The International Law of Torture: From Universal Proscription to Effective Application and Enforcement

This Article presents a comprehensive review of world torture and the efforts to eradicate it through both official and unofficial strategies of intervention, with special emphasis on the legal strategies. This Article recognizes the complexity of these strategies as they form a vast number of initiatives emerging from various elements of the international community. Part II of the Article touches on matters of definition and legal history. This enables the examination of the inherent characteristics of torture as they impact issues of governance, social control, and principles of basic respect and human dignity. Part III examines the efforts to universally proscribe torture in international law. It provides an overview of critical provisions of the United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. Part IV describes and critically evaluates United Nations-sponsored mechanisms created for the purpose of eradicating torture. Part V examines United States policy and the impact of domestic concerns on Congress\u27s attempts to ratify international treaties. Part VI describes the decentralized character of the international system and underlines the importance of regional and municipal law initiatives to facilitate the objective of ending torture. This Part extensively reviews United States, European, and Israeli practice and case law. Part VII touches on the importance of civil society initiatives that complement litigation, legislation, administrative action, and United Nations initiatives in working toward a regime of complete abolition. It discusses a number of strategic initiatives available in the attempt to effectively abolish torture

The International Law of Torture: From Universal Proscription to Effective Application and Enforcement

This Article presents a comprehensive review of world torture and the efforts to eradicate it through both official and unofficial strategies of intervention, with special emphasis on the legal strategies. This Article recognizes the complexity of these strategies as they form a vast number of initiatives emerging from various elements of the international community. Part II of the Article touches on matters of definition and legal history. This enables the examination of the inherent characteristics of torture as they impact issues of governance, social control, and principles of basic respect and human dignity. Part III examines the efforts to universally proscribe torture in international law. It provides an overview of critical provisions of the United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. Part IV describes and critically evaluates United Nations-sponsored mechanisms created for the purpose of eradicating torture. Part V examines United States policy and the impact of domestic concerns on Congress\u27s attempts to ratify international treaties. Part VI describes the decentralized character of the international system and underlines the importance of regional and municipal law initiatives to facilitate the objective of ending torture. This Part extensively reviews United States, European, and Israeli practice and case law. Part VII touches on the importance of civil society initiatives that complement litigation, legislation, administrative action, and United Nations initiatives in working toward a regime of complete abolition. It discusses a number of strategic initiatives available in the attempt to effectively abolish torture

[2017] Staffing for Effective Digital Preservation 2017: An NDSA Report

The 2017 Digital Preservation Staffing Survey provides a useful snapshot of the way digital preservation is accomplished in 2017 and how its practitioners feel about the effectiveness of their current organizational structures. It also builds on the 2012 survey and begins to establish data with which the digital preservation community can identify trends in staffing in the field

Assessment Tool

The LOP Assessment Working Group created an Assessment Tool and documentation for use including case studies as a way to show ONE example of using the LOP as part of an assessment

2019 LOP Assessment Tool

In addition to updating the LOP Matrix, the LOP Working group developed additional supporting resources to go hand-in-hand with the Matrix. Those resources are shared here

In the Thicket of It with the NDSA Standards and Practices Working Group: Cultivating Grass Roots Approaches to Real-World Digital Preservation Issues

The engaged membership of the National Digital Stewardship Alliance’s Standards and Practices (S&P) Working Group are active digital preservation practitioners. One of five National Digital Stewardship Alliance (NDSA) working groups, S&P projects and discussions originate from real-world issues that members face in their daily work. Since 2010, the S&P has sought to identify community knowledge gaps for the “on-the-ground practitioners” across a broad spectrum of content areas and to work collaboratively to bridge those gaps. Some of the topics recently addressed by the S&P include preservation of digital artworks, issues related to optical media, stumbling blocks for preserving video collections and analyzing risks and benefits of the PDF/A3 format for archival institutions among many others. Using the visual imagery of a fruit tree, this poster explores the grass roots nature of S&P projects and products, from the foundational member institutions comprising the soil and roots, through the trunk and branches of the tree addressing different topics, and finally reaching to the individual leaves and fruit representing project outcomes and deliverables, as well as work still to do. The goal of the poster is to highlight the self-organizing nature of the S&P’s varied projects as well as to increase community awareness of the collaboratively developed resources and products