AAAS Scientific Responsibility, Human Rights and Law Program

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Report on Science and Human Rights

Winter 2003 Vol XXIII, No. 1

In addition to giving numerous talks at scientific, technical, and human rights meetings and getting the Human Rights Data Analysis Group up and running, Patrick Ball traveled twice to Sierra Leone to work with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission there. He helped the Commission plan the data collection process and make a preliminary assessment of the first 1,320 statements they have collected.

Audrey Chapman’s article on the human rights dimensions of intellectual property was published in the December issue of the Journal of International Economic Law. She co-organized the conference on empirical methodologies for studying the impact of transitional justice mechanisms, which took place in Stellenbosch, South Africa in mid-November, and made a presentation at the conference on approaches to research on reconciliation. In November, she attended part of the fall session of the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights to participate in the discussions related to drafting a general comment comment on the human right to water.

Victoria Baxter recently published the 2003 edition of the Directory of Persecuted Scientists, Engineers, and Health Professionals. Baxter also continued her work on transitional justice, organizing the international meeting in South Africa.

Stephen Hansen and Justin VanFleet spoke at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office TechFair in August, on the role of traditional knowledge as prior art in the patent examination process. At the December 2002 WIPO Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property, Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore, Hansen chaired a roundtable on traditional knowledge and VanFleet made a presentation on the application of the existing intellectual property framework to traditional knowledge systems.

Sage Russell organized the NGO consultation to discuss draft General Comment 15 on the Right to Water. Exploring the Core Content of Socio-economic Rights: South African and International Perspectives, a book she co-edited with Danie Brand of the Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria, was published by Protea Book House in Pretoria in September 2002.

SHR welcomed two new staff members to the Human Rights Data Analysis Group (HRDAG) in fall. Miguel Cruz, Computer/Network Engineer, manages the technology used to gather, exchange, and analyze human rights data. Cruz has 15 years of Internet experience and has provided technical consulting for public and private institutions worldwide. He holds a B.A. from the University of Michigan and an M.A. in International Relations from Yale University. Rafe Kaplan is the senior developer of Analyzer, the next generation of database software for recording and analyzing large amounts of human rights data. Kaplan holds a B.Sc. degree in Computer Systems Science from the University of Manchester, UK. Prior to joining SHR, he worked professionally for six years writing software in New York
City.