.familylinks.icrc.org/home.nsf/home/webfamilylinks

Radio Sans Frontiers:

This is a broadcast at world level and it is a broadcast about racism and it is done in March on the UN racism day. Radios began a coverage since 98 and it is growing and last year in 2002 we had 100 radio stations taking part in it. We had a channel in Europe and other continents. There are a series of radios that take part in this broadcast on March 21 and partner radio stations participate in this in different languages. The technical tools are neutral in any platform of communication and it must be inclusive of a target group but it will be exclusive of other groups. The important thing was to bring a convergence between new technologies so that we can reach the largest population possible and it resulted to a globalization of this platform of communication. Even if we speak of discrimination we have to be careful because we could exclude others. We covered the American bombing of Baghdad. The lobbying level which had a lot of impact: there are principles that are beyond nation states and apply inside America and the allocation of frequencies is very important and done at national levels but you can influence them at international levels. We began by writing a manifesto for multi-cultural media and we did a lot of work on this. It is being summarized in one document that is short, but we are asking of a recognition of a certain status. We are convinced that the third sector audio visual should take up the values of community broad casting. Based on these radios we should recognize public service broadcasting. These stations involve the active participation of the population. There are opportunities to do this. Francesco Diasio from Radio Sans Frontiers says: "We must remain aware of the dangers and all broadcasting can run the danger of dying because of censorship or shortage of funding."
http://amarc.org/vsf2004/public/en/

Case studies in development:

Cambodia:

Motoman: This is a good example of local appropriation of technologies. The Internet Village Motoman project connects small villages in Ratanakiri to the Internet and e-mail communications through an innovative, yet surprisingly simple, system. Solar-powered village schools, telemedicine clinics and the governor's office have been connected to the larger world, through five bright red Honda motorcycles equipped with First Mile Solutions Mobile Access Points and a 256 Kb/s Satellite uplink. Each of the schools can send and receive email, and browse the Internet using a non-real-time search engine.

Many of these villages had no previous communications infrastructure, no postal system, no telephones. Many villages can only be reached via ox-cart or motorcycle. It is a vital, first step for these villages in gaining access to much needed educational, medical and economic opportunities that they would otherwise not have.
On September 1, FMS launched "Internet Village Motoman" for 15 solar-powered village schools, telemedicine clinics, and governor's office in a remote province of Cambodia using 5 Honda motorcycles equipped with FMS Mobile Access Points and a 256 Kb/s Satellite uplink. Each of the schools can send and receive email and also browse the Internet using a non-real-time search engine (TEK).

The entire network was implemented within one month by a team of three people at a cost of approximately $500 per village. The project was implemented for CambodiaSchools.com, which operates 225 rural schools throughout Cambodia with funding from private donors and the World Bank.
http://www.cambodia.net/kiri/projects/motoman.html
http://www.firstmilesolutions.com/demo.htm

Egypt

UNDP and the illiteracy program:

The UNDP is using CDs for adult literacy education: they are in the final process of creating a CD-ROM targeting illiterate women. The CD has not yet been released.

Virtual Activism and its Cairo Center for Knowledge Society:

Virtual Activism: is currently installing the Internet in a local informal settlement in Manshiet Nasser in Egypt with a full-fledged training program on using the Internet. Animated CDs will be used to teach children who had not had the opportunity to have an education or who had been in school and left it early to work. Virtual Activism has also provided training to NGOs from that area to help the flow of information.

Uganda:

CD rom for rural women: The International Women's Tribune Centre (IWTC), working in partnership with the International Development Research/Eastern and Southern Africa Office (IDRC/Nairobi), has developed a new information tool that offers direct access to information for women who are among the most marginalized in development --poor women with little or no reading ability. The starting place for this initiative is Africa and the starting point is a CD-ROM Rural Women in Africa: Ideas for Earning Money.

The educational requirements were that the content material be accessible to an audience with little or no reading skills, be seen as having immediate value and be in the language of the community. Furthermore, and from a practical perspective, the new tool needed to be affordable in cost and adaptable into other languages to ensure widespread replicability and viability.

An underlying premise of this project was that the audience for this new information tool would be first time users of computers. It was also assumed that a rural woman's initial experience in using this new information tool would be important in determining whether the woman became a repeat user of facilities in the telecentres. In short, the new tool was expected to deliver not only useful information but also a positive experience.

The CD-ROM is currently available in English and Luganda language versions.

An assessment of the project shows that to date suggests that this new tool is affordable, adaptable, capable of carrying multiple language tracks (thus an extremely effective vehicle for several local language sound tracks) and a critical component in fashioning larger interactive communication strategies. Imagine the possibilities of offering women farmers direct access to information they need to improve their productivity without relying on an agricultural extension agent -who is most likely a man and who, experience shows, communicates only with male farmers. Or imagine what rural women entrepreneurs could do if they had access to current market prices or ideas on crop diversification, or improved animal husbandry?
http://www.wougnet.org/News/cdupdate.html

Egypt/Morocco/Jordan

Virtual Souk: an ecommerce opportunity for the under privileged. IT is used to enhance their trade and help in the conservation of their traditional knowledge. The project offers indigenous people and underprivileged individuals the opportunity to market their products and access the international global market.

Artisans from the Middle East and North Africa Region have always crafted high quality products using traditional techniques and ancestral know-how. Today, their knowledge is disappearing and their incomes are lagging. This is not only caused by shrinking local demand and the distance to lucrative national and international markets, but also by limited access to information on these markers and a lack of ways to communicate with them.

The main goal of the Virtual Souk, according to its creators, is to bring artisans crafts to the market place, without pressure to standardize and degrade their techniques. Thus, by returning the profits to the artisans without high intermediation costs, the Souk will not only increase the livelihood opportunities of the artisans, but will also help to save their high-quality techniques.

In January 1998, several activities led to a financially sustainable and a decentralised and locally controlled e-commerce operation called the Virtual Souk. These activities represent a combination of awareness raising, capacity
building, network strengthening, and the expansion of use of new information technologies. Approximately 1000 artisans are trained and included in the project. Over the last two years, more than 1500 clients visited the Souk. Artisans have grouped themselves and established quality criteria of their work and began collaboration among them. And the Virtual Souk organised 3 training workshops in Tunisia, Lebanon and Morocco.
www.elsouk.com

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*[Please note that this is a shorter version of a longer paper which includes details of the case studies as well as obstacles to and recommendations towards empowering communities more with using ICTs.].