Unit Identity
«Unit Identity» is a claim type that contains information about the existence and identity of the unit, such as its name, aliases, branch (or classification), the country in which is operates, and the duration of its existence. «Unit Identity» claims are grouped (or aggregated) together to create building blocks of the command chain of a branch of the security or defense forces. They are connected together with «Unit Relation» claims, resulting in a hierarchy of units.
Unit Identity: Summary of claim attributes
The table below summarises the following dimensions of Unit Identity claims:
Attribute label: a human readable label for the attribute
Attribute name: a unique machine-readable name for the attribute, used during data capture
Status: whether the attribute is optional or required in a claim
Data type: the sort of data that can be entered into the field
Conformed name: a standardized name that simplifies attribute use in SFM databases
Attribute label |
Attribute name |
Status |
Data type |
Conformed name |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
required |
uuid-string |
|
|
|
required |
strings<->uuids |
|
|
|
optional |
single-string |
|
|
|
optional |
cell-list |
|
|
|
optional |
cell-list |
|
|
|
optional |
country-iso-strong |
|
|
|
optional |
YN<->bool |
|
|
|
optional |
YN<->bool |
|
|
|
optional |
string-date<->timestamp |
|
|
|
optional |
string-date<->timestamp |
|
|
|
optional |
string-date<->timestamp |
|
|
|
optional |
string-date<->timestamp |
|
|
|
optional |
string-date<->timestamp |
|
|
|
optional |
string-date<->timestamp |
|
|
|
optional |
status |
|
Unit Identity: details of claim attributes
This section contains further information about each attribute, including descriptions, examples of use, and guidance on use.
Unit Identity: Unique Identifier
Attribute name
::unit:id
Description
A unique 32 character code assigned to each unit in the dataset.
Atrribute type
String in UUID format
Status
This attribute is required.
Example of use
a407be6a-28e6-4237-b4e9-307f27b1202e
Guidance on use
This value is a Universally Unique Indentifier (UUID) generated using a computer program.
Unit Identity: Claim Citation Identifier
Attribute name
::unit:claim:citation:id
Description
A unique 32 character code of a citation from a source that evidences the other attribute(s) in this claim.
Atrribute type
String in UUID format
Status
This attribute is required.
Example of use
16d013b5-7073-4446-b22b-46b0edb25632
Guidance on use
All claims require a citation, which is a reference to a specific part of a source (for example a page or paragraph reference). The page on citations provides more information about this evidentiary mechanism.
Unit Identity: Name
Attribute name
::unit:name
Description
Canonical name of the unit.
Atrribute type
String
Status
This attribute is optional.
Example of use
3 Armoured Division, 3 Compañía de Infantería No Encuadrada, 7 Military Operations Command
Guidance on use
As different sources will spell a unit’s name in different ways the Security Force Monitor works to create a single canonical version of a unit’s name based on sources and standardized to match the overall structure of and reporting about the security forces:
Examples
Example A: Police Divisions are a class of police units in Nigeria. There are over 1000 units of this type nationwide. However, each individual Police Division may not have a citation for their formal name such as Lagos Police Division, but only have a citation (or numerous citations) for the less formal Lagos Division. The Monitor would list the name of the unit as Lagos Police Division and the claim would include a comment about the methodology behind that choice. The less formal Lagos Division name would be entered in the Unit Identity: Other Names field.
Example B: Army units of a country may follow a naming convention of a number and then name of unit: e.g. 3 Battalion or 25 Brigade. There may be a unit of which we only have citations for a variation on that: e.g. Fourth Battalion. In this case, the Monitor would list the name of the unit as 4 Battalion with a note about the methodology behind that choice. The Fourth Battalion name variant would be entered in a claim about Unit Identity: Other Names.
Standardizations don’t have specific sources, so we have created a specific source to use in these cases. Where a value in Unit Identity: Name has been standardized, a citation with the following title will be associated with it: «Name standardized in accordance with Security Force Monitor research».
Additionally, wherever possible, we will choose the most complete and complex version of a unit’s name that can be evidenced by a source:
Examples
Example C: 3 Armoured Division would be the entry, rather than the more informal 3 Division (which may have more citations).
The Monitor does not use ordinal indicators like 1st or 3rd in the name of an Unit. Instead these will be listed in the Unit Identity: Other Names field.
The Monitor uses the name in the official (local) language of the country where appropriate and/or possible.
