Archiving Human Rights

Posts from the WITNESS Media Archive whose mission is to collect, document, preserve and provide access to audiovisual human rights media in the support of advocacy, prosecution of justice, truthtelling and the historical record.

These posts are devoted to news of our activities and work, and to discussion of topics relevant to it, including human rights archives and documentation, audiovisual archiving, social issue documentary, the social justice responsibilities of archives and archivists, etc.

Posts are written by Grace Lile, Director of Operations; Yvonne Ng, Archivist; and occasional other contributors.

  • Eyes on Internet Shutdowns: Documenting for Human Rights This is the first of a series of posts to mark the official launch of WITNESS’ global campaign on internet shutdowns, that highlights community strategies for documenting human rights abuses during a shutdown. Visit the campaign homepage to stay updated about new resources. This blog post is available in Spanish, Arabic and Farsi. In an impassioned […] Meghana Bahar September 1, 2021
  • Downloading Livestreams and Other Videos from Social Media If you’re looking for how to film a livestream yourself, go here. Viewers around the world are witnessing in real-time as hundreds of thousands of people in Myanmar take to the streets to oppose the 2021 military coup. Activists’ and ordinary people’s livestreams on Facebook and other platforms are capturing mass protests, arrests, and violence […] Yvonne Ng March 8, 2021
  • Berbagi File dan Komunikasi Selama Internet Shutdown Artikel ini adalah bagian dari Seri Pendokumentasian Selama Pemadaman Internet Oleh Yvonne Ng Dengan kontribusi dari Arul Prakkash Also available in Arabic, Spanish and English. Terakhir diulas: 31 Januari 2020 Embed from Getty Images Internet shutdown dan kerusuhan yang sedang berlangsung di Kashmir merupakan internet shutdown terlama yang pernah diberlakukan dalam iklim demokrasi, juga menimbulkan dampak bencana […] Yvonne Ng December 22, 2020
  • Mencadangkan Media Ponsel Tanpa Internet atau Komputer Oleh Yvonne Ng Dengan kontribusi dari Arul Prakkash Artikel ini adalah bagian dari Seri Pendokumentasian Selama Pemadaman Internet Also available in Arabic, Spanish and English. Terakhir diulas: 31 Januari 2020 Cadangan merupakan kunci dalam memastikan data dan dokumentasi kamu tidak terhapus, rusak, atau hilang secara tiba-tiba apabila perangkat kamu hilang. Selama Internet Shutdown atau penurunan kecepatan internet, […] Yvonne Ng December 22, 2020
  • Mempertahankan Media yang dapat diverifikasi selama Internet Shutdown Oleh Yvonne Ng Dengan kontribusi dari Arul Prakkash Artikel ini adalah bagian dari Seri Pendokumentasian Selama Pemadaman Internet Also available in Arabic, Spanish and English. Ulasan terakhir: 31 Januari 2020 Pembela HAM, penyidik, peneliti, dan jurnalis biasanya bergantung pada dokumentasi awal dari saksi untuk melakukan pemantauan, pelaporan, dan menganalisis pelanggaran HAM. Guna memastikan mereka tetap menggunakan informasi yang tepat, […] Yvonne Ng December 22, 2020
  • Haruskah Saya Menggunakan Aplikasi Dokumentasi Ini? Also available in Arabic, Spanish and English. Oleh Yvonne Ng Dengan kontribusi dari Arul Prakkash Artikel ini adalah bagian dari Seri Pendokumentasian Selama Pemadaman Internet.Nantikan bagan perbandingan berbagai aplikasi dokumentasi kami yang akan datang! Ulasan terakhir: 31 Januari 2020 Ada banyak aplikasi yang dapat digunakan oleh para pembuat dokumentasi untuk mengambil video, mulai dari aplikasi kamera […] Yvonne Ng December 22, 2020
  • Menyiapkan Ponsel untuk Dokumentasi Luring Also available in Arabic, Spanish and English. Oleh Yvonne Ng Dengan kontribusi dari Arul Prakkash Artikel ini adalah bagian dari Seri Pendokumentasian Selama Pemadaman Internet Terakhir diulas: 31 Januari 2020 Embed from Getty Images Meskipun terjadi pemadaman internet, para dokumenter masih bisa mengambil bukti video penting yang dapat dibagikan secara luring (offline) atau saat mereka bisa kembali […] Yvonne Ng December 22, 2020
