I.111 The Massacre at Tur Al-Zagh: Al-Dawayima, 29 October 1948
Date of Incident
29 Oct 1948
Location
Al-Dawayima, Palestine
Forums
Exhibition, Media
In Partnership With
Palestine Land Society
In collaboration with Palestine Land Society and working first-hand with Palestinian survivors of the 1948 Nakba, FA has uncovered new evidence related to a major massacre carried out by Israeli forces on 29 Oct 1948 in the village of al-Dawayima.
I.110 The Evros/Meriç River: A Century of Border Design
Date of Incident
1926 - 2025
Location
Evros/Meriç river, Greece/Turkey
Forums
Web Platform
In Partnership With
Self-Initiated
First drawn a century ago, the border that separates Greece from Turkey along the Evros/Meriç river at the EU’s southeastern frontier is deadlier and more opaque than ever. FA/Forensis built an interactive platform that unpacks this complex and lethal border infrastructure, and examines the present-day condition of the border against the transformation of the river landscape over the past century.
I.108 'When it Stopped Being a War': The Situated Testimony of Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah
Date of Incident
17 Oct 2023
Location
Al-Ahli Hospital, Gaza City
Forums
Exhibition, Media
Commissioned By
Self-Initiated
On 17 October 2023, a massive explosion at al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City killed hundreds of civilians sheltering in a courtyard. Together with Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah, a reconstructive surgeon working in the hospital when the blast occurred, we reconstructed the strike and its consequences.
I.107 German Colonial Genocide in Namibia: Swakopmund
Date of Incident
1904 - 1908
Location
Swakopmund, Namibia
Forums
Exhibition, Media
In Partnership With
Nama Traditional Leaders Association (NTLA), Ovaherero Traditional Authority (OTA)
During their genocidal campaign against the indigenous Ovaherero and Nama, German colonial troops established concentration camps across today’s Namibia. The largest was in the port town of Swakopmund, a logistics hub built by forced labour. Working with local activists, we reconstructed the town as it was at that time, revealing the location of Swakopmund's concentration camp for the first time.
I.106 Chemical Fire at Marathon Refinery
Date of Incident
24 Aug 2023 - 28 Aug 2023
Location
Garyville, Louisiana, USA
Forums
Media, Web Platform
In Partnership With
The Guardian, Earthjustice, Healthy Gulf, Louisiana Bucket Brigade, The Descendants Project, Boundless Community Action
When a leaking petrochemical tank at the Marathon Petroleum refinery in Louisiana’s ‘Cancer Alley’ caught fire, it produced a thick plume of toxic smoke that spread for miles over neighbouring communities. Authorities claimed that nearby residents were unaffected, even as reports of severe health impacts emerged. Fearing a cover-up, some of those residents asked FA to investigate.
I.105 German Colonial Genocide in Namibia: Shark Island
Date of Incident
1905 - 1908
Location
Lüderitz, ǃNamiǂNûs, ǁKharas region, Namibia
Forums
Exhibition, Human Rights Report, Media
In Partnership With
Ovaherero Traditional Authority (OTA), Nama Traditional Leaders Association (NTLA)
During their genocidal campaign against the Ovaherero and Nama between 1904 and 1908, German colonial troops established five concentration camps across German Southwest Africa. Shark Island, also known as ‘Death Island’, was the most notorious. FA and Forensis worked with descendants of the camp’s victims and survivors to reconstruct this space of trauma, which today faces new threats of erasure.
I.104 The Killing of Hind Rajab
Date of Incident
29 Jan 2024
Location
Gaza City, Gaza
Forums
Media
Commissioned By
Al Jazeera
On 29 January 2024, a six-year-old Palestinian girl in Gaza City, Hind Rajab, pleaded over the phone for emergency workers to rescue her from a bullet-ridden car. Her body was found two weeks later, alongside the bodies of six of her family members. FA was asked by Al Jazeera’s Fault Lines to investigate the circumstances of their killing.
I.103 The Grenfell Tower Fire: Situated Testimonies
Date of Incident
14 Jun 2017
Location
Grenfell Tower, North Kensington, London
Forums
Citizens' Tribunal, Media
Commissioned By
A coalition of lawyers representing bereaved families, survivors and affected local residents
The Grenfell Tower Fire was a generational tragedy for London and the UK, ultimately claiming 72 lives. Using a technique called 'situated testimony', we produced seven video interviews with bereaved family members, survivors, and nearby residents, aided by a 3D model of the tower and its surrounding environment. These interviews were screened for the first time as part of Grenfell Testimony Week.
I.102 German Colonial Genocide in Namibia: The Hornkranz Massacre
Date of Incident
12 April 1893
Location
Hornkranz, Khomas Region, Namibia
Forums
Exhibition, Human Rights Report, Media
In Partnership With
Nama Traditional Leaders Association (NTLA), Ovaherero Traditional Authority (OTA), Forensis
On 12 April 1893, German troops attacked the Nama settlement of ||Nâ‡gâs, also known as Hornkranz, located in present-day Namibia. This was the little-known first chapter in a genocidal campaign against the Nama and Ovaherero that culminated between 1904 and 1908. We worked with descendants to reconstruct the lost settlement and support Nama claims for access to and preservation of the site.
