The Promise Institute for Human Rights

The latest from our partnership in the University of California Digital Investigations Network, The Use of Open Source Investigation Methods in Tracking Environmental Harms shows how open source investigation methods can be used to document environmental harms globally using open source techniques, including how these methodologies are being used in research, litigation, and investigations.

Students worked over the last semester to collect the data, conducting a literature review and interviewing experts to produce this practitioner-centered report.

For those interested in applied techniques, it’s a must-read. 

Together with our co-organizers, the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative, the eighth Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity was awarded to Dr. Denis Mukwege, a world-renowned gynecological surgeon and human rights activist from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. At the Aurora Prize Ceremony at UCLA on May 9, 2024, Dr. Mukwege received a $1,000,000 award in support of the Panzi Hospital and Foundation which he founded in 1999. To date, the hospital and its staff have cared for more than 80,000 survivors of sexual violence.

The hospital not only treats survivors with physical wounds, but also provides legal aid, socio-economic reintegration, and psychosocial services to its patients. Dr. Mukwege has been fearless in his efforts to increase protections for women and to advocate that those responsible for sexual violence be brought to justice, including the Congolese government and militia groups laying siege to eastern DRC. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2018.

We are collaborating with a powerful coalition of human rights organizations to launch the Iranian Archive. This landmark archive forensically preserves +1,300,000 vulnerable digital artifacts recording serious human rights violations committed by the Islamic Republic of Iran against Woman, Life, Freedom movement protesters.

The Iranian Archive is intended to support future investigations and accountability proceedings. Many of the events documented appear to be serious human rights violations and may amount to crimes against humanity.

For accountability orgs seeking access to the Archive, please contact Jess Peake, promiseinstitute@law.ucla.edu