Documentation and analysis

A key text which explains how to design a human rights information system. Written by Patrick Ball,while he was at AAAS.org. - [Read more]

This is a key text on statistical analysis of data related to human rights violations. The authors teach the cutting-edge course on human rights data anaylsis at Columbia University. Some datasets also available. For the full text in one file, click on the link to the new Courseworks site, then on "Bibliography". - [Read more]

WinEvsys allows you to record data on violations, so that you can analyze patterns of abuse and generate statistics: by region, by perpetrator, by type of violation, etc. Its advantage is that is is very easy to install, use and customise to your own needs: you will not need IT support or expensive external consultants to get you going. Be sure to download not only software and instructions, but also manuals on standard formats and micro-thesauri. - [Read more]

Analyzer is an open source database system structures and evaluates data on violations in order to create knowledge about patterns of abuse. Like the HURIDOCS system, its based on the "who did what to whom" data model (see last resource on this page). It is provided by Benetech, and can be connected to the Martus system (www.martus.org). We link to the Benetech website, and from there you can download both the software and the user manual at Sourceforge. - [Read more]

Provides a series of case studies on how information systems can be used do investigate large-scale human rights violations: Salvador, Haiti, Guatemala, South Africa. American Association for the Advancement of Science, 2000. - [Read more]

In this blog post, Janet Haven makes the case for data visualisation, showing how human rights organisations need to make their data talk to add to their advocacy argumentations. She showcases some new Web 20.0 tools like Swivel and Many Eyes. - [Read more]

Hans Rosling is professor of international health at Sweden's Karolinska Institute, and founder of Gapminder.org, a non-profit that brings vital global data to life. With the drama and urgency of a sportscaster, he debunks a few myths about the "developing" world. This will really inspire you on how how to use indicators and data to communicate powerfully about human rights issues. - [Read more]

This report to the ICTY, prepared by Patrick Ball, provides a excellent illustration of how statistical data analysis can be used to make a case. - [Read more]