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43-437: Established in 1982, HURIDOCS develops strategies and tools to facilitate human rights monitoring and documentation work and improve access to bodies of human rights information. HURIDOCS consults with organizations of many scopes and sizes, including local grassroots groups, national human rights institutions and international NGOs, to help them overcome their information management challenges. HURIDOCS's current flagship tool

86-553: A digital public good with the Digital Public Goods Alliance , a "multi-stakeholder initiative with a mission to accelerate the attainment of the sustainable development goals in low- and middle-income countries by facilitating the discovery, development, use of, and investment in digital public goods." The Events Standard Formats is a structured approach for monitoring and recording information about abuses of civil, political , economic, social and cultural rights . It

129-662: A "B status". Those that are given "A status" are allowed to participate in discussion on the United Nations Human Rights Council discussions and more broadly, its mechanisms. The Subcommittee on Accreditation determines the "status" of each NHRI which can be appealed to GANHRI's Chair within 28 days. "C status" NHRIs are labelled as such due to a perception of non-compliance with the Paris Principles, but may still participate in gatherings as observers. The Committee reviews these decisions every five years, giving

172-710: A body that is seen to be dealing with prevalent issues (such as seen in Mexico and Nigeria), or finally to underpin and consolidate other human rights protections (such as in Australia and New Zealand). National governments wanted to establish institutions which reflected their own opinions and cultural identity more effectively. In this regard they enable states to set their own agendas that reflect their individuality. The United Nations Commission on Human Rights passed resolutions in 1992 which recommended promotion of such institutions by government's that did not yet have any, and also promote

215-474: A governmental body. This creates somewhat of a parallel obligation and taints the idea of the institutions autonomy and makes it harder to pursue their individual agenda. The Paris Principles were conceived at a 1991 conference convened by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. Although the priorities and structure of them differ from country to country they have core features. Part A.3 of

258-418: A human rights commission is systematically reviewing a government's human rights policy in order to detect shortcomings in human rights observance and to suggest ways of improving. This often includes human rights proofing of draft legislation, or policies. The degree to which the recommendations or rulings produced by a human rights institution can be enforced varies based on the human rights climate surrounding

301-670: A national human rights institution. The degree of independence of these institutions depends upon national law, and best practice requires a constitutional or statutory basis rather than (for example) a presidential decree. Nations human rights institutions are also referred to by the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities . Special commissions have been established in many countries to ensure that laws and regulations concerning

344-595: A public authority. In relation to non-state entities, some national human rights institutions have at least one of the following functions: Additionally they may promote and protect the responsibilities of the state and the rights of the individual by: Promoting and educating about human rights may involve informing the public about the commission's functions and purposes, sparking discussions on important human rights issues, organizing seminars, providing counseling services and meetings, as well as creating and distributing human rights publications. Another important function of

387-642: A tool for document management. In the years prior, HURIDOCS had worked with the Institute for Human Rights and Development in Africa (IHRDA) and the Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL) to develop publicly accessible and easy-to-navigate repositories of African and Inter-American case law (which is often published in PDF format). These collaborations went on to inspire the creation of Uwazi. Since then, HURIDOCS has expanded

430-528: A uniquely objective perspective and addressing and resolving issues at the domestic level. Coupled with the United Nations, NHRIs are protecting and providing comprehensive and wide-ranging solutions. However some states are unwilling to give effect to these sanctions, and the United Nations is unable to conduct the widespread and analytical monitoring of countries. In order to be legitimate, effective and credible NHRIs must be independent and effective. One of

473-615: A variety of issues including torture, discrimination, environment and employment rights. In addition to human rights commissions they can be constituted or legislated as an ombudsman or a hybrid human-rights ombudsman. The International Ombudsman Institute provides support for the national ombudsman institutions for human rights who similarly protect and promote human rights. They are more concerned with state administration processes and so receive and make complaints in regards to any systematic or administrative human rights breaches or concerns. The international Coordinating Committee of NHRIs

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516-557: Is Uwazi, an open-source database application designed for human rights defenders to manage collections of facts, testimonies, evidence, cases, complaints and other types of information. HURIDOCS is a longtime member of the jury for the Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders . The award is named after British human rights activist Martin Ennals , who was the founding president of HURIDOCS. Dutch lawyer Hans Thoolen, who cofounded

559-455: Is developed and maintained by the HURIDOCS team. Among other examples, it has been used by groups to preserve information about human rights violations, manage complaints of human rights abuses made to independent monitoring bodies, organize online libraries of human rights law and policy, and build collective memories in the pursuit of transitional justice. Uwazi was originally launched in 2017 as

602-653: The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), which has provided advisory and support services, and facilitated access for NHRIs to the United Nations (UN) treaty bodies and other committees. There are over one hundred such institutions, about two-thirds assessed by peer review as compliant with the United Nations standards set out in the Paris Principles . Compliance with

