HURIDOCS is a network of organisations and individuals concerned with information on human rights, and convinced that solid information systems are needed to protect human rights. HURIDOCS Micro-thesauri are part of an effort to provide tools for human rights documentation.

In 1993, HURIDOCS published a revision of the Bibliographic Standard Formats (1), and the first edition of the Events Standard Formats (2). EVSYS, a computer program to accompany the Events Standard Formats was also released and has continued to be developed. The Supporting Documents (3) were created to provide the controlled vocabularies needed for completing various fields in the Bibliographic Standard Formats and the Events Standard Formats.

The Events Standard Formats have now been revised and published under the title HURIDOCS Events Standard Formats (4) with WinEvsys, an accompanying computer program. Several of the Micro-thesauri in this book are a revision of the earlier Supporting Documents, others are new. They are intended to provide controlled vocabularies for the Events Standard Formats and WinEvsys as well as for other manual or computerised systems of documenting human rights violations.

The content of several Micro-thesauri is evolving because of ongoing developments in the areas to which they relate, and they do not pretend to be comprehensive. While HURIDOCS promotes international standards for the purpose of information exchange, it recognises that some thesauri may not meet the exact needs of particular organisations. Therefore, further refinement by users is possible. HURIDOCS appreciates if adaptations of the Micro-thesauri are communicated to its Secretariat.

Human rights organisations that focus on specific issues can select and use only a small number of categories that are of interest to them, and further refine them. HURIDOCS is willing to collaborate with such groups in the process of adapting the Events Standard Formats, which includes the revision of terminologies in the Micro-thesauri and the development of new Local Micro-thesauri according to their needs.

The original lists in the Supporting Documents came from a variety of sources. Some consisted of earlier work by HURIDOCS. Certain were developed in relation to the Bibliographic Standard Formats. Others were adapted from existing lists, published or unpublished, used by various organisations or networks. Some were developed specifically for the Events Standard Formats. As a result, there is no standard coding system governing the various lists in the 1993 Supporting Documents. Some lists are alphabetical while others are hierarchical. Certain lists are mnemonic but most are numeric. Some use 4 digits, others 3 digits, etc. Some start with decimal points, while others have the decimal points embedded in the codes.

With this compilation of Micro-thesauri, HURIDOCS has decided to standardise the coding system in order to enhance the effectiveness of any computer program based on the Events Standard Formats, as well as give users a sense of coherence to help them in data entry and thesaurus-development for their own needs. The new coding system used in the Micro-thesauri in this book generally show the hierarchical relationships among the terms, more definitely than the original coding.

The content of the lists are based on new developments, earlier work by HURIDOCS, input from members of the HURIDOCS network, and work by other organisations including the International Refugee Documentation Network, the Minority Rights Group, the International Labour Organisation, and many others. In particular, HURIDOCS has adopted many standards promoted by the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO). The introduction to each Micro-thesaurus provides information on its sources and structure.

Because various lists included in the Micro-thesauri are updates of lists included in the Supporting Documents, HURIDOCS recommends that organisations using the Supporting Documents start using the Micro-thesauri.

The rules for coding are included in chapter 5 of the HURIDOCS Events Standard Formats. They are also given in this publication for easier reference.

RULES IN ASSIGNING HURIDOCS CODES

HURIDOCS has developed a new system of coding for the Micro-thesauri, which allows for a more systematic attribution of codes and provides users with additional possibilities for retrieving information. The new HURIDOCS codes consist of one or more group(s) of digits. Each group contains two digits, allowing up to 99 categories to be included on each level. The HURIDOCS documentation system allows for the use of a maximum of six groups of digits, or a theoretical possibility of coding almost a trillion categories!

HURIDOCS recommends that organisations that use lists of the Supporting Documents start using the new codes. In order to illustrate the equivalence between the previous Supporting Documents and the Micro-thesauri, all Micro-thesauri that are based on Supporting Documents contain the codes used in the Supporting Documents.

