The world's ongoing digital transformation greatly affects the work of ICTJ and other human rights organizations and actors, bringing with it both opportunities and challenges. On the one hand, this transformation eliminates many barriers related to physical distance, enabling broader participation and collaboration. It also makes available vast amounts of information and innovative technology, which can help human rights defenders immeasurably as long as they can access and use them effectively. By the same token, it presents new security threats and new obstacles in the pursuit of accountability, the establishment of legitimate narratives, and the protection of rights and civic spaces.
In this moment, it is critically important to develop digital tools and strategies for documenting human rights violations, analyzing data and information for accountability or reparations purposes, holding social media and technology corporations accountable, and safely advocating for human rights online. This is particularly true in contexts where victims, human rights actors, and members of the media live in fear or are otherwise in danger.
To this end, ICTJ has launched initiatives that leverage advanced technology and provide victims, activists, and journalists with tools to access critical information and the space to collaborate. In particular, ICTJ has led trainings for human rights activists in conflict-affected regions on digital, open-source investigation techniques, enabling them to more effectively document and investigate human rights violations.
ICTJ organized an introductory course on digital, open-source investigations for Yemeni and Libyan human rights activists in 2023. One year later, it offered two advanced training sessions for the activists who monitor the human rights situation, document violations, and fact-check information in their respective countries.
The participants, selected in collaboration with ICTJ’s partners on the ground, were trained on conducting these types of investigations. They learned how to plan them and how to use social media, geolocation, and other tools to execute them. The trainings were organized in collaboration with the Human Rights Center at the University of California–Berkeley.
“The objective of these trainings is not only to build the capacities of local activists,” explained Reem El Gantri, head of ICTJ’s Libya program. “We are also creating a hub for Arabic-speaking experts.”
This first advanced training included instruction in theory and practice, with participants working in groups to deepen their understanding of digital investigations and how to use open-source data. Each group considered a case study, identified collaboratively by experts and participants, and investigated it using the tools and skills they learned in the course, from planning to assessment and verification. The groups then presented their work and findings on the final day.
“The participants refined their skills through each stage of the activity,” said El Gantri. “The final presentation really showcased their reporting styles, reflecting their unique personalities and expertise.” One group, calling themselves the Justice League, even produced a short video to present their findings.
This course was followed by a training of trainers (ToT) session, in which primarily Libyan participants learned how to teach others about digital, open-source investigations. It concentrated on pedagogical techniques, approaches to engaging adult learners, evaluation methodologies, and strategies for cultivating a professional and respectful learning environment. Participants also engaged in a simulation exercise designed to enhance their understanding of specific components of such investigations.
At the conclusion of the ToT session, participants were asked to write and later submit an assessment in which they develop a lesson plan on an element of open-source investigations. They were also asked to prepare a commentary on the addendum to the International Court of Justice’s decision on the case of South Africa v. Israel, which was prepared by Forensic Architecture using open digital sources.
“Thanks to this course, I was able to acquire vital skills in verifying information, which enhances the accuracy and reliability of my investigations and reports,” said one Libyan participant. “This type of training enhances the ability of individuals and organizations to uncover facts and address fake news and violations, which contributes to transparency and accountability.”
Participants in the advanced open-source investigations training for Yemeni activists, held in Amman, Jordan, in July 2024, collaborate on a group activity. (Nour El Bejjani/ICTJ)
Another advanced training was organized in Yemen to strengthen the capacity of local civil society organizations (CSOs) and victims' groups and better position them to play a meaningful role in any future inclusive transitional justice process. This session was attended by 16 representatives of CSOs and victim groups working to document human rights abuses in different governorates in the country. Similar to the advanced training in Tunis, it sought to improve participants’ documentation and information analysis skills.
“In conflict zones and high-risk environments, where fieldwork is often hindered by challenges of access and movement, these [digital investigation] skills are invaluable. As activists and human rights defenders, we face the daunting task of navigating an overwhelming abundance of information,” explained one Yemeni participant. “Our challenge is to obtain reliable, verified, and well-documented information that can strengthen human rights protection mechanisms, ensure accountability, and combat impunity.”
“In complex and deeply polarized contexts like Yemen, misinformation further complicates our work,” he continued. “Thus, building our capacity to employ these modern methodologies for monitoring, tracking, and gathering information is of paramount importance.”
“These trainings pushed participants to think objectively and consider all the possibilities when conducting their investigations, which strengthened their analytical skills,” said Nour El Bejjani, head of ICTJ’s Yemen program. “They not only introduced participants to digital tools for collecting and verifying open-source data but got them comfortable using them in their work monitoring human rights abuses, which is the most important.”
ICTJ plans to continue this work and offer further trainings to cultivate a group of Arab-speaking open-source investigators, ensuring that local contexts, languages, and nuances are understood and respected in the documentation and investigation process. This approach will also empower local CSOs and victims’ groups to better document and investigate human rights violations, preserve the evidence they gather, and advance accountability and justice even in the most challenging contexts.
“Localizing the ability to carry out these [open-source] investigations will allow investigators, journalists, researchers, and advocates to have greater impact on issues that matter most to them, without being beholden to the support of Western governments and organizations to carry out that work,” said Brian Nguyen, open-source investigations training manager at the Human Rights Center in Berkeley. “The work we do with Yemeni and Libyan civil society—if proven successful—can be a model for other regions around the world.”
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PHOTO: A participant (center) in the advanced open-source investigations training for Libyan and Tunisian activists and journalists, held in Tunis in July 2024, receives her certificate of completion. (ICTJ)
