HSTAS/SISA 245 - Human Rights Library Research

UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON LIBRARIES
HSTAS/SISA 245

Human Rights Library Research Session: South, Southeast and Northeast Asian Countries

* Pakistan * India * Burma * Cambodia * Indonesia/East Timor * Thailand * Viet Nam * China * Korea * Japan *

April 13, 2004 1:30-2:20pm
201 Suzzallo Library

Southeast Asia Librarian Judith Henchy
judithh@u.washington.edu

Human Rights Librarian Glenda Pearson
pearson@u.washington.edu

STEP ONE : Finding books and other printed material

Libraries Information Gateway Find It UW Libraries Catalog

Look for books on your subject using keyword searches.
Examples:

A keyword search on Pakistan and Human Rights identifies 53 books.
Choose one of the titles from the Browse list and look at the Library of Congress subject headings:
- Civil Rights--Pakistan
- Human Rights--Pakistan
- Human Rights--Pakistan-Periodicals
- Politics and Government--Pakistan--Periodicals
- Women-Legal Status, Laws, Etc. Islamic Law (107 titles, most in Arabic)
- Women-Legal Status, Laws, Etc. Islamic Law--Pakistan
- Etc.
Do the same sort of search for other countries.
Searching the Library of Congress subject heading Human Rights and China leads to 189 books. Some of the books will be in Suzzallo Allen Library or the Odegaard but many of these materials will be in the East Asia Library, so be sure to check the Location on the cataloging record, as well as the call number so you will know where to go to check out the book.
Search for individuals in the same way; start with a keyword search, such as:
Yayori Matsui as a keyword search turns up three hits, but you should also do an author search (Matsui, Yayori) which identifies 6 hits, only two of which duplicate the keyword results.

Special general resources on human rights include the following:

Amnesty International Research Archives Collection. On microfiche, M1884. One of the most important human rights collections, this holding brings together published and unpublished country dossiers, newsletters, annual reports and briefings, reports on special topics and general publications of AI. Beginning in 1962, the collection is supplemented annually (currently through 2001). This collection allows you to review those human rights activities that caught the attention of AI activists working within the countries themselves. Link to the Amnesty International website here for access to some of AI's many current actions.

The Bibliography of Asian Studies provides citations to western-language periodial articles, chapters, in edited volumes, conference proceedings, Festschriften, etc., all pertaining to East, Southeast and South Asia. Coverage from 1971 to the present, including full data from the print editions from 1971-1991. Note: the web site continues print serial of the same title, located in East Asia Library, Reference section, call number Z3001 B525. From the web site, browse by
Country Politics & Government Human Rights.
Human Rights Documents. On microfiche, M1885. Use this collection to identify human rights organizations actively reporting from within the countries. From Asia Watch to much smaller activist groups, this collection is rich in detailed, first hand reporting.

Human Rights Watch. Search as AUTHOR in the UW Libraries Catalog to find global projects as well as country-specific information.

Documents collected and released by The National Security Archive are held on microfiche. Collections that relate to this course include the Philippines and China. Go to the web site of the National Security Archive and search by country to uncover U.S. relations and policies.

The East Timor Question, compiled and edited by Jill Jollife Lisse, Netherlands: MMF Publications, 1997. On microfiche, call number M-3111.

The Government Publications Section in Suzzallo Library holds the keys to many U.S. and international sources on human rights. Their website is another rich source of links and primary documentation not to be missed.
One of the most important U.S. annual reports on human rights by country is The U.S. State Department Human Rights Country Reports.
A second valuable U.S. government web site is USAID Democracy and Governance: Building Democracy in Asia/Near East. This database explains U.S. interests in Asia and what is being done to strengthen the rule of law and civil society.

Also, the U.S. government has what is called a certification process for human rights.
Countries considered to be in violation of human rights can be subject to sanctions by the federal government. Debate on such issues usually involves
expert testimony, which is reported in "Hearing Books" and other documents published by the US Government Printing Officer. Much of this documentation is available full-text and indexed by Congressional Information Service.
Go to Lexis/Nexis and choose Congressional Information or News---either will pull up congressional testimony. For more detailed information on US documents, talk to Cass Hartnett (cass@u.washington.edu) in GovPubs.