In assigning new codes, HURIDOCS has followed certain rules. These rules should also be followed when organisations develop local Micro-thesauri, as noted in the Introduction to the Local Micro-Thesauri.

Rule 1: Short lists with one level

If the list is short and does not have to be alphabetically arranged, numbering is simply sequential. Only one group of digits is used in this case. Thus, for Micro-thesaurus 32: Types of Courts:

01 Civilian court
02 Military court
03 Administrative tribunal

Rule 2: Long lists with one level

If the list is long and the terms need to be displayed alphabetically, HURIDOCS uses all 6 groups of digits. The first five groups represent letters in the alphabet. For instance, if the first letter of the term is A, the first group of digits will be 01; if B, then the first group of digits will be 02, and so on. Similarly, if the second letter of the term is A, then the second group of digits will be 01; if B, then 02, and so on.

For words with less than five characters and for words with spaces, dashes or slashes, add 00s at the relevant places - e.g., the code for Law is 12 01 23 00 00 01, and the code for Non-governmental organisations is 14 15 14 00 19 01.

The sixth group is used, on a sequential basis, to assign a number starting from 01, so as to distinguish terms having the same first five letters.

This system will still allow inclusion of terms later, while maintaining an alphabetical order, or close to it.

As an example, below is an extract from Micro-thesaurus 1: HURIDOCS Index Terms:

01 02 04 21 03 01 Abduction 
01 02 21 19 05 01 Abuse of the elderly 
01 04 13 09 14 01 Administration of justice 
01 07 05 14 20 01 Agents responsible for violations 
01 07 18 09 03 01 Agriculture 
01 12 09 05 14 01 Aliens 
01 18 02 09 20 01 Arbitrary arrest and detention 
01 18 13 05 04 01 Armed conflict 
01 18 13 05 04 02 Armed forces 
01 19 25 12 12 01 Asylum 
01 19 25 12 12 02 Asylum seekers 

Rule 3: Hierarchical lists

The number of groups of digits that are used correspond to the number of levels that the list has. Thus, a two-level list uses two groups of digits, meaning that the major categories are represented by the first group and the subcategories by the second group.

To provide an example, below are the first few terms in Micro-thesaurus 11: Physical Descriptors:

01 Artificial body parts and aids
01 01 Arm, left, artificial
01 02 Arm, right, artificial
01 03 Brace, arm, left
01 04 Brace, arm, right
01 05 Brace, back

With a three-level list, three groups of digits are used. Shown below is the first part of Micro-thesaurus 12: Religions:

01 Buddhists
01 01 Lamaists
01 02 Zen Buddhists
02 Jains
03 Confucianists
04 Hindus
05 Sikhs
06 Bahais
07 Shintoists
08 Taoists
09 Zoroastrians
10 Christians
10 01 Orthodox Christians
10 02 Copts
10 03 Catholics
10 04 Protestants
10 04 01 Huguenots
10 04 02 Lutherans
10 04 03 Baptists
10 04 04 Pentecostals
10 05 Jehovah's Witnesses
10 90 Other Christian groups

A four-level list uses four groups of digits while a five-level list uses five groups. All six groups of digits are used for six-level lists.

Finally, HURIDOCS has assigned the code 90 and the term "Other", to be used when no appropriate term can be found in a particular Micro-thesaurus. Details regarding this entry can be recorded as clarifying notes. "Other" can also be used for sub-groups, for example 10 90 for "Other Christian groups". It is recommended that users analyse "Other" entries periodically and develop new categories of codes and terms where relevant.

The code "99" and the term "Unknown" have been assigned to indicate that information is not (yet) known.

