American Association for the Advancement of Science: Science and Human Rights Program
    Devoted to protecting the human rights of scientists; advancing scientific methods and skills for documenting and preventing human rights violations; developing scientific methodologies for monitoring the implementation of human rights; fostering greater understanding of and support for human rights among scientists; and conducting research on human rights issues.
    Reports of studies of specific issues, such as the use of information systems to investigate human rights violations. Documents joint project with HURIDOCS on monitoring violations of economic, social and cultural rights.
http://shr.aaas.org/program/index.htm

American Society of International Law
    Founded in 1906 by U.S. Secretary of State Elihu Root to educate and engage the public in international law, and to expand its frontiers as a vehicle for resolving disputes and international conflict.
    Extensive guide to research methodology, with links to electronic resources for international human rights law.
http://www.asil.org/resource/humrts1.htm

Amnesty International Library
    Worldwide campaigning movement that works to promote all the human rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international standards.
    In-depth reports on human rights themes, Amnesty International campaigns, and annual reports of human rights violations in most countries.
http://www.amnesty.org.uk/library/ .

Center for International Human Rights - Rights International
    Sues foreign governments before international tribunals on behalf of people throughout the world whose human rights have been violated by their governments. Litigates cases addressing a variety of human rights issues, including torture, censorship, police abuse, "disappearances," and racial/gender/religious discrimination.
    Research guide for international human rights lawyers; comprehensive, well-organized set of links, brief bank of downloadable model human rights briefs .
http://www.rightsinternational.org/ricenter/other.html

Council of Europe
    International organization based in the French city of Strasbourg. Its main role is to strengthen democracy, human rights and the rule of law throughout its member states. It is the main political focus for cooperation with the countries of central and eastern Europe. Established the European Court of Justice. Promulgated the European Convention on Human Rights, the European Social Charter, the Convention for Prevention of Torture, and the European Cultural Convention, and many other international human rights agreements.
    Contains texts of the above and other important conventions, charters and protocols.
http://www.coe.int/portalT.asp

Derechos
    First Internet-based human rights organization. Works with human rights organizations in Latin America and the world for the promotion and respect of human rights all over the world, for the right to privacy and against impunity for human rights violators. Uses the Internet as its primary information and communication tool.
    Good survey coverage on researching human rights on the Internet. Links to major international human rights sites. Country reports, news sites, journals, directories. Subject index of sites. English and Spanish versions.
http://www.derechos.org/human-rights//manual.htm

Doddel Server
    The Doddel Server (Doddel is a cartoon character) is an experimental server at the Dept. of Computer Science of the Universiteit Maastricht. Due to the permanent experimental status of the Doddel, the system's availability is not guaranteed.
    Extensive collection of links to original treaty documents, human rights files, non-governmental organizations and archives pertaining to Europe and Africa.
http://doddel.cs.unimaas.nl/

European Court of Human Rights
    See Council of Europe.
    History, structure and procedures of the court. Texts of the European Convention on Human Rights, the European Social Charter, the Convention for Prevention of Torture, the European Charter for Minority Languages, and the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities. Judgments and decisions, pending cases, rules of court.
http://www.echr.coe.int/default.htm

Human Rights Watch
    Investigates and exposes human rights violations and holds abusers accountable. Challenges governments and those who hold power to end abusive practices and respect international human rights law. Enlists the public and the international community to support the cause of human rights for all.
    Information on academic freedom, child soldiers, corporations and human rights, free expression on the Internet, prison conditions and the treatment of prisoners, and related links.
http://www.hrw.org/

Human Rights Internet
    Primary role is to serve the information needs of international scholars, human rights activists, asylum lawyers, and other organizations via an extensive documentation center and computerized databases.
    Large collection of international human rights instruments in their full text. Creates and maintains profiles of new human rights texts. Collects full-text, official reports and documentation from international events and conferences concerning children's rights. Reviews the Vienna Declaration and Program of Action adopted at the U.N. World Conference on Human Rights, Vienna, June 14-25, 1993. Includes reports (generally by NGOs) about the work of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) and other U.N. bodies, such as the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ESCR), the Human Rights Defenders Declaration U.N. Working Group, and the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). In its "For the record" section, summarizes the work of the United Nations on human rights issues and developments for the last year.
http://www.hri.ca/

International Court of Justice
    Principal judicial organ of the United Nations, based at the Peace Palace in The Hague (Netherlands).
    Description of the role and functioning of the Court. Includes Charter of the United Nations, Statute of the Court, Rules of Court, Resolution Concerning the Internal Judicial Practice of the Court, Bases for Jurisdiction of the Court, States Entitled to Appear before the Court, Organs and Specialized Agencies of the United Nations Authorized to Request Advisory Opinions, Declarations Recognizing as Compulsory the Jurisdiction of the Court, Treaties and Other Documents, and decisions in contentious cases and advisory opinions (case law). English and French.
http://www.icj-cij.org/

