Contact: Stephen M. Apatow, Founder, Director of Research and Development, Humanitarian Resource Institute: Humanitarian University Consortium GraduateStudies Center for Medicine, Veterinary Medicine and Law.

"Citizen journalism is a very powerful, very powerful tool," Barnett says. Jane Kirtley, director of the Silha Center for the Study of Media Ethics and Law at the University of Minnesota, says the role of the citizen journalist in Iran is critical right now. -- Citizen journalists play critical role in Iran: KARE-11,  22 June 2009. 

In the Spotlight

• Do You See What I See? -Citizen Journalism: Refugee children photograph their own lives.
  
• H-II: G-192 Human Rights Reporting - Evidence Collection - Witness Protection, Humanitarian Resource Institute, 23 June 2009.

"Non Lethal Fires"  hearts and minds encompasses the new international strategic focus for Humanitarian Intervention with an objective of ending or reducing the suffering that is the result of civil war, humanitarian crisis, or crimes of genocide. The goal of humanitarian intervention is minimization of the suffering of civilians in a particular state in accordance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). The Declaration was explicitly adopted for the purpose of defining the meaning of the words "fundamental freedoms" and "human rights" appearing in the United Nations Charter, which is binding on all member states. For this reason, the Universal Declaration is a fundamental constitutive document of the United Nations. The 1968 United Nations International Conference on Human Rights advised that it "constitutes an obligation for the members of the international community" to all persons. The declaration has served as the foundation for two binding UN human rights covenants, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the principles of the Declaration are elaborated in international treaties such as the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the International Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, the United Nations Convention Against Torture and many more. The focus of the H-II project is global exposure, strategic planning, development, engagement and stabilization of humanitarian emergencies. This spotlight targets the vulnerable in efforts to engage an immediate international response.

UN - NGO Humanitarian Resource Institute Global Arts Integration Into Education Initiative. HRITV: Media facilitation. Human Rights Human Rights High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Human Rights Organizations Amnesty International Human Rights Watch International Justice Mission Physicians for Human Rights Relief Operations Reliefnet International Law H-II: International Human Rights Law: Cases and Materials: Legal Research on International Law Issues Using the Internet, University of Chicago Law School, D'Angelo Law Library United Nations Human Rights Institute: International Bar Association.

INTERVENTION ANALYSIS Reference: Amnesty International: All Countries & Regions Focus Discussions Chad: Darfur:  Scope of the humanitarian emergency, strategic planning of humanitarian operations. In a report to the Security Council on 14 April 2009, UN Secretary General Ban-ki Moon indicated that the military force (MINURCAT) is only at 40% of its intended deployment of 5200 troops. The force has also only received pledges for six of the 18 military helicopters it needs.. "We are alarmed at reports that humanitarian aid agencies are evacuating from some areas of eastern Chad due to the escalation of fighting between government forces and armed opposition groups. The people of eastern Chad need protection, now. The slow deployment of UN peacekeepers has left civilians vulnerable," said Tawanda Hondora. “The Security Council must call on governments to immediately provide the necessary troops to complete the deployment on an urgent basis, and to provide all necessary material, including helicopters.”  -- Urgent international action needed to prevent humanitarian crisis in Chad: Amnesty International, 8 May 2009. Sudan:  Full exposure, humanitarian objective for containment and protection of refugee/impacted populations.   Overview: Amnesty International. Democratic Republic of Congo:  Scope of the humanitarian emergency, strategic planning of humanitarian operations.  Overview: Amnesty International. As the world idly stood by and watched. The Great Lakes region is made up of some of the most volatile and poorest countries in the World; The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Angola, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Burundi, Uganda and Rwanda. --  Great Lakes Region Historical Chronology - UN Security Council Report. Balkans (Sex/Slave Trade) More children, women and men are held in slavery right now than over the course of the entire trans-Atlantic slave trade: Millions toil in bondage, their work and even their bodies the property of an owner. Trafficking in humans generates profits in excess of 12 billion dollars a year for those who, by force and deception, sell human lives into slavery and sexual bondage. More than 2 million children are trapped in forced prostitution. -- International Justice Mission Georgia:  Security challenges that impact all vulnerable populations.   Amnesty International calls on the Russian and Georgian authorities as well as the de facto South Ossetian administration to guarantee the security of all persons in areas affected by the conflict, without discrimination. Furthermore, the authorities in all conflict affected areas should ensure that free and full access is provided to those assessing the need for and providing humanitarian assistance, and ensure the necessary conditions for the voluntary, safe and durable return with dignity of all displaced persons. -- Georgia Human Rights: Russia - Georgia Conflict: Amnesty International. Eritrea: Forced detention. Several thousand prisoners of conscience have remained in incommunicado detention for years, many of them in secret locations or military prisons, where they are at risk of ill-treatment, torture, and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. In 2001, a crackdown on dissent led to the detention of eleven former government leaders, journalists for the private media, and hundreds of other alleged dissidents. Some have been held in secret prison locations and several reportedly died of illness, denial of adequate medical treatment, and injuries sustained from torture. -- Government Reformers, Journalists and Political Prisoners: Amnesty International.