Truth Detectives

All around the world, human rights activists, journalists and lawyers collect evidence of human rights violations - with the help of the people affected. Amateur videos of bombs exploding, people being abused or even shot dead, are distributed almost in real time via social media. Aside from the capabilities of modern mobile phones, access to satellite images and GPS data is now also considerably easier. In social networks, it is possible to track almost every move a person makes.

Digital investigators use various forensic methods, from internet tracking to DNA analysis, to analyze and verify the flood of images and back them up with other evidence and scientific expertise. These criminological investigations have only one purpose: to bring to justice those who commit human rights violations.

On missions in the world’s conflict and crisis zones, we learn about these technologies and the specialists who use them. We meet investigation teams and follow their research on cultural heritage destruction in Mali, the war in Ukraine, the search for mass graves in Columbia and bombardements on Black Friday in Gaza.

Team Partner

Brigitta Schübeler, producer