Video Validation and Assessment for Human Rights Researchers

Reading List
Required
Silverman, Craig (Ed.): Verification Handbook: A definitive guide to verifying digital content for emergency coverage. January 2014.

Recommended
Bair, Madeleine: Is it Authentic? When Citizens and Soldiers Document War. November 20, 2012. Browne, Malachy: Storyfuls validation process. April 24, 2012. Bryan Nunez: Is This For Real? How InformaCam Improves Verification of Mobile Media Files. January 15, 2013 Cole, Alison: Pictures of Atrocity: Turning Video Footage into Evidence of War Crimes. March 7, 2013 Gregory, Sam: Visual Anonymity and YouTubes New Blurring Tool. July 18, 2012. Hodson, Hal: Multi-shot video can identify civil rights abusers. New Scientist, June 28, 2013. Hudson, John: New York Times Issues Correction on Syrian Rebel Story. Foreign Policy, September 6, 2013. Human Rights Center, University of California, Berkely: Beyond Reasonable Doubt: Using scientific evidence to advance prosecutions at the International Criminal Court. 23-24 October 2012. Workshop Report. Kilroy, Della: Citizen Video for Journalists: Verification. February 25, 2013. Koettl, Christoph: Can Video Document Possible War Crimes In Syria? January 8, 2013. Koettl, Christoph: Twitter to the Rescue? How Social Media is Transforming Human Rights Monitoring. February 20, 2013. Lennon, Helen: A Witness to Atrocity: Film as Evidence in International War Crimes Tribunals. In: Toby Haggith and Johanne Newmann (ed): Holocaust and the Moving Image: Representations in Film and Television since 1933. London 2005, 65ff. Pillay, Sukanya: Video as Evidence. In: Sam Gregory, Gillian Caldwell, Ronit Avni; Thomas Harding (eds):Video for Change. A Guide for Advocacy and Activism. London, 2005. Truth in the age of social media. Nieman Reports, Vol 66, No. 2 (Summer 2012).

Christoph Koettl January 2014

WITNESS: Cameras Everywhere: Current Challenges and Opportunities at the Intersection of Human Rights, Video, And Technology. 2011 ONeill, Kathleen; Sentilles, Della; Brinks, Daniel M.: New Wine In Old Wineskins? New Problems in the use of electronic evidence in Human Rights Investigations and prosecutions Wardle, Claire (ed.): Social Newsgathering: A Collection of Storyful Blog Posts

Cases Studies
Cozzens, Richard: Verifying Citizen Video: A Case Study of Destruction from Aleppo. January 7, 2014. McMahon, Felim: Syria: Turning night into day: analysis of where air strikes blamed on Israel hit. May 5, 2013. Sheridan, Gavin: Storyful tips and tools: Locating videos on a map. September 25, 2012. Unique Footage Of A Thermobaric Bomb Dropped Over Syria. Brown Moses Blog, January 10, 2013. The Process Of Video Verification - Rabaa, Egypt, August 14th 2013. Brown Moses Blog, August 15, 2013.

Useful Reference Document

International Committee of the Red Cross: What is international humanitarian law? Legal Fact Sheet International humanitarian law: answers to your questions Professional standards for protection work carried out by humanitarian and human rights actors in armed conflict and other situations of violence. February 2013. (Esp. Chapter6)

Christoph Koettl January 2014