LONDON, England — Efforts to hold perpetrators of war crimes and serious human rights abuses accountable have received a boost as a digital documentation initiative reaches 100,000 pieces of evidence collected to support investigations and legal proceedings around the world.
According to an Oct. 30 announcement from the International Bar Association, its eyeWitness to Atrocities initiative has helped preserve potential evidence of international crimes, including material used in criminal investigations, court proceedings and international accountability efforts.
Founded by the IBA in 2015, eyeWitness provides a free mobile application designed to help human rights defenders, journalists and civil society organizations document alleged atrocities while preserving the integrity of the recordings.
The app automatically embeds information about the time, date and location of captured material, which is securely transferred to an evidence repository hosted by LexisNexis.
These safeguards are intended to establish the authenticity of recordings and preserve their chain of custody, both important considerations when investigators seek to introduce digital evidence in legal proceedings.
Claudio Visco, president of the International Bar Association, emphasized the importance of preserving evidence that could otherwise be lost.
“The ability to document serious violations and preserve reliable evidence is fundamental to the pursuit of justice,” Visco said.
The initiative’s impact extends beyond the collection of footage, with material captured through the app already contributing to legal proceedings involving alleged human rights violations.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, verifiable images captured using eyeWitness technology supported judicial proceedings that resulted in the convictions of warlords for crimes against humanity.
In Ukraine, authenticated footage collected through the app has been relied upon in four court cases, including civil claims before the Commercial Court of Kharkiv and rulings in the Kharkiv District Administrative Court.
The footage also contributed to a February 2023 report examining attacks on Ukraine’s health care system following Russia’s full-scale invasion.
The report, Destruction and Devastation: One Year of Russia’s Assault on Ukraine’s Health Care System, was produced by eyeWitness and several partner organizations, including Physicians for Human Rights and the Ukrainian Healthcare Center.
The documentation also supported an online map tracking attacks on health care facilities in Ukraine.
Beyond court proceedings, eyeWitness has prepared evidence dossiers and submissions to international organizations, including United Nations bodies investigating alleged human rights abuses.
Among those efforts was an October 2025 joint urgent appeal concerning serious human rights violations in Nigeria’s Middle Belt region.
Carrie Bowker, director of eyeWitness, said the milestone reflects the increasing importance of digital evidence in accountability efforts.
“This moment reflects both the scale of the documentation being captured and the growing recognition that digital evidence can play a critical role in accountability efforts,” Bowker said.
The initiative also provides training and legal assistance to organizations and individuals documenting potential crimes, connecting them with investigators and institutions capable of evaluating the evidence.
At its tenth anniversary in June 2025, eyeWitness reported conducting more than 900 training sessions, spending more than 55,000 hours reviewing footage and preparing more than 104 legal dossiers for international accountability mechanisms.
The organization had collected more than 85,000 photographs, videos and audio recordings at that time, before reaching the newly announced 100,000-item milestone.
The technology is designed to address challenges associated with the growing use of digital evidence in criminal investigations.
When photographs or videos are captured, the app records metadata, including GPS coordinates and device information, while encrypting the material and storing it in a protected section of the user’s phone.
Once uploaded, the files are transmitted to a secure repository, where they can be reviewed and organized by legal professionals for potential use in investigations and court proceedings.
Cryptographic safeguards help investigators determine whether files have been altered after capture, an important consideration when establishing the reliability of digital evidence.
However, preserving the integrity of a recording does not independently establish the circumstances surrounding an alleged crime or the responsibility of any individual. Investigators must still evaluate the evidence and establish its relevance to the allegations under investigation.
Mark Ellis, executive director of the International Bar Association, said the initiative helps connect documentation of potential crimes with the legal institutions responsible for pursuing accountability.
“Accountability requires evidence that investigators can examine, lawyers can put before the appropriate courts and mechanisms and decision-makers can assess,” Ellis said.
The 100,000-item milestone underscores the expanding role of digital documentation in international justice efforts, particularly in regions where access to crime scenes and witnesses may be limited.
Through its combination of secure technology, legal expertise and partnerships with investigative bodies, eyeWitness seeks to ensure that evidence collected by individuals documenting alleged atrocities can contribute to credible investigations and future legal proceedings.
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