Basic course on international human rights protection
Introduction to Human Rights Resources Online (Part I-IV)
Part I – Monday Nov 19, 9-10:20 am (lecture)
“Finding the best HR-sources on the web”
Part II - Monday Nov. 19, 14-14:15
”Non-Discrimination and the Protection of Vulnerable Groups”
Part III - Tuesday Nov. 20, 14-14:15
”The Rule of Law”
Part IV - Friday Nov. 23, 9-9:15
”Human Rights Country Information Online”
By NCHR-librarians
Betty Haugen and Kristine Mesgrahl
UNIVERSITY OF OSLO - Norwegian Centre for Human Rights
Goals for the course
• Become familiar with
sites for documents
from
–United Nations human
rights system
–Regional systems
–NGOs
–Official sites and
reliable alternatives
–Full-text databases and
link collections
• Learn some basic
search techniques
– Search language,
syntax
Overall goal:
Find the best human
rights sources
on the web
UNIVERSITY OF OSLO - Norwegian Centre for Human Rights
Agenda
1. UN system
2. Regional systems
3. Other international Courts and
Tribunals
4. NGOs
5. Link collections
6. Search engines
7. Basic search techniques
UNIVERSITY OF OSLO - Norwegian Centre for Human Rights
Agenda
1.
UN system
1.
2.
3.
UN - United Nations
UN and Human Rights
High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)
UN human rights instruments and monitoring
bodies
UNIVERSITY OF OSLO - Norwegian Centre for Human Rights
1.1 United Nations
a. United Nations home page
http://www.un.org/
b. Guide to UN documentation
http://www.un.org/Depts/dhl/resguide/
c. Official Document system
http://documents.un.org/
d. UN treaties : general
– International law http://www.un.org/law/
– Treaties http://untreaty.un.org/ (subscription-fee)
•
•
Status of multilateral treaties
United Nations treaty series
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1.1.a United Nations home page
http://www.un.org/
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1.1.b Guide to UN documentation
http://www.un.org/Depts/dhl/resguide/
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1.1.c Official Document system
http://documents.un.org/
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1.1.d UN treaties : International law
http://www.un.org/law/
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1.1.d UN treaties : Treaty collection
(subscription-fee)
• Status of multilateral treaties
• United Nations treaty series
http://untreaty.un.org/
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1.2 UN and human rights : OHCHR
http://www.ohchr.org/english/
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1.3 UN human rights instruments
a.
International human rights instruments and their
monitoring bodies
http://www.ohchr.org/english/law/index.htm
b.
United Nations Treaty bodies database
http://tb.ohchr.org/default.aspx
c.
The United Nations Human Rights Treaties
(Bayevsky.com)
http://www.bayefsky.com/
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1.3.a. International human rights instruments and their
monitoring bodies
http://www.ohchr.org/english/law/index.htm
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1.3.b United Nations Treaty bodies database
http://tb.ohchr.org/default.aspx
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1.3.c The United Nations Human Rights Treaties (Bayevsky.com)
http://www.bayefsky.com/
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2. Regional systems
1. Europe
a. Instruments
b. Case law : European Court of Human
Rrights (ECHR) - ”HUDOC”
c. OCSE ODIHR
2. Other regions
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2.1.a Regional instruments: Europe
• EU Charter of Fundamental Rights
http://ec.europa.eu/justice_home/unit/charte/index_en.html
• Council of Europe treaty collection
http://conventions.coe.int/
– Choose list by subject – human rights conventions and
protocols - submit
– European Convention on Human Rights
– Convention and protocols: text, ratification status,
explanatory reports (from P3)
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2.1.a EU Charter of Fundamental Rights
http://ec.europa.eu/justice_home/unit/charte/index_en.html
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2.1.a Council of Europe Treaty Collection
http://conventions.coe.int/
• Choose list by subject – human rights conventions and
protocols – submit
• European Convention on Human Rights
• Convention and protocols: text, ratification status,
explanatory reports (from P3)
UNIVERSITY OF OSLO - Norwegian Centre for Human Rights
2.1.b Europe - Case law : ECHR - ”HUDOC”
ECHR Portal Search
http://cmiskp.echr.coe.int/tkp197/search.asp?skin=hudoc-en
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2.1.c The Organization for Security and
Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)
http://www.osce.org/
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2.1.c Office for Democratic Institutions and
Human Rights (ODIHR)
http://www.osce.org/odihr/
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2.2 Other regional systems
• Inter-American Court of Human Rights http://www.corteidh.or.cr
• The African Union’s Commission on
Human and Peoples’ Rights
http://www.achpr.org/english/
• Currently under construction, for full-text
decisions see also U of M HR library:
http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/africa/comcas
es/comcases.html
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3. Other international Courts and Tribunals
• International Criminal Court –
http://www.icc-cpi.int
• Ad hoc International Criminal Tribunal for
the Former Yugoslavia http://www.un.org/icty/index.html
• Ad hoc International Criminal Tribunal for
Rwanda - http://www.ictr.org
UNIVERSITY OF OSLO - Norwegian Centre for Human Rights
4. Documents from human rights NGOs
• Amnesty International
– http://www.amnesty.org/
• Human Rights Watch
– http://www.hrw.org/
• Human Rights First
– http://www.humanrightsfirst.org/
• Interights
– http://www.interights.org/
• For more, see i.a. : U of M NGO links
– http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/links/ngolinks.html
UNIVERSITY OF OSLO - Norwegian Centre for Human Rights
5. Starting points :
research guides & link collections
• Guide to UN human rights documentation
http://www.un.org/Depts/dhl/resguide/spechr.htm
• ASIL guide to HR resources
http://www.asil.org/resource/humrts1.htm
• EISIL research guide : human rights
http://www.eisil.org/index.php?sid=656810392&t=sub_pages&cat=185
• U of M Human rights library
http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/
UNIVERSITY OF OSLO - Norwegian Centre for Human Rights
6. Search engines
• Google – search advanced – note search tips!
– ”Exact phrase”
– ~Synonyms
• Google Scholar http://scholar.google.com/
– Author: ”rkm smith”
• HURISEARCH – ”Google for human rights”
http://www.hurisearch.org/
UNIVERSITY OF OSLO - Norwegian Centre for Human Rights
6. HuriSearch
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7. Search language and techniques
•
•
•
•
•
Subject terms
Classifications
Phrase or word search
Boolean operators
Truncation, wild card
Ref. article in Course Compendium:
“Tools Every Searcher Should Know and
Use”
Suzanne Bell
Online; Sep/Oct 2007; 31, 5; pg. 22-27
One of many tutorials on the web:
Quick tips (BARE BONES 101 )
http://www.sc.edu/beaufort/library/pages/bones/lesson7.shtml
From: University of South Carolina – Beaufort Library
UNIVERSITY OF OSLO - Norwegian Centre for Human Rights
7.1 General search principles
Truncation/wildcard:
Replaces zero, one or several characters.
Often * or ? (check search help for each database)
Example 1: hous* finds house, houses, housing etc.
Example 2: wom?n finds woman and women
Phrase:
Search for words in a given order. ”Human rights”, not rights and human
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Where to get help:
http://www.humanrights.uio.no/english/library/
UNIVERSITY OF OSLO - Norwegian Centre for Human Rights