  • Cara Pendokumentasian Selama Pemadaman Internet Also available in Burmese (pdf), Arabic, Spanish and English. Oleh Yvonne Ng Dengan kontribusi dari Arul Prakkash Terakhir diulas: 31 Januari 2020 Pada bulan Juni 2019, saat pelanggaran HAM dan krisis kemanusiaan terus berlangsung di Myanmar, Menteri Perhubungan dan Komunikasi negara tersebut memerintahkan perusahaan telekomunikasi untuk memadamkan layanan internet seluler di wilayah Rakhine dan tetangganya Chin. Pemerintah Myanmar mengklaim […] Yvonne Ng December 22, 2020
  • Archivists’ Victory over Overbroad Copyright Claim A joint statement from Human Rights Watch, Mnemonic, and WITNESS, with lead authoring by Deborah Brown, Senior Researcher and Advocate on Digital Rights, and Gabriela Ivens, Head of Open Source Research, at Human Rights Watch.  November 25, 2020 A decision by GitHub, a leading software development platform, to reinstate a popular free software tool for downloading videos, […] WITNESS November 25, 2020
  • Tweet Chat: Archiving For Human Rights For Archives Month 2020, WITNESS Africa hosted a Twitter chat on archiving for the promotion and protection of human rights. In the chat, pertinent questions regarding the importance, practicalities and challenges to human rights archiving were put to Ayanda K of VIDERE and Yvonne Ng of WITNESS. Here is a recap of the chat on […] WITNESS November 3, 2020
  • The Adobe Content Authenticity Initiative approach to authenticity infrastructure against media manipulation Launch of the Content Authenticity Initiative White Paper Today the Content Authenticity Initiative (CAI) spearheaded by Adobe, Twitter and the New York Times publishes its White Paper. WITNESS is a co-author on the paper and has been part of the Working Group developing the standards alongside other groups including TruePic, Microsoft, the BBC, CBC and […] Sam Gregory August 3, 2020
  • Making Your Metadata Matter, Part 2 We’re pleased to welcome guest bloggers Wendy Betts and Raquel Vazquez Llorente here to share their insights on documentation apps and metadata for legal purposes. Wendy Betts is the Director of eyeWitness to Atrocities, an organization that combines legal and technological expertise to aid investigations and promote accountability for international crimes. Raquel Vazquez Llorente is […] WITNESS April 7, 2020
  • Documenting During Internet Shutdowns With contributions by Arul Prakkash Also available in Burmese (pdf), Arabic, Spanish and Bahasa Indonesia. Last reviewed: 31 January 2020 In June 2019, as human rights abuses and a humanitarian crisis were continuing in Myanmar, the country’s Ministry of Transport and Communication directed telecom companies to shut down their mobile internet service in parts of Rakhine State […] Yvonne Ng February 3, 2020
  • Setting Up a Phone for Offline Documentation This post is part of a series on Documenting During Internet Shutdowns.  Also available in Arabic, Spanish and Bahasa Indonesia. With contributions by Arul Prakkash. Last reviewed: 31 January 2020 Embed from Getty Images Despite an internet shutdown, documenters can still capture important video evidence that can be shared offline or when they are able to […] Yvonne Ng February 3, 2020
  • Maintaining Verifiable Media During an Internet Shutdown This post is part of a series on Documenting During Internet Shutdowns. With contributions by Arul Prakkash. Also available in Arabic, Spanish and Bahasa Indonesia. Last reviewed: 31 January 2020 Human rights defenders, investigators, researchers, and journalists often rely on first-hand documentation filmed by witnesses to monitor, report, and address human rights violations. To ensure that they […] Yvonne Ng February 3, 2020