Tech & Human Rights Blog Series

Bringing Low-Resourced Areas Out of Darkness
By Grace Gohlke
June 9, 2015
The lights flickered once, twice, and then cut out completely. Members of our party who have spent several years – some their entire lives – in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) were unfazed and continued to speak without interruption. They waited patiently for the lights to return so they could continue eating… Continue Reading

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Justin and His Search for Justice
By Georges Kuzma
June 3, 2015
Justin is the police officer in charge of sexual violence cases in Bunyakiri, a village surrounded by mountainous forests in Kahuzi-Biega National Park, in the conflict zones of the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)… Continue Reading

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From the Exam Room to the Courtroom and the Bumpy Road in Between
By Ranit Mishori, MD, MHS
May 26, 2015
The idea was intriguing – perhaps even a no-brainer: create a mobile application that would allow clinicians to document physical findings during medical examinations of sexual violence victims. Then, with the patient’s consent and the click of a button, have them transmit the report to the police… Continue Reading

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After Ushahidi – Using New Technologies to Prevent Mass Atrocities
By Karen Naimer, JD, LLM, MA
May 19, 2015
On December 30, 2007, when Mwai Kibaki announced his reelection as president of Kenya, the country erupted in fierce demonstrations that devolved into three months of brutal, widespread, inter-ethnic clashes. Kenya’s post-election violence was particularly remarkable given that it was witnessed and documented to an unprecedented degree by the country’s residents… Continue Reading

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The Power of Digital Documentation and Social Media
By Elise Baker
May 12, 2015
One of the questions I am asked most often about my work on the Syria mapping project at Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) is how we are able to conduct our research and documentation without being on the ground in country. How can we get detailed and unbiased information and corroborate 242 attacks on medical facilities and 615 deaths of medical personnel… Continue Reading

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Leapfrogging into the Digital Age
By Sucharita S.K. Varanasi, JD
May 5, 2015
A few months ago, I was fortunate enough to travel to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to pilot a new tool in the fight against sexual violence in conflict. In my capacity as the MediCapt project manager, I field tested the mobile application MediCapt v2.0 – a new and improved version of MediCapt – with our clinicians in the DRC… Continue Reading

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