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bio: Anna Luisa Daigneault

Personal Information First (Given) Name:  Anna Luisa Last (Family) Name:  Daigneault Country or Region:  United States of America Latin America Projects Coordinator & Organizational Fellow Organization:  Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languages

bio: Jule Krüger

Personal Information First (Given) Name:  Jule Last (Family) Name:  Krüger Country or Region:  United Kingdom Jule Krüger is a field consultant for the Human Rights Data Analysis Group (HRDAG) at Benetech, conducting rigorous quantitative statistical analysis of large-scale human rights violations. Organization:  HRDAG, Benetech

bio: Michael_Kis

Personal Information First (Given) Name:  Michael Last (Family) Name:  Kisielewski Country or Region:  United States of America mkisielewski [at] stataid [dot] org (Michael Kisielewski), M.A., is a political scientist and senior research specialist for StatAid, a nonprofit statistical consultation and research organization. Organization:  StatAid: Nonprofit Statistical Consultation and Research

Blog: Using geo-spatial technologies to provide critical information on the impact of conflicts, and more

areddy's picture
Posted September 28th, 2009 by areddy
Mass grave in Sri Lanka Image © 2009 GeoEye.The AAAS Science and Human Rights Program, with funding from the MacArthur Foundation, Oak Foundation, and Open Society Institute, is working to expand the application of geospatial technologies to human rights issues through its Geospatial Technologies and Human Rights Project. Geospatial technologies include a range of modern tools, such as satellite images, geographic information systems (GIS), Global Positioning Systems (GPS), and various web mapping services like Google Maps that allow for mapping and analysis of multiple layers of georeferenced data. Analysis of such data can provide critical information on the impact of conflicts on civilians, environmental and social justice issues, indigenous rights, and more.

Providing DNA testing and legal assistance to prisoners who may have been wrongly accused of a crime

The Innocence Project involves lawyers, law students, and law schools in assisting prisoners who challenge their convictions based on DNA testing of evidence.

Since the advent of forensic DNA testing in the 1980s it has become possible to draw up a genetic profile of a suspect and, in turn, exonerate wrongly convicted defendants.

Working with local communities in the forensic investigation of genocide

The Guatemalan Anthropological Team (EAFG) coordinates its efforts to exhume the victims of genocide and investigate their deaths with the local indigenous populations. This helps the families and communities of the victims to confront the tragedies and their own grief while learning what happened to their loved ones.

Performing independent postmortem examinations to document cases of torture

The Independent Medico-Legal Unit (IMLU) was established in 1995, after the Kenya Medical Association issued a press statement asserting that no torture took place in Kenya.  The IMLU is a network of independent doctors and lawyers who challenge official reports of deaths in custody by performing postmortem examinations to document suspected cases torture and providing medical and legal aid to prisoners and survivors of torture.  Clients who want a postmortem on family members first complete a Post-Mortem Request Form and, because of IMLU’s network throughout the country, doctors who live nearest to the victim quickly administer postmortems.  Results are carefully documented according to medical and legal guidelines.  IMLU encourages clients to seek legal redress when evidence of torture is discovered.  For clients who cannot afford a lawyer, IMLU refers them to a network of lawyers and NGOs providing pro bono legal services.  Their goal is to pursue public interest cases that will set a precedent against the use of torture and send a message to perpetrators of torture.

Distributing air quality testing equipment to community members to promote environmental justice

Since 1995, many communities across the United States have begun or joined “Bucket Brigades,” programs that instruct communities near industrial polluters how to build and use simple air monitoring devices, or “buckets.”  In the absence of strong environmental laws, standards, or environmental enforcement bodies, buckets give communities the means to independently monitor the air quality of their neighborhoods and provide them with the evidence to affect environmental and industrial policy change.

Using forensics to investigate human rights abuses

The Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team (Equipo Argentino de Antropología Forense – EAAF) has pioneered the use of forensic anthropology in the field of human rights.