I.101 ‘No traces of life’: Israel’s Ecocide in Gaza 2023-2024
Date of Incident
7 Oct 2023 - Ongoing
Location
Gaza, Occupied Palestinian Territories
Forums
Legal Process, Media
Commissioned By
Self-Initiated
Since October 2023, the Israeli military has systematically targeted agricultural land and infrastructure in Gaza. Marking the occasion of Land Day in Palestine, our investigation reveals that the widespread destruction of orchards and greenhouses in Gaza is a deliberate act of ecocide that supports Israel’s genocidal campaign.
I.99 An Assessment of Visual Material Presented by the Israeli Legal Team at the ICJ
Date of Incident
12 Jan 2024
Location
None
Forums
Legal Process
Commissioned By
Self-Initiated
Forensic Architecture’s analysis of the visual material presented by the Israeli legal team at the ICJ hearing on 12 January 2024 found multiple instances of misrepresentation, mislabelling, and misleading descriptions.
I.98 The Murder of June Knightly
Date of Incident
19 Feb 2022
Location
Normandale Park, Portland, Oregon
Forums
Exhibition, Media
Commissioned By
Self-Initiated
June 'T-Rex' Knightly was murdered while preparing to protect a racial justice protest, by a perpetrator inspired by toxic rhetoric from right-wing influencers and politicians. Four others were seriously wounded. False statements by Portland’s police after the attack implied the victims provoked the mass shooting. We worked with survivors to reconstruct the event, and challenge the police account.
I.97 Destruction of Medical Infrastructure in Gaza
Date of Incident
7 Oct 2023 - Ongoing
Location
Gaza, Palestine
Forums
Legal Process, United Nations, Human Rights Report, Media, Web Platform
Commissioned By
Self-Initiated
Since 7 October 2023, we have aggregated news reports of Israeli military attacks on medical infrastructure in Gaza. Our analysis suggests that hospitals in Gaza have been subjected to a pattern of intimidation, direct targeting, siege, and occupation by the Israeli military over the course of the 2023 invasion.
I.96 The Killing of Sammy Baker
Date of Incident
13 Aug 2020
Location
Amsterdam-West, Netherlands
Forums
Legal Process, Media
In Partnership With
Argos (VPRO)
23-year-old Sammy went to Amsterdam to celebrate his birthday with friends. Three days later, after an episode of mental health crisis, Sammy was shot to death by police, who claim he threatened them with a knife. At the request of Sammy's family, FA and Forensis examined the video evidence and police testimony, while reconstructing Sammy's body position at the moment of the shots.
I.95 The Pylos Shipwreck
Date of Incident
13 Jun 2023 - 14 Jun 2023
Location
Mediterranean Sea, Greece
Forums
Media, Web Platform
Commissioned By
Self-Initiated
On 14 June 2023, a boat carrying hundreds of migrants sank inside the Greek search and rescue zone in the Mediterranean Sea—the deadliest migrant shipwreck in recent history. Our digital reconstruction of the boat and mapping of its trajectory reveal inconsistencies in the Hellenic Coast Guard’s (HCG) account and indicate that over 600 people drowned as the result of a failed towing by the HCG.
I.95 The Killing of Dilan Cruz
Date of Incident
1 Nov 2019
Location
Bogotá, Colombia
Forums
Legal Process
Commissioned By
Fundación Comité de Solidaridad con los Presos Políticos (CSPP)
During the 2019 'national strike' demonstrations in Colombia, 18-year-old protester Dilan Cruz was shot by a bean bag round fired by police in Bogotá, and died two days later. The Colombian Attorney General subsequently published a report defending the killing and accusing Cruz of being part of a mob; our investigation shows how this conclusion derives from a misreading of the visual evidence.
I.94 Executions and Mass Graves in Tantura, 23 May 1948
Date of Incident
22 May 1948
Location
Tantura, Palestine
Forums
Legal Process, Media
Commissioned By
Adalah Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights
Our investigation reveals new evidence about massacres conducted in the Palestinian village of Tantura by Israeli forces after its occupation on 22-23 May 1948 and subsequent depopulation. Launched on the 75th anniversary of the Nakba, it brings together testimonies and photographic evidence to locate several mass graves in which the victims were buried—including one previously unidentified.
I.93 The Nebelivka Hypothesis
Date of Incident
3500 BC - Ongoing
Location
Nebelivka, Ukraine
Forums
Exhibition
In Partnership With
David Wengrow
In partnership with David Wengrow, this project combines archaeological science with the tools of Forensic Architecture to examine the 6,000-year-old remains of the city of Nebelivka. By reading the soil as an archaeological artefact in its own right, a lost tradition of urban life is unearthed, offering a lens through which to interrogate core assumptions about urban space, power, and ecology.
I.92 'Tear Gas Tuesday' in Downtown Portland
Date of Incident
2 Jun 2020
Location
Portland, Oregon, USA
Forums
Legal Process, Exhibition, Media
Commissioned By
Self-Initiated
Over the summer of 2020, Portland's police force deployed large amounts of tear gas to suppress local demonstrations against racialised police violence. Focusing on a single representative day—2 June 2020—we simulated the path of the toxic tear gas clouds as they spread widely across the city centre, demonstrating that the concentration levels were in serious excess of recognised safe thresholds.
I.91 Fire in Moria Refugee Camp
Date of Incident
8 Sep 2020
Location
Lesvos, Greece
Forums
Legal Process, Exhibition, Media
Commissioned By
Lawyers for the Moria 6
The fire which destroyed the Moria refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesvos was at least the 247th outbreak to have occurred in and around the overcrowded camp since 2013. Six young asylum seekers who came to be known as the 'Moria 6' were accused of arson and jailed. FA and Forensis reconstructed the fire’s spread, casting significant doubt on the basis for those convictions.
