eyeWitness to Atrocities

eyeWitness has developed an award-winning technology that authenticates and safely stores digital material (such as photos of videos) for the prosecution of war crimes.

Mission Statement
eyeWitness seeks to bring to justice individuals who commit atrocities by providing human rights defenders, journalists, and ordinary citizens with a mobile app to capture much needed verifiable video and photos of these abuses. eyeWitness then becomes an ongoing advocate for the footage to promote accountability for those who commit the worst international crimes.

Project Description
In seeking to bring the perpetrators of atrocities to justice, eyeWitness provides a tool for human rights defenders, documenters, journalists, and other courageous citizens, to capture verifiable footage related to international atrocity crimes. Our easy-to-use camera app captures the metadata needed to ensure that images can be used in investigations or trials. It then safely stores the information in a storage facility, hosted by Lexis Nexis and maintained by the eyeWitness organisation. The information we receive is reviewed by the eyeWitness expert team, who then seek to ensure that the data is used to bring perpetrators of international crimes to justice.

Pro Bono Opportunities
eyeWitness to Atrocities partners with outside investigators, attorneys, and law firms who provide pro bono resources to analyse the
information we receive from app users. If you or your firm are interested in
providing pro bono support, please contact us using the General Enquiries
information below.

Why was eyeWitness to Atrocities created?
In November 2010, harrowing footage obtained by UK broadcaster Channel 4 emerged, seemingly showing Sri Lankan troops executing Tamil prisoners. Mark Ellis, Executive Director of the International Bar Association (IBA), was one of the international lawyers asked to examine the video. He found that the authenticity of the footage could not be verified. ‘Watching that film was a catalyst for the idea that an app could be created to act as a tool of verification and allow the video to be admissible in a court of law,’ he says. So began a four-year effort…

How can I capture metadata?
To capture the time, date, location and pixel count, switch the eyeWitness app to secure mode. Press the corner of the app camera screen until it turns blue. Now everything you film will include metadata and be stored in the app’s secure gallery.

How does eyeWitness protect the security of its app users?
There are always risks involved with documenting human rights abuses. There is not only danger from the user’s proximity to a volatile situation, but also the risk of arrest or other repercussions from authorities who do not want information about their actions to be publicised. No technology can completely eliminate those risks. However, we believe that the security of our users is of utmost importance. Therefore, our app incorporates features….