Martus is improving global human rights and the social justice sector by bringing efficiency and security to the documentation and reporting of abuses.

The Most Powerful Tool is Information

Human rights groups throughout the world gather massive amounts of violation data. Much of it never reaches its full potential or intended audience. Instead, a large part of this information is lost due to confiscation or destruction, neglect, passage of time, or because the grassroots organizations that collect the data lack the resources or infrastructure to document and communicate violations systematically and securely.

Lost information is a problem with far-reaching implications. Workers in this sector agree that timely, accurate delivery of this information is — quite simply — one of the most powerful weapons in the battle against human rights violations. Human rights NGOs gather information about violations to bring attention to the situation of victims and justice to the actions of perpetrators. Once collected, international NGOs use information to focus media attention, raise awareness and political pressure and help deliver justice in the form of truth commissions and tribunals. Without the collection and use of such information, human rights campaigns have a limited chance of success.

Providing Critical Data Collection Tools

In 2003, Benetech launched Martus, an information and document management system based on client software and Internet-based infrastructure. These tools help to ensure that the documentation of human rights violations is safeguarded and disseminated. This, in turn, strengthens reporting of violations, and in some cases, has prevented additional abuses.

Martus is neither an activist organization nor an urgent action network. It offers a system and infrastructure that addresses the specific technological needs of the human rights community with a single goal: To increase its effectiveness.

Designed to be run on Windows, Macintosh, or Linux, Martus is a software system that:

• Is customizable — information can be structured in the way that most effectively helps each organization reach its mission goals.
• Uses built-in encryption to safeguard data.
• Enables text-based bulletins about violations to be created easily and quickly.
• Securely backs up this information and replicates it in multiple locations to protect against loss.
• Is free software and open source, encouraging easy code review to foster an atmosphere of trust and collaboration.
• Provides grassroots groups with power over their own information, allowing them to decide what to make public and what should be kept securely private.
• Offers consumers of human rights information access to the non-confidential portions of bulletins, enabling activists, prosecutors, press and the public to have direct access to the voices of those affected by human rights violations.

With records of abuses preserved and protected, human rights groups worldwide are now able to bring greater attention to human rights violations, assisting in the prosecution of perpetrators and discouraging further abuses.

Measures of Success

Since its release in January 2003, Martus software has been downloaded from the Martus website by over 1000 visitors from more than 60 countries, including Cambodia, Cyprus, Indonesia, Kenya, Malaysia, Perú, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Uzbekistan, and Zimbabwe.

Benetech works strategically with grassroots NGOs around the world to offer outreach, training and support in their use of Martus. We have been involved in projects in thirteen countries, including Afghanistan, Perú, Colombia, Guatemala, Hungary, the Philippines, Russia, Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka, Somalia, Zimbabwe and the United States. There are four active Martus backup servers located in Seattle (Washington), Manila (Philippines), Budapest (Hungary), and Thailand, with additional servers coming online in the future.

For more information about Martus, visit the Martus website.

• Martus software has been downloaded by 1000 users from more than 60 countries.
• Martus actively supports human rights groups from 13 countries in using our software.
• The number of grassroots NGOs using Martus has expanded widely around the world.
• We have several critical features to the software in our continued efforts to extend the Martus technology to individuals and groups operating in tenuous security environments.

Learn more about Martus:

• Testimonials from human rights groups around the world
• Strategic partners who support our work
• Martus website

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We are committed to equal access to technology. Our software is freely available, and anyone may share our technology and modify it to suit their needs — all without asking our permission.