I.90 The Beirut Port Explosion: Destruction of Destruction
Date of Incident
4 Aug 2020 - Ongoing
Location
Beirut, Lebanon
Forums
None
In Partnership With
Febrayer Network
Following the 2020 Beirut port explosion, the city's grain silos suffered a prolonged period of steady ruination. To understand how the gradual destruction of a ruin happened behind state cordons in the nearly two-year period since the blast, Febrayer and FA reconstructed the site to present a unified account of the state’s mismanagement of this important site of material evidence and memory.
I.89 The Beirut Port Explosion: The Welders
Date of Incident
4 Aug 2020
Location
Beirut, Lebanon
Forums
Media
In Partnership With
Febrayer Network
This investigation examines the validity of the most widely accepted theory to explain what triggered the deadly blast in the port of Beirut on 4 August 2020. Lebanese and international authorities, as well as the FBI and the Lebanese Internal Security, claimed the fire that in turn instigated the explosion was caused by the shoddy work of Syrian welders—but our analysis challenges these claims.
I.88 Restituting Evidence: Genocide and Reparations in German Colonial Namibia
Date of Incident
1904 - 1908
Location
Otjozondjupa, Omaheke, and Khomas, Namibia
Forums
Media
In Partnership With
The Ovaherero/Ovambanderu Genocide Foundation (OGF), Forensis
From 1904–1908, Germany committed genocide against the Herero, Mbanderu and Nama peoples in their colony of ‘South-West Africa’ (present-day Namibia). FA/Forensis partnered with genocide activists from descendant communities to begin to produce a body of digital evidence that can be leveraged in support of demands for land restitution and reparations.
I.87 Shireen Abu Akleh: The Extrajudicial Killing of a Journalist
Date of Incident
11 May 2022
Location
Jenin, Palestine
Forums
Legal Process, United Nations, Human Rights Report
In Partnership With
Al-Haq, Al Haq’s Forensic Architecture Investigation Unit
On 11 May 2022, while reporting on a raid by Israeli occupying forces on the Jenin refugee camp, Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akhleh was fatally shot by a convoy of IOF military vehicles. With Al-Haq, we showed that she and her colleagues were explicitly targeted in an unprovoked attack by an IOF marksman despite being identifiable as press, and that she was deliberately denied medical aid.
I.85 Gold Mining and Violence in the Amazon Rainforest
Date of Incident
2019 - Ongoing
Location
Yanomami Territory
Forums
Media
In Partnership With
The Climate Litigation Accelerator (CLX)
This investigation demonstrates how the Bolsonaro administration’s policies led directly to a rapid spread of destructive gold mining in the Brazilian Amazon and increasing violence against Indigenous communities.
I.84 Drift-backs in the Aegean Sea
Date of Incident
March 2020 - Ongoing
Location
Aegean Sea
Forums
Legal Process, Human Rights Report, Media, Parliamentary Inquiry, Web Platform
In Partnership With
Forensis
Asylum seekers crossing the Aegean Sea are intercepted within Greek waters or arrested after they arrive on Greek shores, beaten, stripped of their possessions, and then forcefully loaded onto life rafts and left to drift back to the Turkish coast. FA/Forensis verified and mapped evidence for over 2000 such ‘drift-backs’, demonstrating the scale of this violent and illegal border defence practice.
I.83 Sheikh Jarrah: Ethnic Cleansing in Jerusalem
Date of Incident
12 May 2021
Location
Sheikh Jarrah, Jerusalem
Forums
Media
Commissioned By
Self-Initiated
This interactive urban narrative explains the ways in which Palestinian families in Sheikh Jarrah are being forcibly displaced, and their struggle with Israeli courts and settler groups. The story traverses multiple scales starting from homes invaded by settlers, and moves to the street, neighbourhood, city and the land, showing how colonial practices and apartheid planning displace Palestinians.
I.82 Russian Strike on the Kyiv TV Tower
Date of Incident
1 Mar 2022
Location
Kyiv, Ukraine
Forums
Exhibition, Media
In Partnership With
The Center for Spatial Technologies (CST)
The Russian strike on the Kyiv TV tower and the site of Babyn Yar on 1 March 2022 resulted in civilian casualties and urban destruction—but it also pierced through layers of historical strata, exposing a history of violence, genocide and negation that unfolded on the very same ground. This is the first installation in a new long-term collaboration with the Center for Spatial Technologies.
I.81 Racist Terror Attack in Hanau: The Police Operation
Date of Incident
19 Feb 2020
Location
Hanau, Germany
Forums
Exhibition, Media, Parliamentary Inquiry
Commissioned By
Initiative 19. Februar
On 19 February 2020, nine people were murdered in a racist terror attack in Hanau, Germany. After the attack, the perpetrator went to his house, where he killed his mother, and himself. Police knew the perpetrator’s address early on but did not storm the house for almost five hours. We were asked by the victims’ families and the Initiative 19. Februar to examine how the police operation unfolded.
I.80 The Shelling of Khudair Warehouse: Chemical Warfare by Indirect Means
Date of Incident
15 May 2021
Location
Gaza, Palestine
Forums
Legal Process, Media
In Partnership With
Al-Haq
Marking the launch of Al-Haq’s Forensic Architecture Investigation Unit based in Ramallah, we examined the circumstances of the 15 May 2021 Israeli bombing of the Khudair Pharmaceuticals and Agricultural Tools Company in Beit Lahiya—the largest agricultural chemical warehouse in Gaza—as part of the environmental disaster imposed on Palestinians.