Examples
Example D: A unit in the Mexican Army would be called by its name in Spanish (10 Regimiento de Caballería Motorizado), rather than the English translation ( 10 Motorized Cavalry Regiment).
In an effort to standardize names across all countries, the Monitor generally uses Arabic numerals in the Unit Identity: Name field. Where warranted by sources the Monitor will use Roman numerals like V or XI instead of 5 or 11 respectively.
In cases where multiple units have the same name the Monitor will distinguish them by adding unique identifying text based on the unit’s location or parent unit.
Examples
Example E: There are multiple «Central Police Station» formations across Nigeria, some based in the same state. To better distinguish these are separate, distinct units the Monitor added information on where the units were located to the name field for instance Central Police Station (Awka, Anambra State).In Myanmar there have been different units through time both the name Central Regional Military Command. To distinguish them the Monitor added information on when the unit came into existence to the name: Central Regional Military Command (post 199).
In some cases, we are aware that a unit exist because of what sources tell us about the general organizational structure. However, in some cases sources do not provide us with sufficient information to give these units a name, or to be precise about the nature of relationships between units. To resolve issues of this nature we use the concepts of «Unnamed» and «Unknown» units. We have written more about this in the Handbook page Unknown and unnamed units.
Unit Identity: Other Names
Attribute name
::unit:other_names
Description
Other names for a unit, including aliases, alternative spellings and abbreviations.
Atrribute type
String
Status
This attribute is optional.
Example of use
If 3 Armoured Division is used as the canonical Unit Identity: Name of a unit, entries in the Unit Identity: Other Names field may include 3 Div and Three Division.
Guidance on use
Different sources will spell a unit’s name in different ways. We choose and record a canonical version of a unit’s name in the Unit Identity: Name field. All other spellings that we have found are treated as aliases and stored in this field.
Although we do not use ordinal indicators like 2nd or 10/o in the canonical name we choose for a unit, where a source uses an ordinal we record it as an alias.
Example
We find a version of the unit name 3 Armoured Division that has an Ordinal indicator: 10/o. Regimiento de Caballería Motorizado. We would record this in the Unit Identity: Other Names field.
Unit Identity: Classification
Attribute name
::unit:classifications
Description
The branch or branches of the security services that the unit a part of or a general descriptor for the unit.
Atrribute type
String
Status
This attribute is optional.
Example of use
Army, Ejército, Police, Military, Military Police, Joint Operation
Guidance on use
We use classifications to describe the basic nature of a specific unit and to assist investigations of potential linkages between reports of human rights abuses and the Security Force Monitor’s dataset. As alleged perpetrators are usually identified in general terms of «soldiers» and «police» this field is important as a first step to understand potential linkages between units, persons and incidents. Unit Identity: Classification values are useful supplements to those in the `Unit Relations`_ claim type in connecting different units together.
The Unit Identity: Classification field will contain a mix of standard terms and country-specific terms used to describe security force branches. In choosing terms to include in the Unit Identity: Classification field we try to include terms that are used by country experts as well as those that are common terms. We also try to be economical and create as few, distinct terms as possible.
Example
A standard term we would apply to army units is Army. The equivalent in Mexico would be Ejécito. We would capture both terms in the `Unit Identity: Classification``_ field.
Units may have more than one classification. Usually this will be when a unit can have both «generic» and «specific» classifications.
Example
Units which are part of the army of a country may be coded as having a classification of Army as well as a classification of Military, whereas units which are part of the navy of a country would have classifications of of Navy and Military. For both the army and navy unit their respective classifications are correct, the army and the navy are part of the military. Critically, this enables the Monitor or users of the Monitor’s data to properly analyze allegations against «soldiers» and «members of the army» in the country. In the case of «soldiers» this analysis should include every unit with the classification of Military while if there is greater specificity of «members of the army» would mean excluding any unit with the classification of Navy and focusing only on those units with a classification of Army.
Unit Identity: Country
Attribute name
::unit:country
Description
ISO 3166 two letter code for the country from which a unit originates.
Atrribute type
String from controlled vocabulary.
Status
This attribute is optional.
Example of use
mx, ug, ng
Guidance on use
The Unit Identity: Country attribute identifies the country fromt which this unit originates. All entries in this attribute will be two-letter country codes taken from ISO 3166. For example, a unit from Nigeria would have the code ng and a unit from Brazil would have the code br
A unit may only contain a single value in the Unit Identity: Country attribute. A unit’s operations in another country are described using the `Unit Identity: Positioning`_ claim type.
