Advocates rely on international human rights standards to hold governments to their legal obligations and for developing effective advocacy strategies. For example, activists using commitments their state has made to demand legislative change in their country, so that the country implements at home what it commits to at the UN. In order to understand the substance of international human rights law, advocates and researchers need to identify what the treaty texts and human rights bodies say about particular human rights or legal concepts. Unfortunately, there is no centralized database of international human rights law (yet).

Researching human rights law for advocacy

Friedhelm Weinberg

@WhyFrycek

@HURIDOCS

Introduction to the course

What is human rights law?

Why is this information important for human rights law?

Define objective research questions

Identify relevant sources and bodies

Identify key documents via secondary sources

Identify available databases

Know the databases' limitations

A framework to support your human rights law research

When to use the UPR-Info database

The UPR database: How to use it

Tutorial: Using the the UPR-Info database of State recommendations

When to use the RightDocs database

RightsDocs database: How to use it

Tutorial: Using RightDocs to find resolutions from the UN Human Rights Council

When to use the SUMMA database

Summa database: How to use it

Tutorial: Using SUMMA to find Inter American human rights case law

Wrap up video

Conclusion

HURIDOCS

<p>HURIDOCS is an NGO that supports human rights organizations to use information and technology in the simple and most efficient way. With smart information management, our partners are able to expose human rights violations for the protection of survivors and to hold perpetrators accountable.</p>

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HURIDOCS

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Researching human rights law for advocacy

Researching human rights law for advocacy

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