I.79 Living Archaeology in Gaza
Date of Incident
7th Century BCE - Ongoing
Location
Gaza
Forums
Legal Process, United Nations, Human Rights Report, Media
Commissioned By
Self-Initiated
Decades of bombings and humanitarian disaster inflicted by the Israeli occupation have posed a constant threat not only to Palestinian lives but also to their cultural heritage. FA has conducted the first open-source excavation of this remarkable archaeological site along Gaza’s coastline, illustrating the myriad risks it faces.
I.78 Pushbacks Across the Evros/Meriç River: The Case of Parvin
Date of Incident
1 Feb 2020
Location
Evros/Meriç river, Greek-Turkish border
Forums
Legal Process, United Nations, Human Rights Report, Media
Commissioned By
European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR)
At Europe’s southeastern river border, migrants report being beaten, detained, and illegally ‘pushed back’ to Turkey from Greece by unidentified masked men. Greek and EU authorities refuse to investigate. We worked with Parvin, a young woman from Iran, to analyse evidence she had gathered during her crossings and reconstruct her journey and experiences of ‘pushback’.
I.76 Dispossession and The Memory of the Earth: Land Dispossession in Nueva Colonia
Date of Incident
1960s to the present day
Location
Nueva Colonia, Urabá Antioqueño, Colombia
Forums
Legal Process, Exhibition, Human Rights Report, Truth Commission, Web Platform
Commissioned By
The Commission for the Clarification of Truth, Coexistence and Non-Repetition of Colombia
This investigation shows how the dispossession of campesino farmers in the Urabá Antioqueño region of Nueva Colonia was achieved by a combination of physical violence, environmental transformations and legal means.
I.75 The Black Boxes of Disappearance: Enforced Disappearance in the Siege of the Palace of Justice
Date of Incident
6 Nov 1985 - 7 Nov 1985
Location
Bogotá, Colombia
Forums
Legal Process, Exhibition, Media, Truth Commission, Web Platform
Commissioned By
The Commission for the Clarification of Truth, Coexistence and Non-Repetition of Colombia
Our investigation examines the actions of the Colombian security forces in the aftermath of the 1985 siege of the Palace of Justice that resulted in the enforced disappearance of cafeteria workers, students, visitors, guerrillas, and judges.
I.74 The Murder of Lucas Villa
Date of Incident
5 May 2021
Location
Pereira, Colombia
Forums
Media
In Partnership With
Bellingcat, Cerosetenta, Baudo Agencia Pública
On the 5th of May 2021, Lucas Villa, a Colombian student, was shot and fatally wounded in Pereira, Colombia while participating in the National Strike. Our findings suggest Lucas was targeted in a coordinated assassination.
I.72 Environmental Racism in Death Alley, Louisiana
Date of Incident
1718 - Ongoing
Location
'Death Alley', Louisiana, USA
Forums
Legal Process, United Nations, Exhibition, Media, Web Platform
In Partnership With
RISE St. James
A stretch of the Mississippi River once called 'Plantation Country' is now the 'Petrochemical Corridor', known to those who breathe its toxic air as 'Death Alley'. Using advanced techniques in cartography and fluid dynamics, we worked to support local demands for accountability and reparations.
I.70 Torture and Detention in Myanmar
Date of Incident
1 Feb 2021 - Ongoing
Location
Myanmar
Forums
Media
In Partnership With
Al Jazeera English
Since the February 1st coup over 6,000 people have been detained in covert facilities in Myanmar. Forensic Architecture was invited by Al Jazeera to verify the location and layout of a detention centre where four witnesses were held.
I.69 The Extrajudicial Execution of Ahmad Erekat
Date of Incident
23 Jun 2020
Location
Palestine
Forums
Legal Process, Human Rights Report, Media
Commissioned By
Self-Initiated
On 23 June 2020, Ahmad Erekat, a 26-year-old Palestinian, was shot by Israeli occupation forces after his car crashed into a booth at an illegal checkpoint in the occupied West Bank in Palestine. Working in collaboration with the Palestinian human rights organization Al-Haq, Forensic Architecture’s Palestine Unit was asked by the Erekat family to examine the incident.
I.67 Tear Gas in Plaza de la Dignidad
Date of Incident
20 Dec 2019
Location
Plaza de la Dignidad, Santiago de Chile
Forums
Media
Commissioned By
No+lacrimógenas
On 20 December 2019, the Chilean security forces used unprecedented quantities of tear gas within a relatively small area against people engaging in peaceful and unarmed protest. Using visual open source analysis and fluid dynamic simulation, we measured the concentration of tear gas in air and on the ground to estimate the scale of health risks posed on civilians on this day.
I.66 The Killing of Zineb Redouane
Date of Incident
1 Dec 2018
Location
Rue des Feuillants, Marseille
Forums
Media
In Partnership With
Disclose
80-year-old Zineb Redouane was fatally wounded by a tear gas grenade as she stood at the window of her fourth-floor apartment, as protests continued in the streets outside. A ballistics report cleared the officer who fired the shot of wrongdoing. Working with Disclose, we re-examined the case.
I.65 The Beirut Port Explosion
Date of Incident
4 Aug 2020
Location
Beirut, Lebanon
Forums
Media
In Partnership With
Mada Masr
The explosions that ripped through the port of Beirut in 2020 devastated the city, leaving as many as 300,000 homeless. Following calls for an independent investigation, we mapped the contents of the warehouse where the blast originated and the spread of fire that instigated it, and have released our 3D models of the incident as a free resource for investigators and civil society.
