FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Frank Elbers
HREA
+1 978-341-0200
[email protected]
www.hrea.org

The Power of Tech for Human Rights:

International Activists Meet to Explore Technology to Document and Prevent
Human Rights Abuses

Cambridge (USA), October 29, 2004 -- More than 40 international human
rights activists will meet near Boston on November 5-7, to discuss how to
use technology -- from text messaging to satellite communication, data
encryption, and blogs -- to prevent wrongdoings and collect evidence of
abuses. Former UN Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights Bertrand
Ramcharan, an international expert and leader on the international law and
practice of human rights, will deliver the keynote address.

Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and other international and
regional human rights organizations will discuss their technology
innovations. Activists will be trained on using software such as Martus, a
secure, easy-to-use encryption tool for human rights groups, and how to use
video as a powerful tool to document abuses. Award-wining technology
innovators such as Witness and Benetech will provide hands-on sessions.

Katitza Rodríguez, a human rights lawyer and activist from Peru, notes: "As
human rights workers we need a community of technical support, of ideas and
tools to learn from each other. Our ability to detect patterns of abuse,
for example, depends on data being shared in a network of activists. And
our data needs to be safe from government raids just as much as from
termites."

The "Effective Use of ICTs for Defending and Promoting Human Rights"
colloquium will result in a 'how-to' guide of innovative uses of tech tools
for human rights organizations and a CD of tools that will be freely
available to activists around the globe.

HREA and Aspiration are co-sponsors of the event.

About HREA: Human Rights Education Associates (HREA) is an international
non-governmental organisation that supports human rights learning; the
training of activists and professionals; the development of educational
materials and programming; and community-building through on-line
technologies. Learn more at www.hrea.org.

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