EXPANDING THE HIERARCHICAL LISTS

Users who want to make any of the hierarchical lists more specific can do so as follows:

Add a new group of digits to the right of currently used groups. For instance, a user may want to add more specific terms to Micro-thesaurus 15: Geographical Terms as follows:

01 Africa 
01 01 Central Africa 
01 01 17 Burundi 
01 01 17 01 Northern Burundi 
01 01 17 02 Central Burundi 

THE EVENTS MICRO-THESAURI IN A COMPUTERISED SYSTEM

In a computerised system like WinEvsys, the HURIDOCS codes use all six groups of digits, meaning that each code is assigned exactly 12 characters. If the actual code is less than 12 characters, zeroes are added to its right. No spaces are used in between the groups of digits.

Hence, the HURIDOCS codes integrated into a computerised system will take the following forms:

One-level short list (e.g., Micro-thesaurus 32: Types of Courts):

010000000000 Civilian court 
020000000000 Military court
030000000000 Administrative tribunal

One-level long list (e.g., Micro-thesaurus 1: HURIDOCS Index Terms):

010204210301 Abduction 
010221190501 Abuse of the elderly 
010413091401 Administration of justice 
010705142001 Agents responsible for violations 
010718090301 Agriculture 
011209051401 Aliens 
011802092001 Arbitrary arrest and detention 
011813050401 Armed conflict 
011813050402 Armed forces 
011925121201 Asylum 
011925121202 Asylum seekers 

Hierarchical lists with two levels (e.g., Micro-thesaurus 11: Physical Descriptors):

010000000000 Artificial body parts and aids 
010100000000 Arm, left, artificial 
010200000000 Arm, right, artificial 
010300000000 Brace, arm, left 
010400000000 Brace, arm, right 
010500000000 Brace, back 

Hierarchical lists with three levels (e.g., Micro-thesaurus 15: Geographical Terms):

000000000000  Universal 
010000000000  Africa 
010100000000  Central Africa 
010117000000  Burundi 
010118000000  Cameroon 
010120000000  Central African Republic 

Hierarchical lists with four levels (e.g., Micro-thesaurus 10: Occupations - ILO Categories):

010000000000  Legislators, senior officials and managers 
010100000000  Legislators and senior officials 
010101000000  Legislators 
010102000000  Senior government officials 
010103000000  Traditional chiefs and heads of villages 
010104000000  Senior officials of special-interest organisations 
010104010000  Senior officials of political party organisations 
010104020000  Senior officials of economic-interest organisations 
010104030000  Senior officials of humanitarian organisations 

Hierarchical lists with five levels (e.g. Micro-thesaurus 04: Types of Acts):

010000000000  Violations of the right to life 
010100000000  Direct actions which violate the right to life 
010101000000  Deliberate killings of specific individuals 
010101010000  Summary execution 
010101020000  Extra-judicial execution outside any legal proceedings 
010101030000  Legal execution (capital punishment) 
010101040000  Politically-motivated killing by non-state agent(s) 
010101050000  Murder (deliberate killing which ought to be seen as a common criminal act) 
010101050100  Dowry death 
010101050200  Bride burning 
010101050300  Death as part of a ritual 
010101050400  Rape-slay 
010101050500  Death in snuff films 
010102000000  Killings carried out against a person with specific characteristics 

MODIFICATIONS

The Micro-thesauri are intended to assist organisations working toward compatibility and uniformity in data recording and communication. Thus, any modification to the Micro-thesauri should be communicated to HURIDOCS. Suggestions for improvement will also be much appreciated and will serve to improve the next edition.

(1) Noval, Aída María, et al. HURIDOCS Standard Formats for the Recording and Exchange of Bibliographic Information concerning Human Rights. Geneva: HURIDOCS, 1993.

(2) Dueck, Judith, et al. HURIDOCS Standard Formats: A Tool for Documenting Human Rights Violations. Oslo: HURIDOCS, 1993.

(3) Dueck, Judith, and Aída María Noval. HURIDOCS Standard Formats: Supporting Documents. Oslo: HURIDOCS, 1993.

(4) Dueck, Judith, Manuel Guzman and Bert Verstappen, HURIDOCS Events Standard Formats: A Tool for Documenting Human Rights Violations. Versoix: HURIDOCS, 2001.