I.64 Intentional Fires in Papua
Date of Incident
2011 - 2016
Location
West Papua, Indonesia
Forums
Media
In Partnership With
Greenpeace International
An Indonesian-Korean palm oil conglomerate named Korindo intentionally used fires as part of the process of clearing vast areas of forest in remote areas of the Indonesia province of Papua.
I.63 The Death of Adama Traoré
Date of Incident
19 Jul 2016
Location
Beaumont-Sur-Oise, Paris, France
Forums
Media
In Partnership With
Le Monde
The 2016 death of a man in police custody raised troubling questions, but medical examiners later cleared the officers involved of any wrongdoing.
We built multiple reconstructions of each key moment of the incident, exposing contradictions in the officers' accounts, and gaps between the official account, and the evidence.
I.62 Pushbacks Across the Evros/Meriç River: Situated Testimony
Date of Incident
1 Oct 2016
Location
Evros/Meriç river, Greek-Turkish border
Forums
Legal Process, Human Rights Report, Media
In Partnership With
HumanRights360
At Europe’s southeastern river border, migrants report being beaten, detained, and illegally ‘pushed back’ to Turkey from Greece by unidentified masked men. Greek and EU authorities refuse to investigate. We used architectural and gaming software to gather evidence that proves the practice is widespread and systematic.
I.61 The Killing of Muhammad al-Arab
Date of Incident
2 Mar 2020
Location
Evros/Meriç river delta
Forums
Legal Process, Media, Parliamentary Inquiry
In Partnership With
Self-Initiated
When Turkey mobilized refugees and migrants to cross into Greece, reports emerged that Greek forces had responded with live fire, causing casualties.
We confirmed that, despite Greece’s denials, automatic rounds were fired from the Greek side of the border and one person, Muhammad al-Arab, was shot dead near a group of armed Greek soldiers.
I.58 The Killing of Mark Duggan
Date of Incident
4 Aug 2011
Location
Tottenham, North London
Forums
Legal Process, Exhibition, Media
Commissioned By
Lawyers for the Duggan family
Mark Duggan’s killing by police led to the most widespread social unrest in the UK in a generation. A decade on, what happened remains unclear.
Using information in the public domain, we analysed both the event of the shooting, and the official investigations, in closer detail than ever before.
I.55 The Killing of Muhammad Gulzar
Date of Incident
4 Mar 2020
Location
Kastanies/Pazarkule border crossing, Evros/Meriç region
Forums
Media
In Partnership With
Bellingcat, Lighthouse Reports
After Turkey started encouraging refugees and migrants to cross the Evros/Meriç land border into Greece, reports emerged that Greek forces had responded with live fire, causing multiple casualties. Despite Greece’s official denials, we confirmed that live rounds were indeed fired from the Greek side of the border, that several people were wounded, and one person, Muhammad Gulzar, was killed.
I.54 Model Zoo
Date of Incident
Various
Location
Various
Forums
Exhibition, Media
In Partnership With
Bellingcat, Amnesty International, Open source contributors
Since 2018, Forensic Architecture has been working with ‘synthetic images’—photorealistic digital renderings of 3D models—to train machine learning classifiers. Model Zoo includes a growing collection of 3D models of munitions and weapons, as well as the different classifiers trained to identify them making a catalogue of some of the most horrific weapons used in conflict today.
I.53 The Beating of Faisal al-Natsheh
Date of Incident
28 Feb 2014
Location
Occupied Hebron, Palestine
Forums
Exhibition, Media
In Partnership With
Breaking the Silence
In 2017, an Israeli soldier, now member of the NGO Breaking the Silence, confessed to have gravely beaten a Palestinian man. Following the Israeli state attempts to discount the account, we built a VR tool to collect and cross-reference testimony from the soldier and other witnesses.
I.52 Shipwreck at the Threshold of Europe, Lesvos, Aegean Sea
Date of Incident
28 Oct 2015
Location
Aegean Sea, Lesvos
Forums
Exhibition, Media
Commissioned By
Self-Initiated
The death of more than 40 people off the coast of Lesvos in October 2015 was the single deadliest incident in Europe's 'long summer of migration'. One of the survivors, Amel Alzakout, recorded the shipwreck on a waterproof wrist camera. Her footage provides a unique, situated perspective of this tragic event at the threshold of Europe.
I.51 Pushbacks Across the Evros/Meriç River: The case of Ayşe Erdoğan
Date of Incident
4 May 2019 - 5 May 2019
Location
Evros/Meriç river, Greece/Turkey
Forums
Legal Process, Media
In Partnership With
HumanRights360
Ayşe Erdoğan crossed the Evros/Meriç river into Greece in 2019, fleeing persecution in Turkey. She and two friends recorded their journey. Using messages, location data, photos, and videos, we confirmed they had reached Greece before being ‘pushed back’, and arrested and imprisoned in Turkey.
I.50 Pushbacks Across the Evros/Meriç River: Analysis of video evidence
Date of Incident
17 Sep 2019
Location
Evros/Meriç river, Greece/Turkey border
Forums
Legal Process, Media
In Partnership With
Der Spiegel, HumanRights360
At southeastern Europe’s river border, refugees report being beaten, detained, and illegally ‘pushed back’ to Turkey from Greece by unidentified masked men. Working with Der Spiegel, we analysed the first footage of a pushback in progress, and tried to identify those responsible.
