Articles

On 1 February 2021, the military launched a coup d'état in Myanmar. Within hours, General Min Aung Hlaing seized power and arrested elected leaders, overthrowing Aung San Suu Kyi’s democratically elected government.

Israel and Hamas have agreed to a ceasefire in Gaza and a hostage release deal. It is the most significant breakthrough in 15 months of war – with the parties struggling to come to an agreement until now. We explain the key terms of the deal and why open source monitoring of the situation remains critical.

Sudan Witness verified three videos charting the pivotal moment the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) took back control of Wad Madani. The SAF recaptured Gezira's capital from the Rapid Support Forces on 12 January, marking a significant gain in the conflict.

Videos shared on social media can provide vital evidence for open source investigators, but a clampdown on filming in some conflicts has resulted in less user-generated content surfacing. CIR explores the consequences.

In partnership with CIR, Croatian researchers have uncovered indications of a pro-Kremlin disinformation campaign utilising a large bot network ahead of the presidential run-off in Croatia.

Pro-Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) accounts shared hate speech and misinformation about the marginalised Kanabi community in Gezira state throughout November.

Investigators verified over 1,300 incidents in total, using digital investigation techniques to verify destruction, violence and visible casualties using footage and images shared online, satellite imagery and other types of open source material. 

Over the past year the Eyes on Russia team at CIR has been monitoring videos and photographs, published online, claiming to show executions of Ukrainian prisoners of war by Russian forces. The number of cases emerging online has surged in recent months. In this open source investigation (OSINT) we show how each of the 80 deaths we have logged could potentially amount to a war crime under the Geneva convention.

Multiple videos show the men’s last moments, as they kneel or lie on the ground with their hands on their heads or behind their backs.  

Designed to forge a career path into the world of open source analysis, the Academy offers students the opportunity to gain new skills and collaborate with CIR projects on human rights investigations.

Working as an open source (OSINT) investigator at CIR is both challenging and rewarding. Each day brings new opportunities to uncover, verify, and report on critical information related to human rights violations and armed conflicts.

We spoke to Sofia and Erin to find out more about their day-to-day work and how they became investigators at CIR.

Russian forces have dramatically escalated their use of drone-dropped munitions in Kherson, described by locals as a “human safari”.