Using Video to Defend Indigenous Rights
An online workshop by WITNESS shares the best practices for capturing and leveraging video against abuses of power
For centuries, Indigenous communities have faced disenfranchisement and abuse at the hands of the state. In many ways, that dynamic unfortunately remains, but modern technology now allows for instances of discrimination and abuses of power to be documented, shared, and leveraged by anyone with access to a smartphone.
WITNESS is a human rights nonprofit that assists activists and frontline communities in using video for advocacy and evidence. They train and partner with people around the world, advancing video advocacy as a way of “effectively using the power of stories, visual evidence and personal testimony to move people to act and create change in human rights law, policy, practice and behavior.”
Indigenous Voices is the title of a workshop given by WITNESS, and we are happy to share the presentation here at Vantage. It walks through many of the tools, techniques, and strategies that can help Indigenous communities more effectively use video to document and leverage evidence of violations by police, immigration agents, and other sources of abuse.
Video can be powerful for organizing and advocacy by and on behalf of marginalized communities. The Endorois, for example, a displaced indigenous community in Kenya, managed to secure a conviction against the Kenyan government in a lawsuit filed over their eviction from traditional lands ahead of the establishment of a wildlife reserve. WITNESS helped bring video to bear on the case, demonstrating that conditions violated articles of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and enabling voices of the Endorois to be represented directly to the Commission.
In Mexico, the Júba Wajiín saw some 80 percent of their native lands seized for mining. They levied a successful case against the legal framework underpinning the seizure, leading to a sweeping injunction to prevent similar land grabs in the future. Again, video advocacy played a major role, largely by cutting against a narrative questioning the indigeneity of the Júba Wajiín, and underscoring the disastrous effects that mining would have on their way of life.
Intended specifically for Indigenous communities, this presentation contains information that is useful for anyone facing a situation that demands attention, and where visual evidence can help mobilize change. It includes advices on how to document a scene so that the identity, status, and agency of those involved remain protected, and how to most effectively present, target and time the publication of footage for maximum impact. These and other useful insights are backed up by case studies and on-the-ground experience in video advocacy, presented by WITNESS’s Jackie Zammuto and Pali Makam, in partnership with Seventh Generation Fund and Sandra Creamer Consulting.