I.48 Oil and Gas Pollution in Vaca Muerta
Date of Incident
2 Jan 2013 - Ongoing
Location
Vaca Muerta, Argentina
Forums
Media
In Partnership With
The Guardian
Vaca Muerta is one of the world's largest fossil fuel resources. The 2013 arrival of the international oil and gas industry to the region has irreversibly changed its landscape, inflicting widespread environmental damage. We used satellite images and anthropological reports to investigate the industry's impact upon the traditional ways of life of the indigenous Mapuche people who live there.
I.47 The Killing of Harith Augustus
Date of Incident
14 Jul 2018
Location
South Shore, Chicago
Forums
Exhibition
In Partnership With
Invisible Institute
When police shot Harith Augustus to death not far from his South Shore barbershop, the Chicago police called it a legitimate 'split-second' decision. We unpacked that split second at six different time scales, from milliseconds to years. Our investigation uncovered multiple violations by Chicago police, including, not for the first time, withholding critical video evidence from the public.
I.46 The Battle of Ilovaisk
Date of Incident
24 Aug 2014 - 3 Sep 2014
Location
Ilovaisk, Ukraine
Forums
Legal Process, Media
Commissioned By
European Human Rights Advocacy Centre (EHRAC)
The victory of pro-Russian separatists over the Ukrainian army in the battle for control of Ilovaisk was a defining moment in the 2014 conflict in eastern Ukraine.
We used machine learning to search for evidence of Russian military involvement.
I.43 Triple-Chaser
Date of Incident
26 Nov 2018
Location
Tijuana-San Diego border, US/Mexico; Gaza, Palestine; and around the world
Forums
Exhibition, Media
In Partnership With
Praxis Films
When US border agents fired tear gas grenades at civilians, including children, photographs linked the grenades to the Safariland Group, which is owned by Warren B. Kanders, the vice chair of the board of trustees of the Whitney Museum of American Art. In response to our invitation to the Whitney Biennial 2019, we developed machine learning classifiers to search for Safariland munitions online.
I.42 The Killing of Zak Kostopoulos
Date of Incident
21 Sep 2018
Location
Athens, Greece
Forums
Legal Process, Exhibition
Commissioned By
The Kostopoulos family
In broad daylight, in a crowded street in central Athens, a young LGBTQ activist is brutally assaulted. Passers-by paused to watch. Police arrived, violently apprehended the young man, and by the time he reached a hospital, he was dead. At the request of his family, we pieced together the available video evidence. What was the motive for the attack? And who is the man in the yellow t-shirt?
I.41 Chemical Attacks in Al Lataminah
Date of Incident
30 Mar 2017
Location
Al Lataminah, Syria
Forums
Media
Commissioned By
Bellingcat
When the Syrian regime was accused of chemical weapons attacks, Russia's foreign ministry held a press conference to defend their allies. But the information presented there gave away important clues that Syria had indeed been responsible. Building on the work of Bellingcat, we built a digital model of the M4000 chemical bomb in which to bring together those physical clues.
I.40 The Killing of Rouzan al-Najjar
Date of Incident
1 Jun 2018
Location
Khuzaa, Gaza
Forums
Media
In Partnership With
The New York Times
Amid the chaos and violence of the Great March of Return, a young Palestinian medic is struck and killed by a sniper's bullet. Together with the New York Times we used photogrammetry, video analysis, and figure modelling to locate the victim among the crowd at the moment she was shot, and traced a line of fire back to a sand berm on the Israeli side of the border fence.
I.39 The Killing of Tahir Elçi
Date of Incident
28 Nov 2015
Location
Diyarbakır, Turkey
Forums
Legal Process, Media
Commissioned By
Diyarbakır Bar Association
In the context of rising tensions in Turkey's Kurdish-majority regions, Tahir Elçi's killing was a seismic event. The manner of his death was controversial, and only partially documented. We analysed the evidence frame-by-frame, and narrowed down the scope of who should be considered a suspect.
I.38 Lethal Warning: The killing of Luai Kahil and Amir al-Nimrah
Date of Incident
14 Jul 2018
Location
Gaza City, Occupied Palestinian Territories
Forums
Media
Commissioned By
B’Tselem
Two children died when an Israeli 'warning strike' hit a building in Gaza City. When the Israeli army shared videos of the attack, the strike that killed the teenagers had been removed. Why did the IDF manipulate their own footage? And what does the incident mean for the 'warning strike' policy?
I.37 Torture and Detention in Burundi
Date of Incident
1 Dec 2016
Location
Bujumbura, Burundi
Forums
Media
Commissioned By
BBC Africa Eye
A video posted to social media shows what looks like blood pouring from the drains of an unremarkable suburban house in Burundi’s capital. What was going on behind its walls? Employing our techniques of situated testimony, and collaborating with investigative reporters, we sought to find out.
I.35 The Destruction of Yazidi Cultural Heritage
Date of Incident
3 Aug 2014 - 13 Nov 2015
Location
Sinjar, Iraq
Forums
Legal Process, Citizens' Tribunal, Exhibition, Web Platform
In Partnership With
Yazda: Global Yazidi Organization
In August 2014, ISIL invaded the Sinjar, northern Iraq, home of the Yazidi religious minority. Thousands were enslaved, executed or displaced, and religious buildings were torn down.
We trained Yazda researchers in our techniques, and worked together to document the physical traces of genocide.
I.34 Chemical Attacks in Douma
Date of Incident
7 Apr 2018
Location
Douma, Syria
Forums
Media
Commissioned By
The New York Times
Allegations of chemical attacks lead inevitably to conflict and discord on social media, and competing claims from reporters and politicians around the world.