International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights
    Group of non-governmental, not-for-profit organizations that act to protect human rights throughout Europe, North America, and the Central Asian republics formed from the territories of the former Soviet Union. Primary goal is to monitor compliance with the human rights provisions of the Helsinki Final Act and its Follow-up Documents.
    Reports made to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). Current multinational reports on the status of women.
http://www.ihf-hr.org/

International Labor Organization
    Promotes social justice and internationally recognized human and labor rights. Formulates international labor standards in the form of conventions and recommendations setting minimum standards of basic labor rights.
    Includes ILO Constitution, Declaration of Philadelphia, ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work and its Follow-up, Mandate, History and Structure of the ILO, List of ILO member countries, and ILO Organization Chart.
http://www.ilo.org/

Lawyers Committee for Human Rights
    Programs focus on building the legal institutions and structures that will guarantee human rights in the long term and strengthening independent human rights advocacy at the local level.
    Provides information on protecting human rights defenders, ensuring international justice, advancing the rights of refugees, promoting workers' rights, and advancing accountability in policing.
http://www.lchr.org/home.htm

Notre Dame Law School Library: International Human Rights Resources on the Web
    Extensive collection of links to difficult-to-obtain documents, such as reports to governmental bodies and officials and non-governmental organizations. Subject areas include: religious belief, freedom of expression and press, disabled, right to development, economic, social and cultural rights, health and human rights, refugees, asylum, statelessness and nationality, war crimes, prisoners, children, forced labor, armed conflict, and humanitarian law .
http://www.nd.edu/~lawlib/research/guide_humanrts.html

Organization of American States
    Made up of 35 member states. The region's premier political forum for multilateral dialogue and action. Human rights organs are the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.
    Documents include treaties, statutes, rules and regulations of the commission and the court, country reports, annual reports, and specific reports, such as the Report of the Inter-American Specialized Conference on Terrorism. English, Spanish, French, Portugese.
http://www.oas.org/

State Dept. Country Reports on Human Rights Practices
    Submitted annually by the U.S. Department of State to the U.S. Congress. Cover internationally recognized individual, civil, political, and worker rights, as set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
http://www.state.gov/www/global/human_rights/hrp_reports_mainhp.html
    For other State Dept. reports and statements of public officials, go to the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor.
http://www.state.gov/www/global/human_rights/drl_hrpage.html

Truth and Reconciliation Commission Website
    Documents the work of South Africa's post-apartheid Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Includes the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Report, Amnesty Hearings & Decisions, Human Rights Violations Hearings and Submissions, Reparation & Rehabilitation Committee Transcripts, Policies & Articles, the legal background of the formation of the commission, news reports and press releases.
http://www.truth.org.za/

Tufts University Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy
    Extensive collection of original treaties, conventions and covenants on a variety of topics, including migrant workers, indigenous peoples, parental responsibility, child protection, racial discrimination, traffic in persons, slavery, POWs, collective bargaining, genocide and torture.
http://fletcher.tufts.edu/multi/humanRights.html .

University of Minnesota Human Rights Library
    Developed by the University of Minnesota Human Rights Center with support from the Ford Foundation, The John Merck Fund, the Joyce Mertz-Gilmore Foundation, the Open Society Institute, the U.S. Institute of Peace, the University of Minnesota Law School, the Weyerhaeuser Family Foundation, the West Group, and through the DIANA consortium for establishment of an international human rights database.
    Contains Treaties and other International Instruments, Other United Nations Documents, Regional Materials, Bibliographies and Research Guides, Asylum and Refugee Materials, U.S. Human Rights Documents, and LINKS to over 1000 other sites. English, Spanish, French, Russian.
http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/index.html

United Nations
    The promotion and protection of human rights has been a major preoccupation for the United Nations since its founding in 1945, as set forth in in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. Over the years, a whole network of human rights instruments and mechanisms has been developed to ensure the primacy of human rights and to confront human rights violations wherever they occur.
    Explanation of UN document symbols, also of use in locating documents in the LRC's microform collection http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu4/docsym.htm
    Guide to Charter-based and treaty-based human rights bodies and their documents http://www.un.org/Depts/dhl/resguide/spechr.htm
    UN High Commissioner for Human Rights International Human Rights Instruments http://www.unhchr.ch/html/intlinst.htm
    UN High Commissioner for Human Rights web page http://www.unhchr.ch/
    UN Human Rights site map http://www.un.org/rights/
    UN Humanitarian Affairs site map, topics relating to refugees, asylum and relief efforts http://www.un.org/ha/
    UN Treaty Collection http://untreaty.un.org/english/access.asp (User ID: A1763531/Password: 5130701) The LRC also has this series in hard copy. See our guide to treaty research at http://www.acusd.edu/lrc/gs-31.html

University of Western Australia
    Under the auspices of the university's faculties of economics & commerce, education, and law, a collection of links dealing with specific human rights situations, focusing on NGOs, religion, refugees, children and torture. Pinpoints specific sites and documents.
http://www.law.ecel.uwa.edu.au/intlaw/human_rights-specific.htm

Prepared by Ruth Levor
January 31, 2000
Rev. January 19, 2001; January 17, 2002
Also available online at http://www.sandiego.edu/lrc/humanrightsguide.html
 
 

International Human Rights Research
Topical Internet Guide

    Most of these sites link to each other, but multiple listings are convenient, because a particular link may be defective, or a server may be down, and it is helpful to have alternate points of access.

