Submitted by Saskia Harmsen on Friday, 13th May, 2011 — News item
"Much needs to be done to secure human rights in Africa, but "the tide is turning" and mobile phones and FM radio have arguably done more than most other conventional methods to pursue this objective, reports Amnesty International in its annual report.
"In many countries in Africa," says Amnesty, "there is now a vibrant civil society, which, although often still repressed, can no longer be ignored by those in power."
The advocacy group's secretary-general, Salil Shetty, says in the report that, across the world, 2010 "may well be remembered as a watershed year when activists and journalists used new technology to speak truth to power... Information is a source of power, and for those challenging the abuse of power by states and other institutions, it is an exciting time."
Shetty also praises what he calls the innovative use of tracking and recording abuses pioneered by the Ushahidi.com website in Kenya. He says the site has opened up a whole new set of possibilities for conflict prevention.
But he also points out that "there is nothing magical or deterministic about the Internet and other communications technologies" and warns that technology itself "neither respects nor undermines human rights... Technology will serve the purposes of those who control it – whether their goal is the promotion of rights or the undermining of rights.
"We must be mindful that in a world of asymmetric power, the ability of governments and other institutional actors to abuse and exploit technology will always be superior to the grass-roots activists, the beleaguered human rights advocate, the intrepid whistleblower and the individual..."
To read the rest of the article, go to http://allafrica.com/stories/201105130001.html
Comments
Indeed;
Abdul - Rashid Imoro
Monday, 16th May, 2011
It is rather unfortunate that not all of us see things this way. Most law makers in Africa stilll do not see the harm they cause when they deny their people from using the mobile phone and accessing the radio or television. Poor countries like Africa could actually rely on phones and radios to explain their activities to the populace. Like is been done in Rwanda now, where the government has taken a stands to use ICT for development, wish other African leaders could emulate the Rwandan experience.
Abdul Rashid