For international governmental news, documents and links, talk to Dave Maack (maack@u.washington.edu) in GovPubs, or search the International Inter-Governmental & Non-Governmental page. Of special interest here are links to: The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR) and
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

STEP TWO : Journal and newspaper stories

Libraries Information Gateway Find It Top 25 Databases

ABI/INFORM Global
This business database emphasizes economics, trade, globalization, finance, labor practices. Many of the articles are full text.
Expanded Academic Index
This general interest database covers a very broad range of topics and disciplines. Most of the articles are full text.
Geobase
A scholarly citation database, Geobase emphasizes academic research in the areas of geopolitical and environmental studies and international and development studies, i.e how human activities relate to the physical world. Not full text. If you find articles of interest here, click on the link "Check UW holdings" to see if we subscribe to the journal in paper or have full text electronic access to the journal.
Lexis Nexis
A major full text news database, this resource can be useful for finding articles from newspapers or broadcast reports released in the subject country, so you can compare the coverage between Western (free press) sources and controlled press journalism. Is there any reporting of human rights abuses from Chinese news sources published in Pakistan, as an example? Other good sources of newspaper articles are:
- Global Newsbank
  This database includes Human Rights as one of its key issues. Start your search with that link.
- World News Connection WNC
  All of the sources found in WNC are foreign news agencies and publications, whereas both Lexis Nexis and Global Newsbank include foreign news as reported in US papers. There are vast differences in how and what news stories are presented, depending on the country (the US does not report in detail on most foreign news events), and some countries have state controlled news agencies (China, North Korea).
Columbia International Affairs Online(CIAO) is "the most comprehensive source of theory and research in international affairs," publishing on a wide range of topics, including working papers, research from NGOs, foundation-funded research, policy briefs, etc. Of special note is access to Think Tank reports.

Public Affairs Information Service (PAIS) is an excellent citation database for political coverage, and is particularly strong on policy and government.

Additional sources for journal articles:

JSTOR Search
JSTOR is like a big warehouse of thousands of full text articles from several hundred scholarly journals.

Newspapers (in English) currently subscribed to by the Libraries can be found listed at:
Current Newspaper Subscriptions: Far East, Southeast Asia and & Pacific and Current Newspaper Subscriptions: Africa, Middle East, & Southern Asia
The current foreign newspaper subscription collection (in English) is especially strong on newspapers from India. The East Asia Library has good NE Asia collections, although not in English.

STEP THREE : Human rights on the web

UW Library Subject Web Sites:

East Asia Library includes many links to continent- and country-specific governmental and non-governmental resources focusing on China, Taiwan and Hong Kong, Japan, Korea and a special page on East Asia which covers resources in Western languages.

South Asia Subject Page includes many links to continent- and country-specific governmental and non-governmental resources focusing on the countries of South Asia, as well as suggested library resources, datasets, etc.

Southeast Asia Section Main Human Rights Page includes links to global, regional and country-specific governmental and non-governmental organizations working on human rights goals in Asia.

General/Global Activist NGOs:

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Human Rights Education and Research Network
This website contains a large number of links to human rights organizations, subject pages, print resources and other materials, such as: Research Tools.
Amnesty International
AI works through research and action to end human rights abuses around the world. Founded in London in 1962 by one person seeking to make a difference, it is now one of the most influential and widely respected human rights organizations in the world.
Asian Human Rights Commission
AHRC takes an approach that combines structural reforms with victim assitance. Community based, working with church and religious groups, the Commission incorporates the rule of law with an activist, democracy building approach to problem solving.

Committee to Protect Journalists
This site was founded in 1981 by U.S. journalists working abroad who became concerned about the often brutal treatment that their foreign journalist colleagues received at the hands of opponents of a free and open press.

Human Rights Watch
The largest human rights organization based in the U.S., HRW has a core professional group working in countries around the world, frequently in partnership with local human rights organizations and activists. It's film festival is internationally recognized and praised.

Index on Censorship
This organization was founded to report on and protect basic rights to free expression. Search on the name of the country. The search engine is case sensitive, so be sure to capitalize as appropriate. It can also be very slow, but be patient.

PEN Freedom to Write Bulletin Of particular interest for information on censorship and the writers and journalists engaged in freedom of expression conflicts.

Physicians for Human Rights
Excellent site for health related human rights issues.

