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Human Rights
A guide to library and online sources for research on human rights.
Definitions
An Inter-governmental Organization or IGO is "an organization whose members are the governments of different countries... Inter-governmental organizations are either global, meaning open to every country, such as the United Nations, or regional, meaning open only to states in a particular geographic region, such as the OAS in the Western Hemisphere."
(Cartwright and Conde 128)
A Non-governmental Organization or NGO is "a not-for-profit association of people working for the promotion and protection of human rights in either a general (all human rights) or a special (specific, focused on certain human rights issues) focus. NGOs may be local, national, regional, or international..."
(Cartwright and Conde 160)
Definitions from: Cartwright, Rita Cantos and H. Victor Conde. Human Rights in the United States: A Dictionary and Documents. Santa Barbara, Calif. ABC-CLIO, 2000. NetLibrary. Web. 14 Jan. 2011.
Human Rights Organizations: Inter-governmental Organization (IGOs)
- UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights - OHCHROHCHR acts as the principal focal point of human rights research, education, public information, and advocacy activities in the United Nations system.
- U.N. Human Rights CouncilThe Human Rights Council is an inter-governmental body within the U.N. system made up of 47 States with the main purpose of addressing situations of human rights violations and making recommendations on them. (Replaces the Commission on Human Rights.)
- Human Rights BodiesList of U.N. Charter-based and treaty-based bodies that monitor implementation of the core international human rights treaties.
- Council of Europe - Human Rights and Legal AffairsIncludes news reports, podcasts and more concerning human rights.
- IACHR - Inter-American Commission on Human RightsThe IACHR is an autonomous organ of the Organization of American States (OAS). The website includes basic documents pertaining to human rights in the Inter-American system, annual and special reports, cases, speeches and more.
- African Commission on Human and Peoples' RightsEstablished by the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights is charged with ensuring the promotion and protection of Human and Peoples’ Rights throughout the African Continent. The website includes periodic reports submitted by member countries relating to the rights and freedoms included in the Charter.
- ICC - International Criminal CourtGo to Situations and Cases link for information on current cases including Uganda, Sudan, Congo, and Central African Republic.
Human Rights Organizations: Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs)
- Amnesty InternationalAmnesty International works to promote all the human rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international standards. The Amnesty International site documents human rights violations in more than150 countries and territories.
- Human Rights WatchInternational NGO that investigates and reports human rights abuses and advocates for policies to prevent them.
- Human Rights InternetWebsite includes reports on their programs and a comprehensive Human Rights Organizations database.
- ANHRI - Arab Network for Human Rights InformationANHRI’s objectives include: to make available Middle East and North African human rights organizations’ reports and statements to Arabic readers worldwide; to link to major international organizations that feature content in Arabic; and to increase access to information about specific human rights issues or abuses.
- AOHR - Arab Organization for Human RightsIn Arabic. If you open the page in Google Chrome it will translate it to English. AOHR was founded in December 1983, as a regional non-governmental organization that aims to promote and protect Human Rights in the Arab World in accordance with international standards. Website includes publications of research on Darfur, annual reports and statements from participating countries.
- Asian Human Rights CommissionWebsite includes specific country information on human rights issues for countries in East, South, and Southeast Asia, with publications such as Human Rights Reports going back to 2005, Special Reports, Think Tank Reports, and more.
- Derechos Human RightsWebsite includes news, links, and documents on many issues including corruption, the death penalty, economic rights and los Desaparecidos (the disappeared ones). If you open the page in Google Chrome it will translate it to English.
- ACDHRS - African Centre for Democracy and Humans RightsWebsite outlines the programs initiated by the Centre.
- Human Rights FirstHuman rights advocacy group. Website includes news, full-text reports, video, a blog, etc.
Human Rights Reports
- Country Reports on Human Rights (U.S. Dept. of State)Reports submitted annually to the U.S. Congress by the U.S. Department of State. The reports cover internationally recognized individual, civil, political, and worker rights, as set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
- UNICEF - United Nations International Children's FundUnder "What We Do" go to "Child Protection" to find information on a variety of topics concerning children.
- UNICEF Data: Monitoring the Situation of Children and WomenFind statistics and reports on a number of issues affecting children and women including: child mortality, malnutrition, child labor, child marriage, female genital mutilation and cutting, children affected by HIV/AIDS, and more.
- CIA Electronic Reading RoomCIA files made public through Freedom of Information Requests. This link takes you to "Historical Collections" to find declassified records of historical value on many topics. In addition, you may wish to explore the "Collections Archive," also linked on this page.