Unit Identity: Date Range is a Start Date
Attribute name
::unit:date-range:starting?
Description
Indicates whether date range, whether precise or imprecise, is the date that a unit was established or founded.
Attribute Type
Boolean
Status
This attribute is optional.
Example of use
N
Guidance on use
Full guidance on the use of this field can be found in the Handbook page Claims with dates.
Unit Identity: Date Range is an Ending Date
Attribute name
::unit:date-range:ending?
Description
Indicates whether date range, whether precise or imprecise, is the date that a unit was disbanded, dissolved, merged or replaced.
Attribute Type
Boolean
Status
This attribute is optional.
Example of use
Y
Guidance on use
Full guidance on rationale for and differences between precise and imprecise date ranges, the use of this attribute can be found in the Handbook page Claims with dates.
Unit Identity: Earliest Precise Date
Attribute name
::unit:date-range-precise:first
Description
The earliest date in a precise date range for which the claim is valid
Attribute Type
Timestamp
Status
This attribute is optional
Example of use
2022-01-22
Guidance on use
Full guidance on rationale for and differences between precise and imprecise date ranges, the use of this attribute can be found in the Handbook page Claims with dates.
Unit Identity: Latest Precise Date
Attribute name
::unit:date-range-precise:last
Description
The latest date in a precise date range for which the claim is valid
Attribute Type
Timestamp
Status
This attribute is optional
Example of use
2022-01-22
Guidance on use
Full guidance on rationale for and differences between precise and imprecise date ranges, the use of this attribute can be found in the Handbook page Claims with dates.
Unit Identity: Earliest Imprecise Date
Attribute name
``::unit:date-range-imprecise:first`
Description
The earliest date in an imprecise date range for which the claim is valid
Attribute Type
Timestamp
Status
This attribute is optional
Example of use
2022-01-22
Guidance on use
Full guidance on rationale for and differences between precise and imprecise date ranges, the use of this attribute can be found in the Handbook page Claims with dates.
Unit Identity: Latest Imprecise Date
Attribute name
::unit:date-range-imprecise:last
Description
The latest date in an imprecise date range for which the claim is valid
Attribute Type
Timestamp
Status
This attribute is optional
Example of use
2022-01-22
Guidance on use
Full guidance on rationale for and differences between precise and imprecise date ranges, the use of this attribute can be found in the Handbook page Claims with dates.
Unit Identity: Research Comments
Attribute name
::unit:claim:comment
Description
Observations specific to the process of reviewing data in this claim, including fixes, refinements and other suggestions.
Atrribute type
String
Example of use
Parent unit missing, Geography needs attention, Possible duplicate - merge?
Guidance on use
Staff Researchers use this attribute to exchange feedback about the data in the claim. This may included changes needed, references to sources that the owner of the claim might look at, and other observations that can improve the quality of the data. Data stored in this attribute are not intended for publication. The comments attribute is common to all claim types in the SFM data model.
Unit Identity: Research Owner
Attribute name
::unit:claim:researcher
Description
Initials of Staff Reseacher who first created the unit.
Atrribute type
String
Status
This attribute is optional.
Example of use
TL, TW, MM, NP
Guidance on use
This attribute allows researchers keep track of claims they have created. It may be used for arbitrary grouping and tagging of specific sets of claims if needed. This type of attribute is common to all types of claim in the SFM data model.
Unit Identity: Research Status
Attribute name
::unit:claim:status
Description
The place of the claim in the research workflow.
Atrribute type
String from controlled vocabulary.
Status
This attribute is optional.
Example of use
1, X
Guidance on use
Staff Researchers use this attribute to indicate where a claim stands in the research workflow between the first cut of a claim, review by other researchers, and final readiness for use in analysis or for publication. The values to be used in this attribute are taken from the below list:
X: Claim should be deleted.0: First commit. This claim has just been added and needs review.1: Fixes needed. A reviewer has made comments that need to be addressed, which will be recorded in the Unit Identity: Research Comments attribute.2: Fixes made. The owner of this data has addressed the reviewer’s comments.3: Clean. A final check has been made by a reviewer, and this claim can be used in analysis and can be published.
This type of attribute is common to all claims in the SFM data model.