Working with the New York Times, we developed innovative new techniques to help cut through the confusion with material facts.
I.32 Sea Watch vs the Libyan Coastguard
With Forensic Oceanography
Date of Incident
6 Nov 2017
Location
Mediterranean Sea
Forums
Legal Process, Exhibition
Commissioned By
Self-Initiated
When the Libyan coastguard interrupted a rescue operation by the NGO Sea Watch, at least twenty migrants lost their lives, and more were ‘pulled back’ to inhumane detention in Libya.
Forensic Oceanography shone a light on the practices of a coastguard funded and trained by the Italian government.
I.30 The Grenfell Tower Fire
Date of Incident
14 Jun 2017
Location
London, UK
Forums
Media
Commissioned By
Self-Initiated
The Grenfell Tower fire was unprecedented in UK history—not least because of the scale of publicly available information about the night.
We are building an interactive platform that will synthesise that information to create the most comprehensive account of what exactly happened that night.
I.29 The Ali Enterprises Factory Fire
Date of Incident
11 Sep 2012
Location
Karachi, Pakistan
Forums
Legal Process
Commissioned By
European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR)
260 people died when fire broke out in a factory that made textiles for a German retailer.
We exposed failings of regulation and inspection, from overcrowding to a lack of fire escapes, in support of a legal claim against the retailer that could break new ground in corporate responsibility.
I.28 The Enforced Disappearance of the Ayotzinapa Students
Date of Incident
26 Sep 2014 - 27 Sep 2014
Location
Iguala, Mexico
Forums
Exhibition, Media, Web Platform
Commissioned By
Centro Prodh, Equipo Argentino de Antropología Forense, EAAF
When Mexican police and local organised crime coordinated to attack a group of students, six people were murdered, forty wounded and forty-three 'disappeared'. We built an interactive platform to explore what happened that night, and to expose the inconsistencies in the state’s investigation of its own involvement in one of the most shocking moments of violence in the history of modern Mexico.
I.27 Torture and Detention in Cameroon
Date of Incident
1 Jan 2015 - 1 Jan 2016
Location
Far North, Cameroon
Forums
Media
Commissioned By
Amnesty International
In the US-backed war against Boko Haram, Cameroon’s security forces are detaining and torturing civilians with impunity.
Investigating allegations made by survivors from two sites of illegal detention, we found US military personnel living and working in close proximity to sites of torture.
I.24 The Murder of Halit Yozgat
Date of Incident
6 Apr 2006
Location
Kassel, Germany
Forums
Citizens' Tribunal, Exhibition, Media, Parliamentary Inquiry
Commissioned By
The People's Tribunal 'Unraveling the NSU Complex'
Halit Yozgat was murdered by neo-Nazis at the desk of his internet café in Kassel, Germany, while a state intelligence agent was sitting just metres away. The agent claimed he didn’t hear the gunshots, didn’t smell the gunpowder, and didn’t see the body. Using digital models and 1:1 physical reconstructions, we tested those claims.
I.21 Airstrikes on the al-Jinah Mosque
Date of Incident
16 Mar 2017
Location
al-Jinah, Syria
Forums
United Nations, Media
Commissioned By
Self-Initiated
When two Hellfire missiles destroyed the Sayidina Omar Ibn al-Khattab mosque during evening prayer, thirty-eight civilians died.
Piecing together available videos and aerial imagery, we challenged the Pentagon’s claim that the site was an al-Qaeda meeting house, forcing condemnation from the UN.
I.20 Airstrikes on M2 Hospital
Date of Incident
1 Jun 2016 - 1 Dec 2016
Location
Aleppo, Syria
Forums
Human Rights Report, Media
Commissioned By
Digital Forensic Research Lab, Atlantic Council
Omar Bin Abdul Aziz Hospital was struck fourteen times by munitions fired by the Syrian army, including cluster and barrel bombs.
Within a digital model, we corroborated multiple sources of CCTV footage to support claims that Syria and its allies were intentionally targeting civilian hospitals.
I.19 Killing in Umm al-Hiran
Date of Incident
18 Jan 2017
Location
Umm al Hiran, Negev/Naqab desert
Forums
Legal Process, Exhibition
Commissioned By
Self-Initiated
A police raid on an ‘illegalised’ Bedouin village in the Naqab/Negev desert led to the deaths of a local man and an Israeli policeman.
Police quickly blamed the man for what they called a ‘terror attack’. In fact, as we exposed, Israeli police had fired unprovoked on an innocent driver, causing him to crash into them.
I.18 Torture in Saydnaya Prison
Date of Incident
1 Jan 2011 - Ongoing
Location
Saydnaya, Syria
Forums
Legal Process, Exhibition, Media, Web Platform
Commissioned By
Amnesty International
Since the start of the Syrian Civil War, thousands of Syrians have been detained, tortured and executed at the notorious Saydnaya Prison.
Using architectural and acoustic modelling, we worked with five survivors to rebuild the prison and explore their memories of life and death inside its walls.
I.15 The Bombing of Rafah
Date of Incident
8 Jul 2014 - 26 Aug 2014
Location
Rafah, Gaza, Occupied Palestinian Territories
Forums
Exhibition, Human Rights Report, Media
Commissioned By
Amnesty International
When an Israeli soldier was captured and taken into the tunnels below Rafah, the full force of Israel’s military was unleashed.
