Volunteers needed: Drupal development / theming (Updated) | The BRussells Tribunal

UPDATE:

No one has responded, so we are obliged to try to do this ourselves. We run into many problems in terms of development and implementation (internationalization, theme integration, etc). We still need help. On theming we have two themes selected and we try to merge them, to get the best out of both. Please write me if you think you can assist. Thanks for reading.

IMPORTANT NOTE:

There are no financial resources available for this work (i.e., there is no money). We look for volunteers. We ourselves are volunteers. Your contribution will be acknowledged, of course (if you wish), and we can provide letters of recommendation if needed. Your main reward, like ours, is a lighter conscience, knowing that you did something for the benefit of human rights and justice worldwide, and specifically for Iraqi victims. We believe that the protection and promotion of human rights is a duty that rests on the shoulders of all of us; that all of us should use whatever skills we have, in part at least, towards that end. Please read the posting in full and you will see that volunteering for this project would be a good use of your skills, and your time, for an initiative that could have a real world impact. Thank you for listening.

To all Drupal enthusiasts and experts:

I am involved in an initiative to hold accountable US and UK leaders for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide in Iraq, including 2.5 million excess Iraqi deaths since 1990 and the displacement of 4.7 million more.

After nearly two years of planning, and several months of organisation and writing, last week we filed in Spain, at the Audiencia Nacional under laws of universal jurisdiction, a legal case naming four US presidents and four UK prime ministers. You can read our press release here.

This case is a historic step forward in the struggle for justice for Iraq, and by extension in the struggle for human rights against colonial and imperial crimes worldwide. If allowed to be a precedent, what happened in Iraq could happen elsewhere.

Where Drupal comes in
Around 18 months ago I posted a request for assistance in these forums (see here). As our initiative was getting underway, I could see immediately the potential of Drupal for online collaboration and social network building.

I had a complex plan worked out, but no money (the BRussells Tribunal operates on a zero budget, in part to protect its political independence, but also because we refuse to be paid, or to run after money, as we work to defend basic human rights and principles). I looked for volunteers, and indeed some responded, but none who could offer the necessary skills to meet the specific challenges of the project I mapped out.

My idea was very much to use Drupal to facilitate the coordination of a dispersed international legal team and supporting researchers, drawn from the extensive network of the BRussells Tribunal, to write the base of a legal submission. In my mind, it was a test case for what Drupal could do. I also saw it as exactly the kind of thing open source software was developed for: things that don't fit within, and indeed go against, the mainstream grain. But unfortunately I was unable to build the right team.

I then spent around nine months looking for how, and transparently, I could build the necessary resources to pay for the assistance I needed. If I had had a house I would have sold it. I even contacted Dries Buytaert and tried to meet him one-on-one, but he was not available to meet while I was in Belgium. I was facing a chicken and egg situation: I could gather and build resources when we had a legal case filed, but to get the case filed I needed to coordinate a large team of lawyers, and to provide them means to self-organize and work effectively (also in three languages), which suggested Drupal.

More or less the quotes I was getting were around 15,000 euros. In the end, I was obliged to abandon Drupal and I and a few others ended up writing the legal submission ourselves in simple coordination with legal specialists on email.

Where things are now
Now, I face a new reality: a case filed and a campaign to begin; one that could benefit from Drupal and its potential. I still need a working website, and one that can meet immediate needs and scale up. The potential ramifications of this legal case are historic. Until we organise ourselves, build an association, find funds to meet legal costs on the ground, and establish an infrastructure for the project to build on, we need to have some kind of effective web presence.

So I am looking to build a team of Drupal volunteers. We remain faithful that there are people like us out there in the Drupal community who have skills but just haven't heard of us, or who don't have a channel by which to contribute to the defence of human rights or justice. Our initiative is such a channel, and we need the help of the Drupal community to fully realise it.

How you can help
Though we filed our legal case in Spanish, it was written in English. The brief was more than 40,000 words. When it came to translation, via the wonderful site Proz.com, we were able to gather and use around 52 translators, all volunteers, organising themselves organically, and working simultaneously. The translation was done swiftly and effortlessly, and enjoyably.

I don't say that the same response should now comes from the Drupal community, but it would be wonderful to build at least a small working team that could work collaboratively to swiftly meet our needs and give our efforts the push, with the case now filed, that they need and that Drupal and its capacities could really provide.

Please contact me directly on Skype (ID: ianrobertdouglas) or at the email below.

Thank you for reading.

salam,

Dr Ian Douglas
iandouglas@USgenocide.org
Skype: ianrobertdouglas

Executive Committee
The BRussells Tribunal
www.brusselstribunal.org

Coordinator
International Initiative to Prosecute US Genocide in Iraq
مبادرة دولية لمحاكمة جريمة الإبادة الجماعية الأمريكية في العراق
www.USgenocide.org