Human Rights Center

🚨Are you an investigator, lawyer, journalist, or researcher interested in skilling up in
#OSINT? Join us and @instituteici.bsky.social this April at The Hague for our foundational open source investigations training:
🗓️ April 20–24
📍The Hague
🖊️Apply by Feb. 23:
iici.global/courses/open...

Innovative but Precarious: The Challenge of Running Open-Source Investigations Labs at Public Universities [Alexa Koenig, PhD, MA, JD, is a research professor at UC Berkeley School of Law, faculty director of UC Berkeley’s Human Rights Center, and director and co-founder of the center’s Investigations L…

In a new @opiniojuris.bsky.social blog, HRC's @alexakoenig.bsky.social & @bmcg-leyh.bsky.social from @utrechtuniversity.bsky.social reflect on the challenges of running open source investigations labs at public universities: opiniojuris.org/2026/01/12/i...

"[Bystander video] is one of the tools at the disposal of everyday people that is a cornerstone of really being able to hold government actors accountable + help individuals who cannot be there on the ground understand what is happening," @alexakoenig.bsky.social:
www.usatoday.com/story/news/n...

Corporate ‘60 Minutes’ censorship is a reminder that journalism must evolve or die My own proximity to this ordeal has provoked numerous conversations on journalists’ duties to investigate concentrated power while simultaneously working for the increasingly concentrated power struct...

"The censorship of this important story reminds us that the motivations or interests of wealthy owners of news organizations can diverge from those of their journalists and audiences," wrote Kyle Sweasey, HRC Investigations Lab student, for @dailycal.bsky.social:
www.dailycal.org/opinion/op-e...

Associate Director of Student Programming- Human Rights Center - School of Law University of California, Berkeley is hiring. Apply now!

Interested in joining our team? Check out our role for Associate Director of Student Programming. You'll be responsible for instructional design, academic year planning, administrative management, and partner/staff coordination for our Investigations Lab:
aprecruit.berkeley.edu/JPF05220

🚨Are you an investigator, lawyer, journalist, or researcher interested in improving your #OSINT skills? Join us and @instituteici.bsky.social this April at The Hague for our foundational open source investigations training:
🗓️ April 20–24
📍The Hague
🖊️Apply by Feb. 23:
iici.global/courses/open...

UC Berkeley student researchers featured in "60 Minutes" story pulled by CBS editor-in-chief Bari Weiss UC Berkeley Journalism offers a two-year Master of Journalism (MJ) degree and a summer minor, preparing students for careers in journalism.

Our @ucberkeleyofficial.bsky.social from the @hrcberkeley.bsky.social Investigations Lab — including J-School student Kyle Sweasey —contributed #OSINT for the @hrw.org report on #CECOT that was pulled from "60 Minutes" last month. journalism.berkeley.edu/uc-berkeley-...

El Salvador’s mega-prison: what UC Berkeley researchers found Alexa Koenig, Berkeley law co-faculty director, Human Rights Center, shares findings into the deportations of Venezuelan's to El Salvador's CECOT prison. The UC Berkeley research team was part of a st...

Watch: Professor Alexa Koenig, co-faculty director of @hrcberkeley.bsky.social, appeared on @ktvufox2.bsky.social to discuss research on El Salvador’s CECOT prison: https://www.ktvu.com/video/1759430 #BerkeleyLaw @alexakoenig.bsky.social

Berkeley Human Rights Center challenges CBS decision to pull '60 Minutes' El Salvador prison report HRC's co-faculty director Alexa Koenig said her team was "surprised" to learn the segment had been shelved despite clearing CBS's extensive legal and editorial review. Berkeley researchers had spent m...

Berkeley Human Rights Center challenges CBS decision to pull '60 Minutes' El Salvador prison report:
abc7news.com/post/berkele...

Human Rights Center response to pull of 60 Minutes segment "INSIDE CECOT" - Berkeley Human Rights Center

Our response to the pulling of the @60minutes.bsky.social segment “INSIDE CECOT:”
humanrights.berkeley.edu/uncategorize...

Paramount Press Express | “60 MINUTES” LISTINGS FOR SUNDAY, DEC. 21 Airs 7:30-8:30 PM, ET/7:00-8:00 PM, PT, After NFL Football, on the CBS Television Network and Paramount+ INSIDE CECOT – Earlier this year, the Trump adm

Tune into @60minutes.bsky.social this Sunday to watch @alexakoenig.bsky.social & our Investigations Lab students highlight their research with @hrw.org + @cristosal.bsky.social, documenting inhumane conditions in El Salvador’s CECOT mega-prison:
www.paramountpressexpress.com/cbs-news-and...

💫 30+ years of impact
🎒 400+ student fellows from UC campuses
🤝 350+ partner orgs
🌎 88+ countries & territories

Apply to be a part of HRC's 2026 Student Fellowship today!

🗓️ Deadline: Feb 17
🔗 Apply now: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
🔗 Learn more: humanrights.berkeley.edu/programs-and...

I'm tremendously honored to have contributed to the drafting of the Open Source Practitioner's Guide to the Murad Code, and thrilled that it is finally out in the world. For my law and OSINT friends, the Guide is also available in French, Arabic, and Ukrainian--so please share widely!

