Abstract
Images of human rights violations provide powerful information for those investigating atrocities. Expanded smartphone and internet penetration have increased access to such images. However, digital images circulated through social media and messaging platforms are often unattributed and easy to manipulate, making them difficult to verify. Official denials or claims the images are fake, propaganda or misinformation create confusion and doubt. “eyeWitness to Atrocities” is a smartphone camera app designed for human rights investigators in response to these challenges. Its metadata-enriched photos have a protected chain of custody to facilitate authentication. This case study looks at how the eyeWitness project has collaborated with investigators to strengthen reporting and provide information to the courts.
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Notes
- 1.
In this chapter “eyeWitness to Atrocities” refers to the free android smartphone camera app of that name. The eyeWitness to Atrocities project is also the name of the independent registered UK charity comprised of a small team of lawyers funded by the International Bar Association responsible for maintaining the app , collaborating with human rights investigators for effective use of the app , and use of data collected using the app for justice and accountability . The term “human rights investigators” is used in this chapter as an umbrella term to describe investigative reporters, nongovernmental organisation (NGO) journalists and human rights researchers documenting human rights violations and international crimes.
- 2.
See Carpenter (2010, p. 205). Carpenter describes gatekeepers as “any global actor densely connected to a particular issue network and thereby possessing particular influence over the issue agenda in that network” (Bob 2008, p. 6). Bob defines gatekeepers as “entities at the core of the human rights movement, whose support for a claim can boost it substantially. Typically these are organizations with the largest budgets, best staffs, and greatest credibility in the rights movement. Among them…major NGOs such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch ; international organizations such as the UN’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and other prominent international bodies; and human rights intellectuals”.
- 3.
See Ashouri et al. (2014) and Freeman (2018), for research on the use of digital evidence in international criminal courts. See also the International Criminal Court e-Court Protocol from the Office of the Prosecutor Regulations ICC-BD/05-01-09 and Regulations of the Court ICC-BD/01-01-04 (26 May 2004) as amended by Prosecutor v. Callixte Mbarushimana, Case No. ICC-01/04-01/10, Decision amending the e-Court Protocol.
- 4.
See Irving, E. (2017) on the use of social media videos as evidence in an ICC arrest warrant for Mahmoud Mustafa Busayf Al-Werfalli, in the context of the Libya situation.
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Farrow, E. (2018). eyeWitness to Atrocities: Verifying Images with Metadata. In: Hahn, O., Stalph, F. (eds) Digital Investigative Journalism. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-97283-1_14
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