@borderforensics.bsky.social
Border Forensics is an agency mobilising innovative methods of spatial and visual analysis to investigate practices of border violence, wherever this violence might take place.
UN experts urge Malta to drop charges against El Hiblu 3 and uphold migrants’ rights
„We condemn these unjustified charges. We are also concerned that Maltese law criminalises as terrorism conduct that is not genuinely terrorist under international law.”
www.ohchr.org/en/press-rel...
Aktivist:innen von Border Forensics @borderforensics.bsky.social und dem erzählen über die staatliche Gewalt im europäischen Grenzregime.
17.01.2026 14:48 — 👍 2 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
Workshop am #AnderenDavos 26: Kontinuitäten staatlicher Gewalt im europäischen Grenzregime
Mit Aktivist:innen von Border Forensics @borderforensics.bsky.social aus Genf und dem NoMore Committe aus Basel.
17.01.26, 14:30 im Volkshaus ZH
Infos: sozialismus.ch/ad26
A talk by Charles Heller from @borderforensics.bsky.social on border forensics and documenting border violence at the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw. Sitting here with the core team of Researchers on the Border, urgently important discussions! Follow their work @badaczkinagranicy.bsky.social
13.12.2025 19:36 — 👍 6 🔁 3 💬 0 📌 0
Starting in 30 minutes! A lecture by lead researcher #CristinaDelBiaggio about 'The Death of Blessing Matthew' as part of the series “Avenue centrale. Rendez-vous en sciences humaines” (season 12).
Watch now or later here 👉
www.youtube.com/live/MHPd-br...
Coming Saturday, 17:00h.
Join us at #BuildPeace2025 in Barcelona.
Our digital cartographer #JackIsles will speak about 'How we use geospacial technology to advocate against surveillance and control'.
Find here the full programme: www.icip.cat/wp-content/u...
Tomorrow, 7pm, La Chaux-de-Fonds, CH
Lead reseachers #ElioPanese and #StanislasMichel will present #BF's recent report on the death of #Nzoy, a Zurich resident who died at Morges train station in 2021 after being shot by the police.
Find details about the event here: shorturl.at/TI3RT
#NzoyComplex
Alongside unveiling patterns, the Archive of Absence stands as a witness.
Many records lack important details. Some deaths go complete unrecorded. The AoA allows to submit information to help acknowledge and collectively honor the memory of those who lost their lives at the hands of the police.
So, did racism kill Nzoy?
Our evidence points to a systemic pattern where race, masculinity, and various forms of othering shape who is policed, how, and with what consequences.
Our research also shows that especially racialised men are overwhelmingly overexposed to lethal policing.
A racialised geography of violence emerges: over the last 10 years, the Canton of Vaud had been the deadliest in CH – both in absolute terms and relative to population and police size. Who died? 67% of cases show one marker of othering; 28% show multiple. Over 45% were racialised. We see a pattern.
30.10.2025 11:31 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0
In the past three decades, shootings went down, yet police-related deaths have remained steady.
Our platform documents 84 people killed in police interactions from 1992–2025: more than two per year. We include deaths from shootings, restraint, neglect or abuse in custody as well as police chases.
Silence surrounds these deaths. Officially released numbers mostly cover deaths through police fire arms while fatalities from restraint, custody, or neglect are obscured by euphemisms. This invisibility conceals violent patterns of police practices and thus the causes of reproduced violence.
30.10.2025 11:31 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0
Did racism kill #Nzoy?
As part of our recent investigation "The Death of Roger Nzoy Wilhem" we asked that question.
Digging into that question, we built the Archive of Absence: an independent database of police-related deaths in #Switzerland since the 1990's.
archiveofabsence.borderforensics.org
Who Killed Blessing Matthew at the Franco–Italian Border?
In 2022 #BF launched an investigation into her death.
