we were me where you were you I now like
to introduce our final keynote speaker
of the day he is a leading voice in the
use of visual information to create
sustainable lasting positive change in
areas of conflict in 2008 he co-founded
the DRA an NGO with groundbreaking
methodology to equip oppressed
communities in using customized
technology to uncover information in
places that media can't or won't go a
sought-after expert in using technology
to expose human rights violations he is
frequently called upon by civil society
governments international organization
and media decision makers please join me
in welcoming to the stage or in aqaba
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I what the wonderful introduction I
don't know if I should speak now I'm
probably gonna rue it 2014 was a very
bad year for freedom and to the ones
that want to see more open and liberal
world the invasion of Russia into the
Ukraine the drawback of any Democratic
gains in Egypt in Turkey presidents are
one this ongoing fight against freedom
of press and human rights defenders they
are see cutting the internet and mobile
communication and further center ization
of power in China this is just a few
example of the fight on freedom it is
against this backdrop that my
organization vadera is developing new
tools and model to prevent human rights
violation we give a press community the
ability to change their reality we
equipped train and support activists we
are building sustainable network that
using cameras mostly he didn't want to
obtain original video materials in
places media can't or won't go we are
watching the Watchers we are breaking
the traditional power structure between
citizens and governments and giving
these communities the ability to hold
the government accountable I want to
start with the story that will reflect
later on about the current security
situation that we are facing six years
ago I landed in African country I had in
my bags 200 hidden cameras this was a
friendly country a democracy but its
neighborhood country was a dictatorship
my aim was to get these cameras into the
hand of the human rights activist in
this country they needed it document the
abuses that they are suffering from the
regime the morning after an activist
drove with a car from that country we
met we drove together to the closest
garage
we took the air out of the spare tire
and we feel the hidden cameras inside
this tire and we drove to the border
obviously we've been very anxious and
afraid about what's going to happen even
though we scoped the border before when
we arrived we understand there was no
need really to be in stress it was
hardly a shot at shelter there was two
guys they're very bored they hardly
looked at us stemple passport few
minutes after we've been in this country
and that week this camera were in the
hands of the human rights activists you
probably wonder how come I find myself
taking cameras to these countries i was
born in israel to a right-wing family
and I wasn't when i was 18 i joined the
israeli army and i serve as an officer
in one day one of the hard mod and
infantry units it was the first time I
came hand in hand to see what that
pupation look like I serve a lot of time
in Gaza and in da cube in the West Bank
and it was just after the first
Palestinian uprising so there was still
a lot of stress there I came to realize
that the occupation not just harming the
rights of the Palestinian but I also
realized what he doing to our people and
I decided to do what I consider one of
the most patriotic x I can do for my
country and I refuse to serve in the
West Bank and not just that I refuse to
serve in the West Bank I decided they're
going to bring the stories and the
images and things that I saw in the West
Bank to my people because I was not
exposed to them neither of my friend and
I wanted to show them how its look like
I will share with you few of the of the
video of the visuals from a project I
did with organization called b'tselem
B'Tselem is the Israeli Information
Center for Human Rights and occupied
territories it's a wonderful
organization please check it together we
analyzed the West Bank and choose 100
families that living in the most risky
places close to check points near army
bases and side-by-side with settlers the
images are going to that are going to
show you can be quite explicit so from
some of you might find it uncomfortable
to watch but they're both the boast
videos were shown in Israeli television
the mask Menuhin is that you going to
see in the first clip or Jewish settlers
minutes before the cameras was torn on
this settlers approach Palestinian
family that worked their land and they
tell them that they have to leave
because this land belong to the Jewish
settlers the Palestinian refuse let's
see what's happened the mask man you see
our Jewish settlers the approaching
Palestinian family this clip is from
demonstration in the West Bank the guy
in green want to be arrested the guy in
the middle going to be arrested in a
second you will see him blind food and
handcuffed you're going to be shoot shot
in the feet with the rubber bullet as I
said these images when shown in Israel
created a massive debate and they force
the arm in the police to investigate
these events without the cameras in the
hand of this Palestinians this
investigation will never happen thanks
to this project in images like this one
and others we managed to reduce the
level of violence in the West Bank now I
just have to say something this is not a
reflection of the whole Israeli
occupation this is rare occasion they're
happening any people that do these kind
of things have to be brought to justice
this work in the West Bank and it would
bet Selim got me thinking that this idea
of giving cameras to a press community
can be brought to other places in the
world that we can basically empower
myrcella's communities that living under
dictatorship with the ability to tell
their story I moved to London and open
organization in London raise a bit of
money and did a very stupid mistake I
thought I can do the same methodology
from the West Bank to other places in
the world
took some regular cameras and flew to
one of the countries and start training
people overtly with regular camera quite
fast I start seeing that the Secret
Service around us we've been followed
I've been followed our phone was stepped
and we understand you can't work in the
same ways in these conditions I wish
that all the money that we were that we
raised when dr. London my board and my
donor was my donors was very very angry
about me but we had to take it back and
understand how we can really come with
much more sophisticated methods to be
able to address the security in this say
in these conditions this is how we came
to develop our mode of the video model
every project that we are starting is
starting with an in deep research
understanding which images are missing
which stories are not making it out from
these areas we understanding what the
people that are in place that able to
film these images and where this images
should go to create a positive change
then we partner with the groups on the
ground and you start giving them
training now our partners are working in
high-risk environment risking their life
this is why security is one of the most
important things for us we're using code
names we Billy buildings cell based
structures with not passing information
through the internet everything is
happening physically and we also give
them hidden cameras to be able to film
in a secure way we're buying cameras off
the shelf roupa de breaking them apart
and we're putting the technology inside
think they can carry in their
environment that they are working in a
lot of the people that we work me we'd
have hardly nothing so sometimes we
