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.109 A Cartography of Genocide: Israel's Conduct in Gaza since October 2023
Date of Incident
7 Oct 2023 - Ongoing
Location
Gaza, Occupied Palestinian Territories
Forums
Legal Process, Web Platform
Commissioned By
Self-Initiated
Since October 2023, we have closely monitored Israel’s military campaign in Gaza and the resulting extensive civilian harm. Comprehensive cartographic analysis, published as a web platform and in-depth report, reveals patterns of violence which indicate a systematic and organised campaign to destroy life, conditions necessary for life, and life-sustaining infrastructure.
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.100 Humanitarian Violence in Gaza
Date of Incident
7 Oct 2023 - Ongoing
Location
Gaza, Palestine
Forums
Legal Process, Human Rights Report, Web Platform
Commissioned By
Self-Initiated
Since 7 October 2023, the Israeli military has abused and weaponised humanitarian measures such as ‘evacuation orders’, ‘safe routes’, and ‘safe zones’ to facilitate the systematic mass displacement of the Palestinian civilian population toward the southern border of Gaza.
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.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.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.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.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.86 The Raid on Al-Haq's Offices: 18 August 2022
Date of Incident
18 Aug 2022
Location
Ramallah, Palestine
Forums
Legal Process, Media
In Partnership With
Al-Haq
On 18 August 2022, Israeli occupation forces raided the offices of Al-Haq alongside six other Palestinian human rights groups. Working with Al-Haq's new Forensic Architecture Investigation Unit, we analysed available CCTV footage to determine the circumstances of the raid and expose Israeli apartheid practices against civil society organisations.
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.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.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.71 European Arms in the Bombing of Yemen
Date of Incident
26 Mar 2015 - Ongoing
Location
Yemen
Forums
Legal Process, Exhibition, Human Rights Report, Web Platform
Commissioned By
European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR)
Since 2015, airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen have constituted grave human rights violations. Partners across the Investigative Commons developed an interactive map to reveal the extent to which arms producers and governments in Europe continue to profit from arms exports despite evidence of their substantial contribution to the military operations of the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen.
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.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.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.60 Police Brutality at the Black Lives Matter Protests
Date of Incident
25 May 2020 - Ongoing
Location
Minneapolis, MN and across the US
Forums
United Nations, Web Platform
In Partnership With
Bellingcat
Protests against racialized police violence have swept the US, following the killings of George Floyd and others. Those protests have themselves been met with egregious brutality by police. With Bellingcat, we built a comprehensive archive of that systemic violence, to support accountability efforts.
I.57 Expulsions Platform
Date of Incident
1 Jan 2014 - 1 Jan 2017
Location
Cordillera del Condór, Ecuadorian Amazon
Forums
Web Platform
Commissioned By
CASCOMI (Comunidad Amazónica de Acción Social Cordillera del Cóndor Mirador)
Forced displacements and archaeological destruction in the mega-mining project Mirador in the Cordillera del Cóndor, Ecuadorian Amazonia.
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.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.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.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.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.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.26 Destruction and Return in al-Araqib
Date of Incident
1 Jan 2010 - Ongoing
Location
al-Araqib, Negev/Naqab desert
Forums
Legal Process, Exhibition
Commissioned By
The Village of al-Araqib
The Bedouin village of al-Araqib has been demolished over 120 times since 1954. Every time, the villagers return.
Using aerial imagery and archaeological surveys, and in collaboration of local families, we provided evidence of ongoing inhabitation, against their dispossession by the Israeli state
I.22 Airstrikes on al-Hamidiah Hospital
Date of Incident
15 Feb 2016
Location
al-Hamidiah, Syria
Forums
Exhibition, Human Rights Report, Media
Commissioned By
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)
When twenty-five people were killed when a hospital operated by Médicins Sans Frontières was struck by two air strikes, both the Russian and Syrian governments denied responsibility.
By locating and analysing multiple video sources, we attempted to assign responsibility for the attacks.
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.17 Death By Rescue: The lethal effects of non-assistance at sea
Forensic Oceanography
Date of Incident
12 Apr 2015 - 18 Apr 2015
Location
Mediterranean Sea
Forums
Exhibition, Human Rights Report
Commissioned By
Self-Initiated
Changing EU policies toward the rescue of migrants resulted in over a thousand deaths in the Mediterranean in the space of one week.
Working with survivors and available shipping data, we recreated the incidents and explored the consequences of making rescue vessels out of commercial ships.
I.16 Airstrikes in Atimah
Date of Incident
8 Mar 2015
Location
Atimah, Syria
Forums
Exhibition, Media
Commissioned By
Airwars
When three bombs landed at the edge of a camp where more than thirty thousand internally-displaced people were sheltered, nobody claimed responsibility.
Using available satellite and smartphone imagery, we determined the location of the strikes, and other information about the munitions.
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.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.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.6 Genocide in the Ixil Triangle
Date of Incident
1 Jan 1978 - 1 Jan 1983
Location
Quiché, Guatemala
Forums
Legal Process, Web Platform
Commissioned By
CALDH – Centro para la Acción Legal en Derechos Humanos
The genocide of the Ixil people was accompanied by widespread deforestation and environmental violence.
We analysed and traced the state’s simple logic: control the Ixil through the destruction of the conditions on which their ways of life depended.
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.
Geolocation⤵
Geolocation is the practice of establishing exactly where a photo or a piece of video footage was captured. An image can be geolocated by studying its content, by comparing it to others, or by looking at clues outside of the image, such as who shared it, or where it was found. Geolocation typically ends with the location of the image on a GIS platform based on a satellite image.
Bellingcat’s Eliot Higgins published a beginners’ guide to video geolocation here.