Syria Justice and Accountability Centre: Bridging the Digital Divide of Human Rights Documentation in Syria

SJAC Update | March 30, 2017
DatNav Arabic cover. Photo from The Engine Room.
Bridging the Digital Divide of Human Rights Documentation in Syria
This week in Brussels, human rights and technology organizations convened at RightsCon to hear about the latest developments at the intersection of the Internet and human rights. At the same time, a collaborative effort between Amnesty International, Benetech, and The Engine Room released the Arabic version of DatNav: How to navigate digital data for human rights research. DatNav was created in May 2016, and brings together 70 leaders of the human rights, technology, and data communities representing over 40 organizations.  The translation of DatNav into Arabic is made possible by Meedan, a group building digital tools for global journalism and translation.
The translation of DatNav gives Syrian civil society groups greater access to information about the benefits and limitations of a variety of digital tools. DatNav Arabic also provides advice on how groups with limited resources can still leverage digital data in their documentation work. The guide, however, is not a replacement for a sound documentation methodology. Rather, DatNav unlocks the ability of documentation groups to understand how digital data can contribute to information about human rights violations, including by strengthening the veracity of traditional documentation methods like interviews.
DatNav is not only a valuable resource for civil society; when the UN’s new International, Impartial, and Independent Mechanism (IIIM) begins developing its methodology for building case files through documentation collection and analysis, it will be confronted with an enormous challenge given the large volume of information that has emerged from Syria and the variety of digital resources available, including satellite imagery, social media data, and telephone records. Given that the IIIM’s mandate is broader than the UN Commission of Inquiry on Syria (COI-Syria), many groups have suggested that the UN create a technology task force for the IIIM to assess the different digital tools available. It is also critical that the IIIM reach out to existing documentation groups to understand what types of data have been collected to date and how to prioritize its collection and analysis in order to complement what has already been achieved.
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The Syria Justice and Accountability Centre (SJAC) is a Syrian-led and multilaterally supported nonprofit that envisions a Syria where people live in a state defined by justice, respect for human rights, and rule of law. SJAC collects, analyzes, and preserves human rights law violations by all parties in the conflict — creating a central repository to strengthen accountability and support transitional justice and peace-building efforts. SJAC also conducts research to better understand Syrian opinions and perspectives, provides expertise and resources, conducts awareness-raising activities, and contributes to the development of locally appropriate transitional justice and accountability mechanisms. Contact us at info@syriaaccountability.org.

Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect: Atrocity Alert: Democratic Republic of the Congo, Yemen and Iraq

Atrocity Alert is a weekly publication by the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect highlighting and updating situations where populations are at risk of, or are enduring, mass atrocity crimes.

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Violence between security forces and the Kamuina Nsapu militia poses an escalating risk to civilians in the Kasai region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Local authorities reportedly found at least 40 police officers killed and beheaded on 25 March after their convoy was ambushed by the militia. Earlier in March two members of the UN’s Panel of Experts on the DRC were abducted along with four Congolese colleagues in Kasai-Central province. On 28 March the UN confirmed it had discovered the bodies of the two UN investigators near Kananga. At least 10 mass graves have been discovered in the region and more than 400 people have been killed by Kamuina Nsapu since July.

Violence and instability in eastern DRC is increasing as talks in Kinshasa on the implementation of a 31 December agreement regarding the country’s elections are falling apart. As the UN Security Council votes to extend the mandate of the UN peacekeeping mission in the DRC this week, it must consider the growing risk of further atrocities and ensure that civilian protection remains at the core of the UN’s mission in the DRC.

Yemen

Sunday, 26 March, marked two years since the escalation of the conflict in Yemen, where Houthi rebels and forces loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh have been engaged in an ongoing armed conflict with the UN-recognized government backed by a Saudi-led military coalition. In the past two years over 4,700 civilians have been killed, including more than 1,500 children. Over 3.1 million Yemenis have been forcibly displaced, and an estimated 18.8 million people – over 75 percent of the population – require humanitarian assistance. According to the UN, approximately 7 million Yemenis are now at risk of starvation, including 462,000 children who are at risk of death due to severe acute malnutrition.

Yemen remains a politically neglected, and under-reported, crisis. It is imperative that the UN, the Security Council and regional powers facilitate a permanent ceasefire and a return to political negotiations; urge parties to enable unhindered humanitarian access; and establish a UN Commission of Inquiry to investigate atrocities committed since the start of the conflict. UN member states must also immediately halt the sale of weapons to parties to the conflict who have been implicated in atrocities in Yemen.

Iraq

On 25 March the UN High Commissioner for Refugees reported that the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) had temporarily paused military operations in western Mosul due to a sharp increase in civilian casualties. An estimated 500 civilians were reportedly killed in airstrikes during the week beginning on 19 March. Particular concern has also been expressed over reports of a massive airstrike in the al-Jadidah district of Mosul that took place on 17 March, where up to 200 civilians may have been killed. On 28 March a senior United States commander in Iraq conceded that that a US airstrike had likely contributed to civilian casualties.

The so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), who remain in control of most of western Mosul, refuses to comply with international humanitarian law and continues to commit war crimes, including targeting civilians as they try to flee.

