organised by the International Documentary Network on Indigenous Issues,
RAIPON, doCip, HURIDOCS and Tribal Link Foundation
With the support of the Swiss Development Agency, the Canton of Geneva,
the Ford Foundation and Rights and Democracy
Versoix, Geneva – 07-11 August 2006
(trainer Olga Sadovskaya, participants, and Pierrette Birraux from doCip in front of HURIDOCS secretariat)
1. The partners of the
project
2. Background of the project
3. Human rights documentation and HURIDOCS tools
4. Strategic and pedagogical objectives of the training
5. Organizational aspects
6. Evaluation, recommendations, future support
Annexes : Program, conditions of participation, participants list, photos
The International Documentation Network on Indigenous Issues (IDNII)
regrouping specialized documentation centers and organizations on indigenous
issues was created in 2003. Actually it includes 76 members from Africa, Asia,
Central and South America, Europe, North-America, Russia and Ukraine, most of
them Indigenous. It contributes to fulfill the need often expressed by the Indigenous
organizations of producing, distributing and conserving themselves documentation
and information about their peoples. The Network meet generally during the UN
Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) in New York and the Working Group
on Indigenous Peoples in Geneva (WGIP). Its decisions are implemented by Indigenous
ad hoc regional Committees, depending on the planned activities. Women are particularly
active in the decision-making process and the implementation of the activities.
The four-lingual Secretariat of the Network is the responsibility of doCip.
The IDNII and doCip produced an ongoing Indigenous Thesaurus on Human Rights
Terms, realized by Indigenous experts, in English, French, Spanish and Russian.
The Russian Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North (http://www.raipon.org/Default.aspx?alias=www.raipon.org/english)
is an organization which unites 200,000 Indigenous peoples from more than 30
ethnic groups who live in the North, Siberia, and Far East, covering more than
one-half of the entire territory of the Russian Federation. RAIPON is a non-governmental
organization whose main purpose is to protect the interests and lawful rights
of the peoples it represents, including their right to land, natural resources,
and self-government in accordance with international standards and Russian legislation,
and their right to resolve their own social and economic problems. RAIPON also
provides assistance in cultural development and education, promotes international
exchange and co-operation, and organizes humanitarian aid.
The Indigenous Peoples’ Documentation, Information and Research
Center (http://www.docip.org) is
a result of the first international conference on Indigenous peoples held at
the United Nations in 1977. It has been created at the initiative of the Indigenous
delegations in order to constitute the memory of the international processes
on their rights as well as their office when at the UN. Among other activities,
doCip realized (1) an Online Catalogue including 430 websites of Indigenous
peoples or concerning them or of intergovernmental organizations distributed
in 16 thematic categories and in the 7 regions of the UN Permanent Forum on
Indigenous Issues; (2) two comprehensive CD-ROMs with all the documents of the
UN Working Group on Indigenous Peoples from its creation in 1982 to 2000 and
the UN Working Group on the Draft Declaration from its creation in 1995 to 2004.
(3) It publishes a quarterly bulletin on international processes concerning
Indigenous peoples, also in 4 languages.
Tribal Link Foundation, Inc. was founded in 1993. As a non-governmental
organization (NGO) working within the UN system, Tribal Link serves as a communication
network linking Indigenous peoples to information, media, resources and relevant
networks, with a special focus on the UN system. It provides outreach to the
public regarding Indigenous peoples and their issues, emphasizing the significance
of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. Tribal Link is also an advocate
for Indigenous peoples because we feel their diverse cultures, ethics, and close
relationship to the earth are precious resources that we must do our best to
preserve and protect. Our vision is also to assist them in their efforts to
speak for themselves.
The Human Rights Information and Documentation Systems, International
http://www.huridocs.org/ was established
in 1982, and is a decentralized global network of organizations concerned with
human rights information. It brings together professionals in the management
of human rights information - such as archivists, librarians, IT engineers,
and practicing or experienced defenders or advocates – to work on information
management tools which are then made available to the whole human rights community,
providing training and capacity building. HURIDOCS is perhaps best known for
its tools for documentation of human rights violations. Documentation involves
collecting, organizing, structuring and processing information, so it can be
easily retrieved and analyzed. It provides the bridge which connects fact-finding
to reporting.
The realization of trainings in Documentation on Human Rights has been a priority
of the IDNII since the beginning. The conditions of participation, the criteria
of selection, the selection itself, as well as the program, have been elaborated
by the Regional Committees, in collaboration with Huridocs and doCip, while
meeting during the UNPFII 2004 session. Two courses – one in English and
the other in French – already took place in July 2004 with respectively
9 and 10 participants. Another one, in Spanish (with 10 participants), has been
organized at the same time than the Russian one in August 2006. The trainings
are realized around the WGIP in order to allow the participants to also follow
this international conference.