Reporters Without Borders
An excellent site which, among other things, keeps track of jailed, missing and harassed journalists attempting to report on human rights abuses around the world.

A selection of websites quite specific to human rights activities in South, Southeast and Northeast Asia are linked below.

Region- and Country-Specific activist groups on the web:

REGIONAL

Human Rights Links: Asian Human Rights NGOs
A directory arranged by country to selected hr groups.

Human Rights Watch: Asia

SAWNET: South Asian Women's NETwork

South Asia Human Rights Documentation CentreThis site may be moribund at the moment, but there are some full text materials accssible through the web site, even though the search capacity does not appear to be functioning.
Southeast Asian Press Alliance

BURMA/MYANMAR
Burma Alert 1993-1997. UW Libraries holds 1990-1997 in print, Periodicals DS530.4 B27
Burma Issues UW Libraries holds 1993 to present, in print, Periodicals DS530.4 B27
Democratic Voice of Burma

CAMBODIA
Documentation Center of Cambodia
Cambodia Genocide Program
NCR Bulletin From Bangkok, Thailand, the National United Front for Independent, Neutral, Peaceful and Co-operative Cambodia and Khmer People's National Liberation Front. UW Libraries holds 1989-1990, in print, Periodicals DS554.842 N39.

CHINA
Human Rights in China
Derechos HR: Human Rights in China

INDIA
Human Rights Watch in India
Human Rights in India
This site is a blog maintained by Harvard Law student Jaskaran Kaur.

INDONESIA/EAST TIMOR
FAIR: Indonesia and East Timor Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR)
International Platform of Jurists for East Timor
Tapol, the Indonesia Human Rights Campaign
Timorese Democratic Union
United Nations Transitional Authority in East Timor

JAPAN
Asia Japan Women's Resource Center (AJWRC)
Buraki Liberation and Human Rights Research Institute
HURIGHTS OSAKA

KOREA
Citzens' Alliance for North Korean Human Rights
U.S. Committee for Human Rights in North Korea (HRNK)
From the Founding Declaration statement:
"The information available about human rights in North Korea, though incomplete, is more than adequate to raise the most serious concerns. North Korea is a totalitarian state, arguably the most closed and oppressive system in the world. The denial of fundamental human rights in North Korea is not limited to particular individuals or groups but affects the entire population."
Minbyun-Lawyers for a Democratic Society
This organization provides legal defense and research support to the democratization movement in South Korea.
Young Koreans United
A U.S. based organization, YKU works for peace and justice in Korea (and the U.S.).

PAKISTAN
International Human Rights Organization
Pakistan Institute of Human Rights
PIHR works collaboratively with the international human rights community to promote and protect human rights within Pakistan.

THAILAND
Human Rights in Thailand Report, Bangkok: Coordinating Group for Religion in Society. UW Libraries holds in print 1977-1989. Suzzallo Periodicals JC599 T5 H85.
Human Rights Watch Thailand
Thailand Update from New York: Union of Democratic Thais. UW Libraries holds in print 1978-1982. Suzzallo Periodicals DS561 T43.

VIET NAM
Free Vietnam Alliance
FVA works with international and local Vietnamese groups toward democratization in Vietnam.
Indochina Journal Published in California by the Indochina Human Rights Group, the UW Libraries holds, in print, 1983-1992. Suzzallo Periodicals DS550 I534. Continued by:
Vietnam Journal: Project of the Vietnam Human Rights Group. UW Libraries holds, in print, 1992-1995. Suzzallo Periodicals DS556 V53.
The Virtual Vietnam Archive
Part of The Vietnam Project at Texas Tech University, the archive allows for in-depth research by all people interested in the Vietnam War period.

Additional Help
For a list of Seattle/Puget Sound human rights activist groups working on Asian human rights issues, see the Human Rights Education and Research Network directory at Local Human Rights Agencies.
Search for human rights films on the UW Libraries catalog by doing a simple keyword search with the name of the country of interest connected with the word and to the word videorecording. For example:
Thailand and videorecording results in 58 hits. Or use the Human Rights Film Directory for a short list of reviewed human rights documentaries held in the Media Center, Odegaard Library. .

Last Updated: April 14, 2004

Questions about this web site or help with human rights research? Contact Glenda Pearson