Join us TODAY in 10 mins to officially launch the Open-Source Practitioner’s Guide to the Murad Code w/
@instituteici.bsky.social, a new resource supporting safe & ethical digital investigations into conflict-related sexual violence. Join us (translation: FR/AR/UK):
us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

YouTube video by DW News Israel rejects Gaza war crime allegations | DW News

HRC's @alexakoenig.bsky.social spoke with @news.dw.com about collecting, preserving & verifying digital evidence of atrocities in conflict, using the #BerkeleyProtocol as a framework on seeking accountability for atrocities and potential war crimes committed in Gaza:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPm3...

Join us on Dec. 16 to officially launch the Open-Source Practitioner’s Guide to the Murad Code with @instituteici.bsky.social, a new resource supporting safe & ethical digital investigations into conflict-related sexual violence.
✍️ Register: us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...
🎙️ Translation: FR/AR/UK

Today marks the end of #16Days of Activism to End Gender-based Violence, which this year focused on ending digital violence. Kolina works to unmask companies and individuals responsible for creating and profiting off of non-consensual deepfake imagery that primarily depicts women and girls.

Investigating sexual and gender-based crimes online To celebrate the publication of the Open-Source Practitioner’s Guide to the Murad Code, our Faculty Director Alexa Koenig sat down with…

"We have to decide globally if it is acceptable to generate AI SGBV content and share it online," @bellingcat.com's @koltai.bsky.social told HRC's @alexakoenig.bsky.social. "The harm it currently generates will only amplify if we let this go unchecked."
medium.com/@maggie.visu...

As Russia's Africa Corps fights in Mali, witnesses describe atrocities from beheadings to rapes The Associated Press has spoken to over 30 refugees from Mali who say they witnessed beheadings, rapes and other abuses committed by Africa Corps, a new military unit under Russia's direct command.

“That means any war crimes committed by Africa Corps in Mali are, in principle, attributable to the Russian government under the rules on state responsibility,” Lindsay Freeman, Senior Director of International Accountability at @hrcberkeley.bsky.social, told @apnews.com https://bit.ly/4oCUUbd

As Russia's Africa Corps fights in Mali, witnesses describe atrocities from beheadings to rapes The Associated Press has spoken to over 30 refugees from Mali who say they witnessed beheadings, rapes and other abuses committed by Africa Corps, a new military unit under Russia's direct command.

New reporting from @apnews.com on the "scorched-earth policy" that Malian civilians have suffered from Russia's Africa Corps, which has replaced Wagner Group in Mali. HRC's @lindsaysfreeman.bsky.social weighs in on holding Russia accountable for Africa Corps' crimes:
apnews.com/article/mali...

Open Source Practitioners Guide — Murad Code project

Download the Open-Source Practitioner’s Guide to the Murad Code in English, French, Ukrainian, and Arabic: www.muradcode.com/open-source-...

A milestone in standards for CRSV investigations: The open-source practitioners guide to the Murad Code Working to make ethical, secure, and survivor-centred approaches central to OSINT investigations into gender-based violence

“The Open-Source Practitioners Guide to the Murad Code is a major leap forward for investigators using digital methods to document gendered harms,” wrote @cen4infores.bsky.social in their blog for 16 Days Against Gender-Based Violence: www.info-res.org/articles/a-m...

Join us on Dec 16 to officially launch the Open-Source Practitioner’s Guide to the Murad Code w/ @instituteici.bsky.social, a new resource supporting safe & ethical digital investigations into conflict-related sexual violence.
🎙️ Translation: FR/AR/UK
✍️ Register: us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

In a new @opiniojuris.bsky.social piece, HRC Open Source Investigations Specialist Guillén Torres and Utrecht Prof. Pınar Yolum highlight why transparency and oversight are essential as AI becomes more integrated into #HumanRights investigations:
🔗 lnkd.in/eCxW5ttx

Empower students & faculty to embody the Fiat Lux spirit! Support UC Berkeley. Start here.

2/2: Our student work depends on your support. When you support us this #GivingTuesday you’re empowering the next generation of researchers, lawyers, and journalists to investigate atrocities at home and abroad. Double your impact with our matching challenge! give.berkeley.edu/giftdetails?...

“You Have Arrived in Hell” The 81-page report, “‘You Have Arrived in Hell’: Torture and Other Abuses Against Venezuelans in El Salvador’s Mega Prison,” provides a comprehensive account of the treatment of these people in El Sal...

The U.S. has secretly deported migrants to El Salvador’s CECOT “mega-prison,” where many have vanished. HRC's Investigations Lab students + staff worked with @hrw.org this semester to uncover what’s really happening inside: www.hrw.org/report/2025/...

Register to join the launch event for this critical new #OSINT resource developed by @iici.bsky.social and @hrcberkeley.bsky.social

🕐 Tuesday 16 December, 4-5pm CET
💭 Leading experts in the field discuss the practical application of the Guide
🌐 Translation in French, Ukrainian and Arabic

5/5: A huge congratulations to everyone involved in this two-year project that wouldn’t be possible without @alexakoenig.bsky.social, Gabriel Oosthuizen, Ingrid Elliott, @anthonyghaly.bsky.social, Olivia Head, Andrea Richardson, @maggieandresen.bsky.social, and so many more.

4/5: Join us for a launch event at 7:00am PST / 10:00am EST 4:00pm CET on December 16, where expert OSINT practitioners will discuss the practical application of the standards captured in the Guide. Translation in French, Ukrainian & Arabic provided: us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

3/5: 5 years ago today, we co-launched the Berkeley Protocol on Digital Open Source Investigations with the UN Office of Human Rights. Since then, it has been catalytic in advancing justice and accountability efforts around the world. We hope this guide will do the same for investigating SCRSV.