The Russian-speaking beneficiaries have been selected by the Regional Committees
of the Network, here RAIPON and the Foundation for Research and Support
of the Indigenous Peoples of Crimea. Most of them are already regionally
linked and all were sent by their local organizations which will be the first
beneficiaries of the acquired knowledge. These organizations are:
* Krasnoyarsk Committee on Nationalities and Religious Issues
* Center for Support of the North (CISIPN)
* Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North of Republic of Sakha
* Foundation for Research and Support of the Indigenous Peoples of Crimea
* Shor People Novo Kuzietsa
* Khakas People Cultural Center
* Raipon
An effective documentation system will help an organization reach its advocacy
goals by:
* Ensuring that the relevant facts are collected and checking data for quality
and consistency
* Organizing and tagging the data collected in ways that will make it useful
for analysis
* Providing an accurate analysis of patterns of violations: by type of act,
by perpetrator, by type of victim, by geographic area, by period, by response
of perpetrator to intervention, etc.
HURIDOCS human rights documentation tools include a collection of standard formats
and micro-thesauri which make it possible to describe the various components
of a human rights violation in a systematic way. These tools are integrated
into WinEvsys, which is a free Access-based database system.
The system works like this:
* An event is analyzed: the various acts/violations are identified, as well
as the persons involved: victims, perpetrators, sources, intervening parties.
* These elements are recorded into the database in a way which tracks the links
between them: for example, the perpetrator is linked to the acts committed.
* Each of these elements can be further described using controlled vocabularies
(the micro-thesauri) as well as free text fields.
* It is then possible to make a sound analysis of the human rights situation,
based on all the events recorded: by type of violation, by law violated, by
victim characteristics, by perpetrator, by geographic location, by period or
date, by impact of the interventions, etc.
The first strategic objective of the training was to improve the capacity of
the participating organizations to monitor and document human rights violations.
The second strategic objective was to create a common language, shared by Indigenous
peoples organizations in Russian and Ukraine, to describe and analyze violations,
and a database to process the data effectively.
The network needs a common documentation system which will pool together all
data collected by network members, and organize it in a consistent way.
Such a documentation system will allow a more comprehensive analysis of human
rights problems affecting Indigenous peoples, making the best use of available
resources, and make it possible to produce a stronger argumentation for making
the case in advocacy efforts.
This course aimed at providing the participants with the following skills:
* Understanding the basics of monitoring and documentation.
* Understanding the components of a human rights violation (events/acts, persons/roles)
and using the HURIDOCS Standard Formats and Micro-thesauri to organize and structure
the information related to violations.
* Using the WinEvsys database system to record information related to violations
and produce statistics. This involves: case analysis, data recording, browsing,
searching and making statistics, installing the system.
* Customizing their documentation system (including database) to their specific
needs. This involves: defining which format, micro-thesauri, fields and terms
are relevant to their advocacy and reporting needs, creating local micro-thesauri
(national legislation, local geographic terms, etc.), and adapting the data
collection forms accordingly.
The training took place at HURIDOCS Secretariat in Versoix, Geneva, from 7 to
11 August 2006.
It was co-organized by Pierette Birraux (pierrette@docip.org),
Daniel D’Esposito (danieldesposito@huridocs.org),
Mikhaïl Todyshev (mtodishev@mail.ru)
and Pamela Kraft (tribal.link@lycos.com)
and was delivered by Olga Sadovskaya (viva-insomnia@yandex.ru).
Olga is a member of the HURIDOCS trainers pool, and is vice-chairperson of the
Nizhni Novgorod Committee Against Torture.
Most of the trainees were persons working as documentalists within their organizations.
Prior to the course, they were already handling the information collected by
these organizations about the human rights situation of Indigenous peoples.
The trainees and trainer were accommodated at Mandat International’s center
in Valavran.
The participants received the following reference materials, in Russian:
- Event Standard Formats (manual)
- Micro-thesauri (manual)
- What is documentation?
- HURITOOLS CD-ROM with all tools including WinEvsys database system and user
manual
- The Indigenous Thesaurus Human Rights Terms
At the end of the course, the participants evaluated the training. They first
discussed the course in private, in two groups, based on an evaluation questionnaire,
without the presence of trainer or organizers. Then, they shared their impressions
in plenary with the organizers and trainer. The outcome of the discussion is
provided below:
1. What did you expect from the course?
Answer: learning to put documents in a united system, using electronic versions,
learning to document human rights violations using a database.
2. Did the course meet your expectations? Why, why not?
Answer: Both practical and theoretical expectations were met.
3. Do you think the HURIDOCS documentation methodology and WinEvsys database
system are useful to your organisation? Why? How can these tools be improved?
Answer: Should provide a good chance to systematize our documentation from the
paper format to the electronic version, and use it for creating the alternative
to official statistics. Difficult to judge as for improvements since there are
no alternatives so far.
4. How do you plan to use these tools within your organization or network?
Answer: We hope to create an adapted database for our organizations, spread
it inside our network, and involve in this process the regions where Indigenous
peoples live.
5 and 6. Did you get enough chance to actively take part in the course? Was
the program covered?
Answer: Yes
7. What do you think of the balance between practical work and presentations?
Answer: We think the work was well organized and balanced. The balance was enough
to work comfortably.
