Earlier this year, the Crisis Evidence Lab published an article rounding up three different projects we worked on in the second half of 2022. As our work is so varied, we found it rewarding to share a small slice of what we get up to and so, continuing this format, here are three projects we have worked on over the past three months.
The catastrophic earthquakes that struck south-eastern Türkiye and northern Syria on 6 February and again on 20 February devastated entire communities. More than 48,000 people were killed and over 100,000 others were injured.
In data-informed investigations, storytelling is a way to organise and transmit information.
The term ‘remote sensing’ refers to the collection of information whilst away from an object or place of interest. In this broad sense, the use of closed-circuit televisions (CCTV), drones, or even mobile phones may all constitute remote sensing. For the purposes of this blog, we will focus on space-based imaging, such as satellite imagery.
This post was written for the Al Jazeera ‘Open Source Investigations Handbook’, which is available in English and Arabic.
Over the past few months in the Evidence Lab, we have been thinking about how we document and share the huge variety of work we do. No two days are ever the same. Our work spans from reactive verification responding to emerging crises, to large-scale multi-month collaborations, to visualising research at the end of a project.
This article discusses traumatic events including sexual assault.
January is traditionally the time when we reflect on the past year and often make overly ambitious plans for the year ahead. There are past projects and events that stand out, leading us to think more about how we should frame our work and what lessons to draw from it. One of those events for us at Amnesty International’s Crisis Evidence Lab was our annual Digital Verification Corps (DVC) summit, held in Mexico City in September 2022. The DVC is the unique network of global universities that collaborate with Amnesty International to address verification challenges and contribute directly to ground-breaking and rigorous human rights research.
Amnesty International investigations usually involve the work of at least half-a-dozen people. In projects where we engage our network of student volunteers, the Digital Verification Corps [DVC], those numbers more than triple.
Haga clic aquí para leer la publicación del blog en español.
Las desapariciones cometidas por agentes estatales y no estatales son uno de los problemas más acuciantes de México. Según cifras oficiales, hay más de 100,.000 personas desaparecidas en México. La mayoría de estos casos (80%) se han documentado desde 2007 debido al uso de las fuerzas armadas para combatir las actividades relacionadas con el narcotráfico en el país. El Comité de la ONU sobre Desapariciones Forzadas ha descrito las desapariciones como un fenómeno generalizado.
In a very short period of time, since armed conflict broke out in the country’s northern Tigray region in November 2020, the Ethiopian Air Force has become a major operator of the world’s second-tier armed drone platforms. Produced by Turkey, China, and Iran, these aircraft are affordable, effective, and (most importantly) available for purchase with seemingly few export or proliferation controls. And the Ethiopian Air Force clearly has no reluctance to use them. As drone strikes continue to ramp up, and civilian casualties mount (at least 300 dead over the last six months), there is an increased need to accurately identify the weapons used in the attacks so that investigators can properly attribute responsibility for civilian casualties and violations of international humanitarian law (IHL).