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1018-8185 2007-3 216 216 DOCUMENTATION Human rights abuses, transparency, impunity and the web Steven H. Miles, MD* Abstract War crimes, impunity and the Web This paper reviews how human rights advocates The World Wide Web’s (Web) profound ef- during the “war-on-terror” have found new ways fect on all forms of communication extends to use the World Wide Web (Web) to combat hu- to human rights advocacy. The web is trans- man rights abuses. These include posting of hu- parent in ways that are well suited to human man rights reports; creating large, open-access rights work. It is transparent with regard to and updated archives of government documents the information itself: it can transmit text, and other data, tracking CIA rendition flights and maintaining blogs, e-zines, list-serves and news pictures, video clips, sound or facsimiles of services that rapidly distribute information be- government documents showing marginal tween journalists, scholars and human rights advo- notes and signatures of government officials. cates. The Web is a powerful communication tool The photographs of smiling guards abusing for human rights advocates. It is international, in- men at Abu Ghraib or of President Bush’s stantaneous, and accessible for uploading, archiv- signature on a directive suspending the Ge- ing, locating and downloading information. For its neva Conventions for Taliban and al-Qaeda human rights potential to be fully realized, inter- prisoners are powerful images. This trans- national law must be strengthened to promote the parency is magnified by the Web’s ability to declassification of government documents, as is carry limitless amounts of such documents done by various freedom of information acts. It is in large archives that can be indexed, linked too early to assess the final impact of the Web on human rights abuses in the “war on-terror.” Wide and sorted for specialized use. Second, the dissemination of government documents and hu- Web is transparent in the way that it crosses man rights advocates’ reports has put the United international borders and equally reaches States government on the defensive and some of diverse political constituencies. Access to its policies have changed in response to public information is available through internet pressure. Even so, the essential elements of secret cafes, libraries and personal computers. prisons, detention without charges or trials, and Third, the Web is transparent in its speed; illegal rendition remain intact. it instantaneously distributes information to human rights advocates and media outlets. Key words: human rights, war, war crimes, inter- This changes the time scale of human rights net, torture work. The speed of the virtual information Volume 17, Number 3, 2007 Volume networks means that information about human rights violations can be compiled, *) Center for Bioethics, University of Minnesota, Min- ORTURE researched, analysed and disseminated in T neapolis, MN 55455, [email protected] 217 DOCUMENTATION “news-cycle” or “political” time rather than American Civil Liberties Union’s (ACLU) in the slower cycles of professional histori- website posts more than 100,000 pages of ans. Transparency is the first antidote to im- government documents that it obtained by a punity for war crimes. The Web is a powerful law suit using the United States’ Freedom of advance in the fight against impunity for Information Act.12 Unfortunately, the utility crimes against humanity. of this immense archive is limited by poor indexing and organization which the ACLU The Web and the “War on Terror” is gradually improving. In addition, many of The “war-on-terror” offers many examples the documents are in a facsimile form which of how the Web changes human rights ad- does not permit text searching – reading is a vocacy. This article focuses on activities formidable challenge. with regard to the United States operations Nevertheless, there are a number of spe- in Iraq and Afghanistan, Guantanamo Bay cialized websites. Minnesota’s Human Rights and in countries to which persons have been Library section, entitled United States Mili- taken by the illegal process of extraordinary tary Medicine in War on Terror Prisons, con- rendition. tains 60,000 pages of government policies, The most common and conventional investigations and death records pertaining Web activity is the posting of human rights to medical operations in the US war on reports and analyses and commentaries. terror prisons. Its indexes are cross linked Such postings are done by many non-gov- to the government and index items can be ernmental human rights groups including found by general web search engines even Amnesty International1, Center for Consti- though the documents can not be internally tutional Rights2, Human Rights First3, Hu- searched because they are in a facsimile man Rights Watch4, Physicians for Human form.13 This site is used by 500 visitors per Rights5 and The World Organization for month. Iraq Body Count culls media and Human Rights.6 It is also done by interna- Defense Department sources to maintain an tional