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.101 ‘No traces of life’: Israel’s Ecocide in Gaza 2023-2024
Date of Incident
7 Oct 2023 - Ongoing
Location
Gaza, Palestine
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.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.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.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.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.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.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.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.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.49 Privatised Push-Back of the Nivin
Forensic Oceanography
Date of Incident
1 Nov 2018
Location
Central Mediterranean
Forums
Legal Process, United Nations
Commissioned By
Self-Initiated
Five months after Italy began to close its ports to migrants rescued at sea, a vessel carrying 93 people was spotted in the southern Mediterranean. The Italian and Libyan Coast Guards enlisted a private merchant ship to rescue the migrants and forcefully return them to Libya. Using tracking data and testimonies, Forensic Oceanography exposed a new mode of privatised border security.
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.45 Herbicidal Warfare in Gaza
Date of Incident
1 Jan 2014 - Ongoing
Location
Khan Younes, Gaza
Forums
Exhibition, Media
Commissioned By
Self-Initiated
Since 2014, Israeli military bulldozing of agricultural and residential lands along the eastern border of occupied Gaza has been complemented by unannounced aerial spraying of crop-killing herbicides. Piecing together farmer testimonies, satellite imagery, and drift analysis, we investigated the unique destructive signature of a single spraying event in April 2017, along the border in Khan Younes.
I.44 Conquer and Divide
Date of Incident
1 Jan 1967 - Ongoing
Location
Occupied Palestinian Territories
Forums
Web Platform
In Partnership With
B’Tselem
In 1967, Israel occupied the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. In the five decades that followed, the state of Israel has chipped away at Palestinian space through legislative, legal, and military means, restricting the freedoms of Palestinian civilians, and denying them their rights. In partnership with B'Tselem, we told that story through an interactive, scrolling cartography.
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.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.31 The Seizure of the Iuventa
With Forensic Oceanography
Date of Incident
2 Aug 2017
Location
Mediterranean Sea
Forums
Legal Process, Exhibition
Commissioned By
Self-Initiated
The Iuventa has rescued over ten thousand people from the Mediterranean since it began operating in 2016.
When the vessel was impounded by Italian authorities under suspicion of collusion with people smugglers, we used video evidence and meteorological data to refute the allegations.
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.25 Ecocide in Indonesia
Date of Incident
1 Jun 2015 - 1 Oct 2015
Location
Kalimantan and Sumatra, Indonesia
Forums
Exhibition
Commissioned By
FIBGAR - Fundación Internacional Baltasar Garzón
In Kalimantan and Sumatra, fires consumed over 21,000sq. km of forest and farmland in 2015.
Combining fieldwork with satellite image analysis, we established that drainage and ‘monocropping’ by agricultural corporations were direct causes, supporting calls for recognition of a new crime: ecocide.
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.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.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.7 The Drone Strikes Platform
Date of Incident
1 Nov 2014 - 1 Nov 2014
Location
Federally Administered Tribal Area, Pakistan
Forums
United Nations, Media, Web Platform
Commissioned By
Bureau of Investigative Journalism
Civilian homes were the target of sixty-one percent of all reported drone strikes conducted by the CIA in Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas between 2004 and 2014.
We turned a database of those strikes, compiled by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, into an interactive cartography.
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.
I.4 The Left-to-Die Boat
Forensic Oceanography
Date of Incident
27 Mar 2011 - 10 Apr 2011
Location
Mediterranean Sea
Forums
Legal Process, Exhibition
Commissioned By
Self-Initiated
A migrants’ boat was left drifting for two weeks in NATO-monitored waters, its presence known to the Italian coastguard and other nearby vessels. Sixty-three people died.
Using an array of sensing technologies—thermal cameras, radar, and tracking—Forensic Oceanography mapped the path of the boat.
Remote Sensing⤵
Often, investigators do not have access to the site of the incident they are investigating. In such instances, we rely on remote data, such as satellite and aerial images.
Comparative analysis of ‘before’ and ‘after’ images help us to identify transformations on the ground, and different ‘optical bands’ and graphic indicators such as Normalized Differential Vegetation Index (NDVI) can give us detailed information at a distance.