Using smartphone footage and satellite imagery, we mapped the destruction as over two thousand munitions were fired into the city in a single day.
I.12 The Killing of Nadeem Nawara and Mohammed Abu Daher
Date of Incident
15 May 2014
Location
Beitunia, West Bank, Occupied Palestinian Territories
Forums
Exhibition, Media
Commissioned By
DCI Palestine
When Israeli military police killed two Palestinian teenagers, the event was recorded by security cameras, US news teams, and photographers.
Using that footage, our audio and image analysis exposed a tactic by which Israeli personnel disguise live rounds as rubber-coated ‘non-lethal’ munitions.
I.11 Knock on the Roof: Drone strike in Beit Lahiya
Date of Incident
9 Jan 2009
Location
Beit Lahiya, Gaza, Occupied Palestinian Territories
Forums
United Nations, Exhibition, Media
Commissioned By
UN Special Rapporteur on Counter Terrorism and Human Rights
An anti-tank missile, fired at the home of the Salha family, left just a small hole in the roof. The bomb that followed three minutes later destroyed the house, killing six people.
We interviewed surviving family members and investigated the tactics of the ‘warning shot’.
I.10 Drone Strike in Miranshah
Date of Incident
30 Mar 2012
Location
Miranshah, Pakistan
Forums
United Nations, Exhibition, Media, Web Platform
Commissioned By
UN Special Rapporteur on Counter Terrorism and Human Rights
Video footage of the aftermath of a drone strike that killed four people was smuggled across siege lines before being broadcast on MSNBC.
We analysed the footage frame-by-frame to confirm the location of the building, the consequences of the strike, and the munition used.
I.9 Drone Strike in Mir Ali
Date of Incident
4 Oct 2010
Location
Mir Ali, Pakistan
Forums
United Nations, Exhibition
Commissioned By
UN Special Rapporteur on Counter Terrorism and Human Rights
A drone strike killed five people in their home. One woman and her infant son survived.
We reconstructed the home and investigated aspects of the strike and its aftermath, using digital models to unlock new memories in the witness.
I.8 Drone Strikes on a Jirga in Datta Khel
Date of Incident
16 Mar 2011 - 17 Mar 2011
Location
Dhatta Khel, Pakistan
Forums
United Nations, Media
Commissioned By
UN Special Rapporteur on Counter Terrorism and Human Rights
A strike on a community gathering in Datta Khel, Pakistan, killed at least forty-three civilians.
We cross-referenced witness statements, local press reports and satellite imagery to construct a picture of what had taken place.
I.5 Living Death Camp: the archaeology of Staro Sajmište
Date of Incident
1 Jan 1938 - Ongoing
Location
Belgrade, Serbia
Forums
Citizens' Tribunal, Exhibition
Commissioned By
Self-Initiated
Staro Sajmište, once the site of a ‘world’s fair’, became a Nazi concentration camp.
The Roma community that later lived there—including descendents of the camp’s victims—is threatened by plans to build a Holocaust memorial at the site. We surveyed the site to support their efforts to remain.
I.3 The Use of White Phosphorus in Urban Environments
Date of Incident
27 Dec 2008 - 18 Jan 2009
Location
Gaza, Occupied Palestinian Territories
Forums
United Nations
Commissioned By
Yesh Gvul, Michael Sfard Law Office
The 2008–2009 conflict saw the use by Israeli forces of white phosphorus, a toxic, flammable and corrosive airborne munition.
We analysed the use and effects of the weapon in support of calls to make its use illegal, and presented our report to a 2012 UN convention.
I.2 The Killing of Bassem Abu Rahma
Date of Incident
17 Apr 2009
Location
Bil'in, Occupied Palestinian Territories
Forums
Legal Process, Exhibition
Commissioned By
Michael Sfard Law Office, B’Tselem
An unarmed demonstrator was killed by a tear-gas canister fired across the West Bank barrier wall. The army denied it was intentional.
We used footage from three cameras to prove that the soldier had intended to kill. Israeli authorities reopened the investigation, but no soldier was ever charged.
SP.1 A City Within a Building: The Mariupol Drama Theatre
Supported Project
Date of Incident
24 Feb 2022 - 16 Mar 2022
Location
Donetsk Academic Regional Drama Theatre, Mariupol, Ukraine
Forums
Media
An FA-supported project by
The Center for Spatial Technologies (CST), Forensis
Before it was destroyed by a Russian airstrike, the Mariupol Theater was not only a key refuge in the besieged city but a unique site of solidarity and resistance. Working with Forensis and FA, the Center for Spatial Technologies assembled a vast archive of evidence and interviewed survivors of the strike to tell the story of a self-organised commune: a city within a building.
I.1 Stopping the Wall in Battir
Date of Incident
1 Jan 2012 - 1 Jan 2015
Location
Battir, Occupied Palestinian Territories
Forums
Legal Process
Commissioned By
Michael Sfard Law Office
Israel’s separation wall in the West Bank threatened to destroy historic Palestinian farmland.
We supported human rights lawyers to build a pioneering—and successful—legal argument on environmental and heritage grounds.
3D Modelling⤵
In Forensic Architecture’s work, physical and digital models are more than 3D representations of real world locations—they function as analytic or operative devices. Models help us to understand location of images, camera positions or events, relative to one another.
Understanding the perspective of images or videos taken within the modelled area helps us to establish relative ‘cones of vision’. These show us what parts of the environment are ‘within the frame’ and what remains outside of the frame, giving our investigators a fuller picture of how much is known, or not, about the incident they are studying.