Donnerstag, 25. November 2010

Intelligence for human rights? Private Intelligence Structures in Human Rights Affairs

Under this heading I actually published a new essay about a special intelligence subject. You can read it here:

Intelligence for human rights? Private Intelligence Structures in Human
Rights Affairs, in: Sicherheit und Frieden (S+F), Ausgabe 3-2010, S.
161-168.
(http://www.security-and-peace.de/aktuell.htm#5)

Abstract:
The violation of human rights is a serious crime. Information about it are difficult to obtain and to verify. State intelligence agencies deal with this task only according to instructions of their government and therefore they often ignore or tolerate this breach of international law. Non-state actors, however, can search and document without regard to nation-states. At the present time it appears that most of the necessary information can be acquired by private researchers: Satellite photos, videos about the conflicts, databases, sources on the ground: Private actors can use them for litigable documentary and short campaigns. Commercial private intelligence firms offer more: They can monitor the communication of suspects and track their financial transactions. Today it seems that the necessary information about human rights violations can be obtained and analyzed by private actors – independent from politics.