Berkeley Law’s Human Rights Center(opens in a new tab) conducts free training programs, worldwide, on digital open source investigations of international criminal and humanitarian violations to organizations and professionals across several disciplines. Its latest offering — an intense program for 49 members of Yemen’s National Commission to Investigate Alleged Violations of Human Rights — took place over a recent five-day period in Jordan.
Organized by the International Center for Transitional Justice(opens in a new tab) (ICTJ), the training helped field monitors and investigators who work in different regions across Yemen and face varied challenges documenting abuses by different parties to the conflict wreaking havoc in the country.
Yemen faces jarring concerns amid the country’s ongoing turmoil, including extrajudicial killings, forced disappearances, the targeting and bombing of civilian areas, forced displacement, torture, and the recruitment of children into armed groups. The commission’s investigators and field monitors, mainly judges, lawyers, and journalists, called the workshops practical, illuminating, and hugely helpful.
“The program was extremely significant due to the wealth of diverse knowledge and skills imparted by a proficient training team from the Human Rights Center,” says field monitor Maher al Absi. “We’re only at the beginning of our journey in this field. Throughout the workshops, various sessions covered a range of crucial topics.”
Providing foundational training tailored to Yemen’s specific needs, the center worked from the Berkeley Protocol on Digital Open Source Investigations it developed — increasingly used in Ukraine and other countries facing egregious human rights violations and now translated into six languages.
Workshops focused on how to verify the authenticity of photos, videos, and other data collected during research, al Absi explains, were vital because any presence of fabricated content can undermine an entire investigation process if left unnoticed.
Participants learned how to employ satellite image applications such as Google Earth Pro and Geolocation — which help pinpoint the geographical coordinates of any user or device utilizing location services such as GPS, communication networks, or IP addresses — and how to prepare a meticulous final report.
“Establishing a well-prepared investigation team is of paramount importance since there should be a proper and equitable allocation of tasks and responsibilities, followed by meticulously planning a systematic work strategy until completion,” he says. “All these steps precede the practical investigative phase, as they’re the bedrock for the overall success of the investigation process. Subsequently, I learned a number of pivotal subjects that help in conducting investigations via open sources.”
Read more at
https://www.law.berkeley.edu/article/berkeley-law-center-helps-train-yemen-investigators-pursuing-justice-for-wartime-atrocities/