8. Do you feel confident that you will be able use the tools once the course
is finished and you are back home?
Answer: Yes, we do. The knowledge gained was sufficient for knowledge in our
places. The only fear we have is that some technical problems arise which cannot
be solved by consultations with the trainer.
9. What parts of the course were not sufficiently covered?
Answer: We do not think there were any. Everything was covered according to
the program.
10 and 11: Was the speed of the sessions appropriate? Was the timing respected?
Answer: The course was fast and effective. Timing was respected.
12. What were the main problems you had?
Answer: The training program was on a high level, we had no problems.
13. How can we improve the course?
Answer: More and better technical devices: more modern computers. More info
on downloading the program.
The participants were generally quick to grasp both theoretical aspects and
practical aspects of the system. Their organizations also appear to be well
organized at network level, and clearly realize the strategic importance of
documentation to further their advocacy goals. These are important factors for
the success of a sustained monitoring and documentation effort.
* The participants with a strongest technical understanding of the WinEvsys
should be formally brought together in a data team. This team
will have the task of providing technical support, training new users, adapting
and customizing the system from a technical perspective, backing up the database,
and pooling together the data to produce statistics.
* The data team should not wait too long before practicing
on more sample cases, in order not to lose familiarity with the system. They
should build a sample database, using existing cases of human rights violations.
Once they have developed a sample database, the data team will
be in a good position to start customizing the controlled vocabularies,
because they will have a better idea of what formats and fields are useful,
and what terms should be introduced to cover their needs in terms of analysis.
* The team should then prepare a presentation for the network management,
to show how information can be recorded and what type of analysis and statistics
can be produced.
* The management of the network should then agree on the objectives
in terms of monitoring and documentation: what problems and violations
are to be documented? This should be linked to objectives for network-level
advocacy activities: what advocacy needs to be done, what reports are
needed, and what analysis is needed for these reports?
* The data team should then coordinate the collection of information on violations.
Importance should be given to the quality of the information collected. It may
help to produce a concise fact-sheet for each violation that
is monitored. The purpose of these fact-sheets is to provide guidance to field
monitors who collect information, about what is to be monitored, and how. This
will help ensure that data consistent and good quality is collected. This fact-sheet
should mention:
o The name of the violation
o The working definition of the violation as developed by the network
o The references in both international and national law
o The important questions / facts to obtain when fact-finding
HURIDOCS will remain available to advise the network in setting up their documentation
system, and on ensuring that quality data is collected.
From a logistical point of view, the very constructive work of RAIPON
and Tribal Link helped doCip a lot to bring the participants to the
course. These were mostly women and came from far remote regions like the North
and East of Russia and Siberia. The contribution of the Indigenous organizations
for the internal travels should also be recognized. In fact, the Indigenous
Committees of the IDNII consider very important that the Indigenous organizations
actively contribute to find the necessary funding for the training. Finally,
the fact of having one or two Russian-speaking Indigenous persons fluent in
English was very useful for the communication with Huridocs, doCip and the Geneva
environment.
doCip will be available to disseminate the results of this work, particularly
towards the other members of the International Documentary Network on Indigenous
Issues.Daniel D’Esposito, Geneva, 12 September 2006
Pierrette Birraux, Geneva 29 September 2006
|
Day |
Time |
Content and method |
|
1 |
AM |
Opening
and introduction Presentation:
General principles of monitoring, the human rights information system |
|
PM |
Presentation:
Standard formats and Micro-thesauri Group
work: Discovering the micro-thesauri and identifying most relevant terms
|
|
|
2 |
AM |
Group
work: presentation and discussion of results |
|
PM |
Demonstration
and hands-on computer training: case analysis and recording |
|
|
3 |
AM |
Hands-on
computer training: case analysis and recording |
|
PM |
Hands-on
computer training: case analysis and recording |
|
|
4 |
AM |
Demonstration
and hands-on computer training: searching, analysis and statistics |
|
PM |
Demonstration
and hands-on computer training: customization and creation of local
micro-thesauri |
|
|
5 |
AM |
Hands-on
computer training: customization and creation of local micro-thesauri |
|
PM |
Hands-on
computer training: Initial installation of the WinEvsys from CDROM Discussion:
Evaluation of course and agreement on next steps |
C. List of participants and email addresses
|
Name, First name
|
Organisation |
e-mail |
|
Kayanovich, Natalia
|
Committee on Nationalities
& Religious Issues |
|
|
Kurilova, Irina
|
RAIPON |
|
|
Danilova, Oxana
|
RAIPON |
|
|
Krikunenko, Elena
|
Center for Support of the North
(CISIPN)
|
|
|
Smetanina, Natalya
|
Association of Indigenous Peoples
of the North
|
|
|
Tenesheva, Larisa
|
Representative of the Shor
People |
|
|
Abbasova, GulÕnara
|
Fund for Research & Support
of Indigenous People of Crimea
|
|
|
Nerbyshev, Lev
|
Representative of the Khakas
People |
|
|
Urmat, Knyazev (Alta•)
|
Alta• People
|
|
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
|
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Rights Reserved