putting this technology inside stones
and inside wood inside closer there were
inside bags that they are carrying
anything that they can take in their
environment without the attention of the
one that I trying to film them it will
blend in the environment but security of
course is going way beyond just filming
with hidden cameras before we doing any
operation we understanding and analyzing
the risk of every location and
rebuilding a back-up plan to make sure
it is something goes wrong we have
solutions
after we getting the footage from the
ground we are focusing on verification
verification is extremely important if
you don't understand the footage if
thoroughly and understand how what it is
happening there and all the context
context around that we can't really use
it that's why we're training the people
that we are working with how to film the
location in a way that we can identify
it filming the road sign building
watches paper so we can then see where
it is we double checking the information
we're looking at maps and you're looking
at the meta data just when we are sure
that we can trust the information with
distributing it now no story for our
point of view worth nothing if it
doesn't create an impact on the ground
that's why depends on the project that
we are running we're making sure that
the stories that we are getting will end
up in places that can really inflate the
situation this is why sometimes you're
giving the material to governments or to
embassies to create a pressure from
outside sometimes working with lawyer to
use this evidence to choose this
materials as evidence in court many
times you're using the media and we
expose the materials in the media
without taking credit most of the time
all of the time because we are behind
the semi don't want ensures they wander
taking these materials sometimes this
materials going back to the communities
to the activists to be able to make
effective campaigns we have variety of
projects sometimes is working in
democracy with myrcella's community in
many cases in working in dictatorship
now I'm assuming most of you are living
under democracy so I want to give you
example what it's mean to work in
dictatorship from some reason another
believe it or not dictators love
election it is important for them it's
important for them to show that they've
been basically elected by the people and
they will do everything in their hand
and in their power practice all the
power that they have to make sure that
they will win in the election day this
is why election is a good framework for
us to work around now when I'm talking
about election I'm talking just filming
the day and seeing there was a corrupt
during the election this regimes
sometimes spend months sometimes years
to prepare to this election and we want
to be there to understand what methods
they are using to oppress the community
one of our first and biggest project was
in one of the dictators in Africa I
obviously not saying names of countries
for the security of the partners that we
are working with but this was one of the
dictators that one of the last dictators
is still hold him in a lot 35 years in
this country we build an undercover
networks of 200 people that were spread
across the country in cell-based
structure these people film what the
regime did to make sure they secure the
votes they use variety of methods they
used to push the agenda to churches they
use political motivated militia too
intimidated people they hitchhike food
supply that came from other countries as
a support and didn't gave it until the
people will sign up that they're going
to vote for them they get them together
in villages when they thought nobody is
seeing and told told them that they know
who they are and they're going to take
revenge if not going to vote for the
right party I want to show you example
of clip how its look like from inside
how this intimidation mechanism worked
haha
this is just stunning a few example from
the materials and the one we can use
without jeopardizing the people that
film this material now this images were
broadcast all over the world we also
made sure that they ends in countries
that are surrounding this dictatorship
and in all the international body that
this country is part of but most
importantly we broadcast these images
and the sound of this images back to the
community because this perpetrator is
that are working in the rural areas
shouldn't nobody see them the thing that
can go there and do whatever they want
and suddenly when they hear their voices
in the radios in the station where
they're practicing and doing this dis
event they got scared and punitive was
broken the readers and somebody is
following them and this immediately
reduced the violence in this area so
thanks to this project and thanks to
this wonderful activists we managed to
create election that was not free but it
was not violence and people were not
killed during this election we continue
to use all kind of creative ways to take
cameras and equipment into countries and
story outs but this coming is getting
harder and harder I came here after was
traveling in eight countries in the last
month in all of them they scan my
fingerprints and took my picture of my
face so now my information is in the
hand of all this government many of them
of course are not really sympathizing
with what we are doing the checkpoint at
I used to pass six years ago very easily
now have the same equipment and we
cannot pass this way anymore as are
moving becoming more scrutinizing the
risk is getting a bigger just last year
200 journalist was arrested this is the
highest second number this is the second
highest number recorded
by the Committee to Protect Journalists
in the last year since the doing their
tallies we are not journalists but we
are facing the same risk if not higher
since 2008 when we cough when we
launched it vedera we trained more than
500 activists that carrying hidden
cameras and filming cross few countries
with a body that less of a 1 million
pound that great go to us with the
generals the nation of high in the v hi
network individuals and foundation we
continue to bring stories out from this
location from places that media can't or
won't go or other organization find it
very very hard to operate it's the risk
getting higher they need is getting
bigger in the last days here I realize
that security and privacy are actually
twins brothers they're going
hand-in-hand I might know a lot about
security but I don't know much about
privacy and any everyone here I don't
know if you realize it or not you are
basically human rights defenders you're
in the fourth front of this struggle
also what I realize in the last two days
here that the conversation is taking
place here is one that is very mind
rotated in the Western thoughts and
practices the reason need to take this
conversation farther to other places in
the world as the internet and the smart
for a penetrating father to the third
world country in the developing world
you will be called on if you haven't
already to give advice on privacy and to
build effective legislation I want to
assure that some government will ask you
to help them to get away with breaking
privacy in some places please be mindful
about it your work and your advice will
have consequences sometimes deadly one
and your work will influence the work
that we are doing and other human
activists in these countries I'm going
to leave you with the question before
i'm finishing the first one is
in this increased environment of
surveillance how human rights activists
can continue to operate in a safe way
how big organization or small
organization trying to bring about a
change in their own community can
operate when big brother is watching
thank you very much for having me