organizations such as the Office of updated list of civilian casualties in Iraq.14 the United Nations’ High Commissioner for Cage Prisoners posts information and advo- Human Rights,7 its Special Rapporteur on cacy appeals for prisoners at Guantanamo.15 torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrad- Each of these archives is maintained by a ing treatment or punishment,8 the European few, mostly unpaid, volunteers. Parliament or the Council of Europe (both The Web has also been used to identify of which have addressed renditions).9,10 In the flight plans and aircraft used for the this use, the Web offers an inexpensive fast Central Intelligence Agency’s illegal program T way to distribute to an audience of human of rendition. Stephen Grey used databases ORTURE rights advocates and media outlets that ex- compiled by hobbyist plane spotters and Volume 17, Number 3, 2007 Volume tends far beyond membership lists and me- computer archives of flight plans to identify dia distributions. and track individual renditions, the fleet of A more innovative human rights use CIA planes, countries that supplied transit of the Web is the creation of open-access airports and the final destinations for these and updated data archives. The Center for flights.16 Public Integrity posted all of the appendi- Blogs, e-zines, list-serves and RSS feeds ces to General Taguba’s investigation of the rapidly distribute information amongst jour- abuses at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.11 The nalists, academic sources and human rights 218 DOCUMENTATION advocates. Daily Kos is one general news found a Paraguayan police official liable service which has extensive human rights in- for civil damages for the torture and formation.17 Psyche, Science and Society is murder of Joelito Filartigo which vio- a moderated blog that focuses on organizing lated various international laws to which to change the policies and leadership of the the United States is a party. Redress for American Psychological Association which victims is available only to a few persons supports psychologists’ involvement with who can overcome poverty and stigma- coercive interrogations at Guantanamo Bay tization to obtain expensive legal assist- and elsewhere.18 ance and a sympathetic court. Neverthe- less, attorneys are using Web archives of Discussion government documents to prepare cases The Web can play a key role in fighting im- for persons who are detained without punity for human rights abuses. To under- charges or evidence. stand its emerging role, it is useful to distin- • Civil sanctions: It is possible to deny work guish between several senses of what ending permits or visas to persons who have impunity can entail: committed crimes against humanity. Human rights abusers increasingly risk • Moral delegitimization: This is exemplified deportation from countries to which they by the arrest warrant for General Au- have immigrated. It is likely that the Web gusto Pinochet for murders committed archives can play a role in promoting civil by his Chilean regime. Although General sanctions if human rights advocates can Pinochet was never tried, the warrant use such information to mobilize govern- precipitated a historical reevaluation of ments to apply the sanctions. his regime that lead to prolonged legal • Criminal punishment: The trials of proceedings, constitutional changes, Saddam Hussein of Iraq, Serbia’s Slo- prosecution of his collaborators and con- bodon Milosevic, and Charles Taylor of fiscation of family assets. Similarly, legal Liberia all exemplify varying kinds of summons and accusations relating to formal prosecutions for crimes against crimes committed by Operation Condor humanity. In 2006, Thomas Lubanga, in South America have made it difficult former leader of a Congolese militia, for former United States Secretary of became the first person to be arrested State Henry Kissinger to freely travel. under a warrant issued by the new Inter- Delegitimizing is the most common way national Criminal Court.21 Criminal pun- to attack impunity and it begins with ishment is the rarest form of ending im- disseminating authoritative reports from punity. It is costly and generally reserved human rights organizations. The experi- for leaders. It is politically charged and ence in the war on terror shows the Web’s highly selective: Cambodia’s Pol Pot was ability to promoting transparency in a never tried, Radovan Karadži´c and Josef way that leads to moral delegitimization. Mengele were sheltered from protection. Unfortunately, moral opprobrium is a The International Criminal Court should weak punishment and deterrent. post evidence on the Web as soon as it Volume 17, Number 3, 2007 Volume • Redress for victims: This is exemplified by has been vetted. Courtroom proceedings Filartiga v Peña Iralaa.19,20 In this 1979 must be fair, but a crime against human- ORTURE T United States civil case, a federal court ity is a crime against every member of 219 DOCUMENTATION the human community; we all deserve to further.22 The goal of open access to infor- see the evidence.
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