Advocacy

American Association for the Advancement of Science
Amnesty International
Human Rights Internet
Human Rights Watch
International Federation of Human Rights Leagues
International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights
Lawyers Committee for Human Rights
University of Minnesota

Africa
American Society of International Law
Center for International Human Rights Law
Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation
Derechos
Doddel Server
State Department Country Reports
United Nations
University of Minnesota
University of Western Australia

Asia
International Labor Organization
State Department Country Reports
University of Western Australia

Asylum
Amnesty International
Notre Dame

Capital punishment
Derechos
International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights
Organization of American States

Children
American Society of International Law
Center for International Human Rights Law
Doddel Server
Organization of American States
Tufts
United Nations
University of Western Australia

Civil rights
Doddel Server
Tufts
University of Minnesota

Collections
American Society of International Law
Tufts
University of Minnesota

Conventions
Human Rights Internet
Tufts

Countries, documents & reports
American Society of International Law
Amnesty International
Derechos
Doddel Server
Organization of American States
State Department Country Reports
University of Minnesota

Courts
American Society of International Law
Center for International Human Rights Law
Derechos
European Court of Human Rights
Human Rights Watch
International Court of Justice
Organization of American States
United Nations
University of Minnesota

Criminal law
United Nations
University of Minnesota

Development
Notre Dame

Disabled
International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights
Notre Dame

Disappeared
Derechos
Organization of American States

Discrimination
Council of Europe
Doddel Server
International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights
Tufts
United Nations
University of Minnesota

Eastern Europe
American Society of International Law
Council of Europe
European Court of Human Rights
International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights
State Department Country Reports

Economic, cultural & social rights
American Society of International Law
Center for International Human Rights Law
Council of Europe
Doddel Server
International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights
Notre Dame
Organization of American States
United Nations
University of Minnesota

Europe
American Society of International Law
Center for International Human Rights Law
Council of Europe
Derechos
Doddel Server
European Court of Human Rights
International Labor Organization
State Department Country Reports
Tufts
University of Minnesota
University of Western Australia

Freedom of expression
Derechos
International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights
Notre Dame
Project Diana (Yale)

Gay rights
Derechos

Genocide
Tufts
United Nations

Health
Notre Dame
Tufts

History
Tufts

Holocaust

Immigration
University of Minnesota

Indexes
Doddel Server
Notre Dame
Tufts
University of Minnesota

Indigenous peoples
American Society of International Law
Tufts

Labor
American Society of International Law
International Labor Organization
Organization of American States
State Department Country Reports
Tufts
University of Minnesota

Latin America
American Society of International Law
Center for International Human Rights Law
Doddel Server
International Labor Organization
Organization of American States
State Department Country Reports
University of Minnesota
University of Western Australia

Legislative history
University of Minnesota

Non-governmental organizations
American Society of International Law
Derechos
Doddel Server
International Federation of Human Rights Leagues
State Department Country Reports
University of Minnesota
University of Western Australia

North America
American Society of International Law
Center for International Human Rights Law
Doddel Server
International Labor Organization
Organization of American States
State Department Country Reports
Tufts
University of Minnesota

Prisoners of war
Tufts

Prisoners, political
Amnesty International

Privacy
Doddel Server

Refugees
American Society of International Law
Doddel Server
International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights
Notre Dame
Tufts
University of Minnesota
University of Western Australia

Religion
Notre Dame
State Department Country Reports
University of Western Australia

Slavery
Tufts

Terrorism
Human Rights Watch
International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights
International Labor Organization
Organization of American States

Torture
Amnesty International
Center for International Human Rights Law
Council of Europe
Doddel Server
International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights
Organization of American States
South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission
Tufts
United Nations
University of Minnesota
University of Western Australia

Treaties
Center for International Human Rights Law
Derechos
Doddel Server
Human Rights Internet
United Nations
University of Minnesota

Truth and reconciliation
South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission

United Nations
American Society of International Law
Center for International Human Rights Law
Derechos
Doddel Server
Human Rights Internet
United Nations
University of Minnesota

Universities
Human Rights Internet
Notre Dame
Tufts
University of Minnesota

War
Notre Dame

Women
American Society of International Law
Center for International Human Rights Law
Derechos
Doddel Server
Organization of American States
Tufts
United Nations
University of Minnesota

Prepared by Ruth Levor
January 31, 2000
Rev. January 19, 2001; January 17, 2002