Human rights and statistics: Some reflections on the no-man's-land between concept and indicator

Abstract

Indicators for implementation of human rights are essential for developing a strategy for the promotion and protection of those rights and, indeed for democratic development. The experience of the International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development with its analytical grid (using a series of human rights indicators) to assess democracy in specific countries leads us to make a series of observations on the current debate over indicators for human rights. 1. Indicators are useful to the extent that they provide a qualitative analysis (i.e.: address the scope and complexity of the right in question and give insight into the context which produces them). 2. Statistical data alone cannot provide an adequate reading of a situation. 3. Specific combinations and types and sources of data must be employed in each specific situation: it is presently impossible to apply the same combination across a significant number of country situations. 4. The contested nature of any particular measurement is such that the consolidation of several measurements into an index for comparative purposes is risky and misleading.