Read now #CristinaDelBiaggio's and #SarahBachellerie's article "Framing Responsibility through an Analysis of the Entanglement of Law and Space" in State Crime Journal 👉 h1.nu/1dE3f
📣 Documenting & Challenging EU Border Violence
Thurs 9 Oct 2025, 1pm
MUSSI Seminar Room (+ online)
@mu-ssi.bsky.social
with
Charles Heller @borderforensics.bsky.social
Niamh Keady-Tabbal @maynoothlaw.bsky.social
Hanaa Hakiki @ecchr.bsky.social
Register: www.maynoothuniversity.ie/news-events/...
The result of our analysis challenges the prosecutor’s claim that Nzoy ran at the officer with a knife. His hands were open and empty when he was first shot. This exposes bias in official narratives of lethal policing and support the demand for #justice4nzoy.
borderforensics.org/investigations/nzoy
The frame-by-frame motion shows his left hand outstretched across his body and his right hand with visible finger articulation. Both moved naturally as open palms. This is bio-mechanically inconsistent with gripping a knife.
30.08.2025 12:24 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0
By cross-referencing a #3D model of the scene with the camera’s perspective and optics, we measured the distance to Nzoy’s hands. The pixel data gave us a precise dimensions: 19.7 cm. Our results matched Nzoy's autopsy records.
30.08.2025 12:24 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0
From four extracted frames, we studied the size, shape, and motion of #Nzoy’s hands – open vs closed. The police investigation ignored this sequence, despite the witness who filmed it testifying that Nzoy held nothing.
30.08.2025 12:24 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0
Our investigation uses a 67-millisecond video sequence – the only footage showing both of Nzoy’s hands. Its high resolution enabled a precise forensic analysis.
See full thread 👉
Four years ago today, on 30 August 2021, #Nzoy was fatally shot by police at #Morges station, #Switzerland. The Police claimed he attacked officers with a knife. Our new investigation shows his hands were open and empty before the first shot was fired – exposing the regime of police impunity.
30.08.2025 12:24 — 👍 4 🔁 4 💬 1 📌 0
Structural racism and impunity for police-related deaths have allowed these to be perpetuated. Only a day ago, early morning on Sunday 25.08.25, a 17-year-old Black teenager died during a police chase in #Lausanne.
Our thoughts are with families of #policeviolence victims. #Justice4Nzoy #Marvin
Our analysis further locates Nzoy's killing in relation to other police-related deaths in Switzerland. In our press conference this morning, we presented our findings, including the archiveofabsence.borderforensics.org: A database of documented police-related deaths in Switzerland between 1992-2025.
25.08.2025 16:22 — 👍 1 🔁 1 💬 1 📌 0Our video analysis combined with 3D-reconstruction demonstrate that Nzoy's hands were open just before the first two shots were fired at him. Contrary to the police's claims, it was thus highly unlikely that he was holding a knife at that moment.
25.08.2025 16:22 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0At the family’s request, #BF has conducted an investigation over the last 2 years, in collaboration with the Independent Commission.
Our research presents new evidence and links Nzoy's killing to other cases of police-related deaths in Switzerland.
www.borderforensics.org/investigatio...
Today, #BF launches a new investigation on the death of Roger Nzoy Wilhelm, a Black Swiss man. He was shot and killed by the police in August 2021, in Switzerland.
The legal process that has been ongoing for the last four years has not answered the demands for truth and justice of Nzoy’s family.
Today, BF launches its new investigation on the killing of Nzoy.
Roger Nzoy Wilhelm was shot dead by the police on 30 August 2021.
Until today, light has yet to be shed on the exact circumstances that led to Nzoy’s death.
Find our investigation here: www.borderforensics.org/investigatio...
🔴SAVE THE DATE🔴
Monday, 11am, Lausanne, CH
#BF together with the Independent Commission on the death of Roger #Nzoy Wilhelm will launch their new investigation on the circumstances of #Nzoy's death.
Join us and sign up for the #PressConference here: forms.office.com/e/0Gfv0rtaK9...
The demand for truth and justice of the survivors of the 24 June 2022 massacre. Watch here:
vimeo.com/955919956/af...
Today, we are in thoughts with the survivors of the massacre and the families of the deceased and disappeared.
We reiterate our demand for accountability. We continue to support and amplify their demands for truth and justice.