645-584: The Paris Principles , the national human rights institutions are obliged to make "preparation of reports on the national situation with regard to human rights in general, and on more specific matters"; and this is mostly done in annual status reports. The International Council on Human Rights Policy reported that NHRIs are established in three key ways: in countries that are experiencing conflict (usually internal like South Africa, Ireland or Spain), or to respond to claims of serious human rights abuses. NHRIs can also be established as visual institutional security, as

688-524: The High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), which acts as a Secretariat of the Coordinating Committee. In order to facilitate NHRI dialogue with civil society the Coordinating Committee also holds an NGO forum. The Coordinating Committee may also be asked by a government to assist in making a new NHRI or to develop on pre existing ones. Its name was changed to GANHRI in 2016 . Not all of

731-615: The Martin Ennals Award as well as other NGOs such as International Alert , was among the co-founders of HURIDOCS. HURIDOCS is also partnered with the Human Rights Data Analysis Group (HRDAG). The idea for HURIDOCS first took shape in 1979 at a meeting in Paris, France , among representatives of human rights organizations who identified a need to standardize human rights documentation practices and take better advantage of

774-588: The OHCHR. NHRIs can be grouped together into two main categories: human rights commissions and ombudspersons . While most ombudspersons have their powers vested in a single person, human rights commissions are led by multi-member boards, often representative of various societal groups. NHRIs are sometimes set up to deal with specific issues such as discrimination , although the Paris Principles requires they should be bodies with broad responsibilities. Specialised national institutions also exist in many countries to protect

817-639: The Paris Principles adopted in March 1993 by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights provides that NHRIs responsibilities are to ratify human rights treaties and cooperation with human rights mechanisms. The workshop recommendations provide a basis for assessing the effectiveness and independence of a NHRI, identifying six key criteria for states seeking to establish such institutions or to become effective: Those NHRI that fully comply with these fundamental criteria and have shown independence are accredited an "A status", while those that only partially fulfil them receive

860-551: The Peace and Justice Strong Institutions Award from CogX, an honor meant to "highlight a company that champions human rights by directing its AI services towards the protection of these fundamental liberties." In 2022, Uwazi was recognized as a finalist for Fast Company 's World Changing Ideas Awards in the AI and data category. Uwazi is free software released under the MIT license . It is registered as

903-719: The Principles is the basis for accreditation at the UN, which, uniquely for NHRIs, is not conducted directly by a UN body but by a sub-committee of the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI) called the Sub-Committee on Accreditation . The secretariat to the review process (for initial accreditation, and reaccreditation every five years) is provided by the National Institutions and Regional Mechanisms Section of

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946-596: The Promotion and Protection of Human Rights (ICC), is a representative body of institutions worldwide. Its goal is to develop and create effective and independent NHRIs around the world. These institutions meet the "A status" (voting member) requirements of the Paris Principles and encourages inter-institutional cooperation. In addition to organising international conferences for NHRIs it will also help those institutions in need of assistance and will occasionally help governments to create NHRIs when requested. NHRIs can deal with

989-463: The application's functionalities to meet a broader set of human rights information management needs. One special area of development is the integration of machine learning features that automate certain burdensome tasks when it comes to managing and categorizing the contents of an Uwazi-based collection. In 2019 and 2020, HURIDOCS piloted these features in projects with UPR Info and Plan International with support from Google.org. In 2021, HURIDOCS won

1032-472: The assistance of an international secretariat. Over time, HURIDOCS transitioned to a different set-up: a board of advisors representing diverse geographical and professional backgrounds now oversees the organization's long-term strategy and operations, while a management team led by the executive director guides the day-to-day activities. HURIDOCS is registered as a non-profit association under Swiss law, and its most recent statues were adopted in 2015. HURIDOCS

1075-404: The classical ombudsman model which tends to work on handling complaints about administrative deficiencies. While all human rights violations are maladministration , only a small proportion of the workload of an ombudsman deals with violations of human rights standards. In most countries, a constitution , a human rights act or institution-specific legislation will provide for the establishment of

1118-575: The complete contents of websites of human rights organizations. It was launched in 2003, and allowed for searching of information in 77 languages. By the time it was taken offline in 2016, it had crawled and indexed between 8 and 10 million web pages. The majority of HURIDOCS's income comes from grants awarded by philanthropic foundations, diplomatic and development agencies, and private companies. The remaining income comes from payments made by human rights partner organizations for services that HURIDOCS provides, as well as individual donations. Depending on

1161-420: The constitution and/or in international human rights instruments . One of the most important functions vested in many human rights commissions is to receive and investigate complaints from individuals (and occasionally from groups) alleging human rights abuses committed in violation of existing national law. While there are considerable differences in the procedures followed by various human rights commissions in

1204-515: The development of those that did. At the end of the 20th Century the United Nations Commission would take over tasks that require international involvement. Regional human rights agreements also encouraged this development and establishment of human rights institutions as technical assistance was provided through international arrangements (such as the Asia-Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions). NHRIs in some member states work at

1247-431: The institution. Human rights commissions may also monitor the state's compliance with its own and with international human rights laws and if necessary, recommend changes. The realization of human rights cannot be achieved solely through legislation and administrative arrangements; therefore, commissions are often entrusted with the important responsibility of improving community awareness of human rights. According to

