Heartland Initiative

Background

Heartland Initiative teamed with the Investor Alliance for Human Rights for an Issue Briefing on Conflict and Security in the Context of Information, Communication and Technology. The report states that technology can undermine human rights when used by unscrupulous governments engaged in conflict “surveil, detain, and/or censor individuals or groups, wage cyber-attacks on civilian infrastructure, ‘weaponize information’ and provide a platform for ‘hate speech,’ unlawfully seize property to develop ICT infrastructure, or the sourcing of materials from conflict-affected areas.” It also warned about “fake news” and “deep fake” disinformation campaigns on the Internet. ¹

The report talks about the governments of Syria, Russia, Myanmar, Iraq and of Israel. It refers to the disputed West Bank and Gaza Strip as “occupied land” in the same paragraph that it mentions Russia and Crimea. ¹

Despite being a human rights group, the organization opposes the U.S. State Department’s Unalienable Rights Commission, established to protect human rights reflected by the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution. It signed onto a letter, among 150 mostly liberal groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for American Progress, to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo asking that the commission be shut down. ²

Leadership

Sam Jones is the president. He previously served as the associate director of the human rights Program at The Carter Center. This job included work in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Jones previously managed community development programs in Iraq and Jordan. He also led assessment missions to Israel, and evaluated the Palestinian territories, to Lebanon, and Afghanistan for Counterpart International. Jones also served in the American Near East Refugee Aid in the Gaza Strip. ³

Jones spoke in 2015 to the pro-Palestinian Samuel Dewitt Proctor Conference, the organizations that includes Christian pastors. ⁴ Jones spoke at a panel about his experience working with Palestinians at Covenant Presybiterian Church in Charlotte, North Carolina that was titled, “Where do Christians Come From?” ⁵

Rich Stazinski is the executive director and co-founder of the Heartland Initiative. Stazinski previously worked for the Telos Group, the Save Darfur Coalition, Citizens for Global Solutions, the Stanley Foundation, Max Planck Institute for Economics, and the Human Resource Investment Council for the State of Indiana. He was previously a campaign manager for U.S. Rep. Peter J. Visclosky (D-IN). ³