✊ Human Rights
How we protect dignity and hold power accountable
The Problem
Human rights violations happen every day, yet most go undocumented and unaddressed. The systems meant to protect people are slow, centralized, and inaccessible. Major organizations do critical work but can only cover a fraction of what happens. Authoritarian regimes suppress documentation, journalists are imprisoned, witnesses are silenced, and evidence disappears.
The Alternative
Citizen Documentation Networks
Anyone, anywhere, can document what they see — GPS-tagged incident reporting, metadata verification, and censorship-resistant distribution so evidence cannot be destroyed.
Open Data Aggregation
Real-time collection from GDELT, UN OHCHR, ACLED, and citizen reports into a single, accessible platform. No paywalls, no gatekeeping — data belongs to humanity.
Community Rights Education
The 30 Articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, accessible to everyone in every language — not abstract law, but living rights people can claim and defend.
Institutional Amplification
We don't compete with Human Rights Watch or Amnesty — we feed them. Citizen data amplifies expert investigation. Expert credibility validates citizen reports.
Start Here
- ✓Learn the 30 Articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
- ✓Document violations you witness — safely and with evidence
- ✓Establish a local human rights monitoring group
- ✓Connect with regional and international human rights networks
- ✓Support and protect journalists and human rights defenders
Already Happening
Human Rights Data Analysis Group (HRDAG)
San Francisco, USA · Est. 1991
Applies rigorous statistical science to human rights data, working with truth commissions, international tribunals, and UN missions across 30+ years in Guatemala, Colombia, Syria, and beyond.
WITNESS
Brooklyn, New York, USA · Est. 1992
Trains and supports people worldwide in using video and technology to document human rights abuses. Has partnered with 300+ groups in 80+ countries, turning footage into tools for justice.
Ushahidi
Nairobi, Kenya · Est. 2008
An open-source crowdsourcing platform enabling communities to map and report incidents of violence, election fraud, and human rights abuses in real time. Over 35,000 deployments in 30 languages worldwide.
Access Now
New York, USA (global offices) · Est. 2009
Defends digital rights of people at risk, operating a 24/7 Digital Security Helpline and running the annual RightsCon summit. Advocates against internet shutdowns, surveillance, and censorship worldwide.
BarefootLaw
Kampala, Uganda · Est. 2012
Uses social media, mobile platforms, and AI to provide free legal information and assistance to underserved communities across Uganda who otherwise lack access to any form of legal support.
Human Rights Measurement Initiative (HRMI)
Wellington, New Zealand · Est. 2016
Produces the world's most comprehensive country-level human rights performance dataset. Their freely accessible Rights Tracker platform is certified as a Digital Public Good by the UN.
Karapatan Alliance Philippines
Quezon City, Philippines · Est. 1995
A grassroots human rights alliance conducting fact-finding missions and documentation of violations across the Philippines. Citizen-generated data used to hold duty-bearers accountable before national and international bodies.
HURIDOCS
Geneva, Switzerland · Est. 1982
Helps human rights organizations manage evidence and case documentation. Develops the open-source Uwazi database platform used by defenders worldwide for accountability efforts.
Namati
Washington, DC, USA (India, Myanmar, Mozambique, Sierra Leone) · Est. 2011
Trains community paralegals and convenes the Grassroots Justice Network of 3,000+ groups across 160 countries, directly improving lives for over 5 million people through legal empowerment.
CIVICUS
Johannesburg, South Africa · Est. 1993
Tracks civic freedoms in 196 countries through its CIVICUS Monitor, rating each country's civic space using near real-time data on freedom of association, assembly, and expression.
Derechos Digitales
Santiago, Chile (7 Latin American countries) · Est. 2005
Defends human rights in the digital environment through legal research, policy analysis, advocacy, and digital security trainings across Latin America.
Mnemonic (Syrian Archive)
Berlin, Germany · Est. 2014
Archives and preserves digital documentation of human rights violations. Operates sister archives for Syria, Sudan, and Yemen, preserving at-risk evidence for accountability.
Forest Peoples Programme
United Kingdom (tropical regions globally) · Est. 1990
Supports indigenous and forest-dependent peoples in defending lands and rights across Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Combines legal advocacy with community mapping and participatory monitoring.
OpenArchive
San Francisco, USA · Est. 2015
Builds the Save app helping citizen journalists securely preserve, verify, and share eyewitness media using distributed backends outside corporate platforms. Co-designed with at-risk communities.