1290-518: The institutions multiple opportunities to show further independence or compliance with the Paris Principles. Aiming to be transparent, vigorous and thorough in its evaluations the committee will provide advice on how best to earn "A status" and comply with the Paris Principles. The Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI), formerly known as the International Coordinating Committee of National Institutions for

1333-477: The international and regional level (such as in the European Union). They may work as preventative mechanisms for non-discrimination of minority groups or international crimes (such as torture). The authority and expertise that NHRIs customarily hold provides them the ability to promote equal treatment. Ultimately they are a useful tool in assisting states to comply with international rights standards by providing

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1376-464: The investigation and resolution of complaints, many rely on conciliation or arbitration . It is not unusual for a human rights commission to be granted authority to impose a legally binding outcome on parties to a complaint. If no special tribunal has been established, the commission may be able to transfer unresolved complaints to the normal courts for a final determination. NHRIs are usually able to deal with any human rights issue directly involving

1419-644: The most effective tools that NHRIs have is their unique position between the responsibilities of government and the rights of civil society and non-governmental organisations (NGOs). This conceptual space gives NHRIs a positively distinctive role, acting as a different protection service for the people and different tools available to hold the state and other bodies accountable for human rights breaches. However being independent from government and NGOs provides greater difficulty when funding, and working relationships are taken into account. In most countries they receive government funding, and are also created and appointed by

1462-535: The protection of human rights are effectively applied. These commissions tend to be composed of members from diverse backgrounds, often with a particular interest, expertise, or experience in the field of human rights. Human rights commissions are concerned primarily with the protection of those within the jurisdiction of the state against discrimination or mistreatment, and with the protection of civil liberties and other human rights. Some commissions concern themselves with alleged violations of any rights recognized in

1505-462: The rights of a particular vulnerable group such as ethnic and linguistic minorities , indigenous peoples , children , refugees , persons with disabilities , or women . However, national human rights institutions under the Paris Principles have an explicit and broad human rights mandate that should include both promotion and protection functions. This can include research, documentation and training and education in human rights issues , than

1548-566: The then-emerging information and communication technologies . Three years later, the groundwork for the creation of an organization dedicated to human rights information and documentation was laid at a conference in Quito, Ecuador . A few weeks after that, HURIDOCS was officially founded at an assembly in Strasbourg, France , chaired by Filipino human rights lawyer and senator Jose W. Diokno and attended by several hundred human rights activists from around

1591-410: The world, who later approved its official Constitution on July 24, close to 12:00 am. HURIDOCS was originally structured as a decentralized network of human rights organizations. Every four or five years, it convened members for a General Assembly in a different location to decide general policy of the network. This policy was then implemented by an executive committee (the "Continuation Committee") with

1634-400: The year, these contributions represent about 20-30% of HURIDOCS's budget. In 2020, HURIDOCS had a budget of US$ 1.5 million. National human rights institution A national human rights institution ( NHRI ) is an independent state-based institution with the responsibility to broadly protect and promote human rights in a given country. The growth of such bodies has been encouraged by

1677-638: Was an open-source web-based database application that was based on the Events Standard Formats and the "who did what to whom" data model. Launched in 2009, OpenEvsys replaced the software WinEvsys, which was built on the Microsoft Access database management system. WinEvsys had in turn replaced Evsys, a DOS application built in 1989. HURIDOCS announced in 2020 that it was sunsetting OpenEvsys in favor of developing similar functionalities in Uwazi. Casebox

1720-520: Was established in 1993 with a Bureau composed of one representative from the Americas, Asia Pacific, Africa and Europe. The Coordinating Committee organises an annual meeting and a biennial conference that facilitates and supports NHRI engagement with the United Nations system. At these gatherings NHRIs are able to share their expertise on specific topics and engage with the United Nations Office of

1763-519: Was first headquartered in Utrecht, Netherlands , but by the mid-1980s it changed to Oslo, Norway . In 1993, it moved once more to Geneva, Switzerland and in 1998, to Versoix, Switzerland , before finally settling back down in Geneva in 2011. Although the organization maintains a small office in Geneva, the majority of its staff work remotely from around the globe. Uwazi is a web-based database application that

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1806-409: Was open-source software for collaborative litigation management, designed with human rights organizations in mind. It was developed in 2011 jointly by HURIDOCS and software development consulting firm Ketse. HURIDOCS announced in 2020 that it was sunsetting Casebox in favor of developing similar functionalities in Uwazi. HuriSearch was a specialized human rights search engine which offered access to

1849-646: Was originally published in 1993; HURIDOCS played a central coordinating role in the creation and subsequent revisions of the methodology, which included input from dozens of human rights practitioners and representatives from intergovernmental organizations. The Formats have been and continue to be widely employed by organizations for a variety of purposes, such as collecting evidence for transitional justice in Cambodia and South Africa, monitoring attacks against journalists, and supporting accurate mental health diagnoses for immigrants, refugees and torture survivors. OpenEvsys

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