Analyzer, Martus, and psiphon—these newly available free and open source softwares (FOSS) support the defence of human rights. How do they function and how can these be accessed?

Free and open source softwares (FOSS) nowadays are not just confined to website development or network management functions. Some like Analyzer, Martus, and psiphon can be used in human rights-oriented work and are also now available for free.

Analyzer

Analyzer collects, maintains, and analyses information on human rights violations from multiple sources including medical records, newspaper articles, witness testimonies, letters, interviews, and official reports and documents.

Information contained in the database are classified as source, participant, or act—answering the “who did what to whom” question.

Developed by the Human Rights Data Analysis Group (HRDAG), Analyzer has been deployed at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the Campaign for Good Governance in Sierra Leone, a member NGO of the Human Rights Accountability Coalition in Sri Lanka, and the Boroumand Foundation for the Promotion of Human Rights and Democracy in Iran based in Washington D.C.

To download Analyzer, visit <https://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=129713> or contact HRDAG at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Martus

Martus is a secure information management tool that allows users to gather, organise, and back up human rights information.

It makes possible a global human rights reporting system that creates, stores, and retrieves abuse information. Organisations defending international rights and social justice worldwide use this software in protecting sensitive information and shielding the identity of victims or witnesses who provide testimony on human rights abuses.

Martus is used by human rights workers, lawyers, journalists, and others who need to ensure the security of their information mostly in Budapest, Hungary; Seattle, USA; and Kenya.

Martus can be downloaded at <https://tornado.he.net/cgi-bin/suid/~martus/download.cgi>. For more information, visit <www.martus.org>.

psiphon
 
psiphon allows users to access blocked sites in countries where the Internet is censored. Through this software, anyone in a non-censored country can turn their regular computer into a server which can be accessed by users in censored countries, who in turn can browse the Internet freely.

Download psiphon at <http://psiphon.civisec.org/> or visit <http://psiphon.civisec.org/> for further information.
 
Sources:
“Free software working for human rights” from Tectonic, posted on February 13, 2006, <http://www.tectonic.co.za/view.php?id=864>.
“OSS used in fight for human rights” from Tectonic, posted on March 20, 2007, <http://www.tectonic.co.za/view.php?id=1414&s=news>.