As the battle for Mosul continues, members of the US-led coalition and the ISF must ensure their military operations fully comply with their obligations under international law. All potential violations, including possible war crimes, must be thoroughly investigated.

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Syria Deeply: Rebels launch fresh offensives, the war on ISIS opens a new front and geopolitical tensions are increasing

Syria Deeply
Mar. 24th, 2017
 
Dear Readers: Here’s your weekly update on the war in Syria.
New Offensives: Syrian opposition forces launched two new offensives this week, both spearheaded by Tahrir al-Sham, a coalition of rebel and jihadist factions led by al-Qaida’s former affiliate in Syria.
On Tuesday, jihadist and rebel forces advanced on Syrian military positions north of Hama, and have since taken control of at least 11 villages. Clashes between pro-government forces and several rebel units including “non-Syrian groups” were continuing on Friday, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).
On Sunday, Tahrir al-Sham launched a surprise offensive on government positions in eastern Damascus. Pro-government forces regained control of the area by Sunday night, but rebels began a new push toward the capital on Tuesday, advancing on a major road in an attempt to retake lost territory. Government forces retaliated with heavy airstrikes on Jobar, where rebels have been under pressure to surrender to the government.
War on ISIS: The Pentagon said it dropped fighters with the United States-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) close to the Tabqa dam, opening a new front in the battle against the so-called Islamic State near the militants’ de facto capital of Raqqa. French defense minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Friday that the battle for Raqqa “will start in the coming days.”
At least 33 people were reported to have been killed in an airstrike on a school sheltering displaced people in the village of al-Mansoura, near Raqqa, on Monday night. The SOHR said the U.S.-led coalition is believed to have carried out the attack. The United Kingdom-based monitor said that at least 152 people, including 19 children and 28 women, have been killed in U.S.-led coalition airstrikes between March 8 and March 24.
The Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), a major part of the U.S.-backed SDF, said Russia was training its fighters in Afrin, a Kurdish area in the northwest of Aleppo. Russia’s defense ministry confirmed that its forces had been deployed in the area, claiming that it is a part of its “Center for Reconciliation,” used to negotiate local truces and monitor cease-fire violations.
Geopolitical Tensions: Russia’s move to train the Kurds is likely to anger Turkey, which considers the YPG a terrorist group. Turkish foreign ministry spokesman Huseyin Muftuoglu described pictures of Russian soldiers with Kurdish fighters as “unpleasant,” and on Thursday Turkey summoned the Russian envoy in Ankara after a sniper in Afrin reportedly killed a Turkish soldier.
Israel challenged reports from earlier in the week saying Russia would no longer allow it to operate without restrictions in Syria’s airspace. On Tuesday, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country would continue to target Hezbollah weapon convoys in Syria.
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EDITOR’S PICKS

Community Insight
Alexander Bratersky,  Senior Foreign Policy Writer, Gazeta.Ru
Though Russia is able to sustain its military support for President Bashar al-Assad, growing frustration at Moscow’s involvement in Syria is pushing the Kremlin to declare the war resolved sooner rather than later, writes Russian political expert Alexander Bratersky.
Kim Bode,  Community Editor of Syria Deeply and Refugees Deeply
Filmmakers Sara Afshar and Nicola Cutcher spent two years interviewing survivors of Syrian detention centers and the families of detainees and defectors from the regime for their documentary “Syria’s Disappeared: The Case Against Assad.”
Frederic C. Hof,  Director of the Atlantic Council’s Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East
March 15 marked the sixth anniversary of the war in Syria. The Atlantic Council’s Faysal Itani spoke to former Ambassador Frederic C. Hof about how the war has impacted the region, the broader international community and the United States’ position.
Oula Abu-Amsha,  Syrian Professor of Computer Science and Applied Mathematics
While struggling to restart her career in Europe, Syrian academic Oula Abu-Amsha found solace helping refugees in Jordan access higher education through the Jamiya Project and was reunited with her former students from Damascus University.
FIRST LOOK
Upcoming coverage
In the coming weeks, we will keep a close eye on the rebel offensives in Damascus and Hama, as well as the situation in the opposition-held province of Idlib. We will also monitor the latest round of U.N.-sponsored peace talks that started in Geneva on Thursday.

Syrian Network for Human Rights: 948 Civilians Killed between the Two Rounds of Geneva Talks, including 62% at the hands of the Syrian-Iranian-Russian Alliance

Facts and evidences, through the daily cumulative documentation conducted by SNHR team, are telling us that we are definitely still far away from the stage of shrinking and reducing the crisis. The international community, the states that sponsor the negotiations in particular, haven’t taken any steps to limit the crisis’s deadly manifestations, in order to transition to the negotiation stage. The Syrian-Iranian-Russian alliance is responsible for the most part, as it perpetrated vastly more violations than the rest of the parties to the conflict. The warplanes haven’t ceased the bombardment of civilian neighborhoods for one day, and tens of vital civilian facilities have been also bombed. We will be including only, however, hospitals, schools, and markets. Talking about releasing detainees and ending the siege have become a distant luxury. There won’t be a settlement or a negotiation path as long as the U.N. won’t work with local partners to monitor the ceasefire, and hold those who violate it accountable.

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