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ANNUAL REPORT 2018/2019 Pursuing Justice Through Science and Law Pursuing Justice Through Science and Law for 25 Years

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ANNUAL REPORT 2018/2019 Pursuing Justice Through Science and Law Pursuing Justice Through Science and Law for 25 Years ANNUAL REPORT 2018/2019 Pursuing justice through science and law Pursuing justice through science and law for 25 years Dear HRC Friends, in open source investigations. They have applied these skills to help our partners, including the Syrian Archive, In the quarter century since we launched the first Amnesty International, the Center for Justice and university-based human rights center on the West Coast, Accountability, ProPublica, and Reuters, to gather evi- we’ve seen monumental challenges to human dignity. dence of atrocity crimes. Our students verify facts and The year HRC was born, half a million Rwandans were debunk disinformation—pioneering new methods and killed in approximately 100 days in what was one of the providing critical capacity to the global movement for worst genocides since World War II. human rights. That year, we leveraged the potential of a powerful Our Health and Human Rights Program, launched in research university and its students to support human 2017, is identifying ways to combat child marriage, and rights investigations worldwide. make it safer for refugees to receive cash assistance. Our Sexual Violence Program continues to break One of our very first Human Rights Center Fellows— new ground in responding to wartime rape. And our Amy Ross—traveled to Guatemala in 1994 to conduct Human Rights and Business Initiative is examining the research with the Myrna Mack Foundation. Myrna Mack role and impact of technology on the rights of migrant was a Guatemalan anthropologist who was murdered workers, women, young people, and other vulnerable by a military death squad because of her advocacy for populations. the indigenous Maya people. Amy was determined to continue her legacy. Thank you for being a part of our community. Together, we will confront the challenges of the next 25 years. Twenty-five years and 340 Fellows later, we continue to support survivors of violence. Among recent HRC student Sincerely, fellows, Levi Vonk, Pieter Baker, Thanh Mai Bercher, and Natalie Schultheis have used their training in journal- ism, public health, and law to support refugees fleeing violence in Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras. Eric Stover & Alexa Koenig Over the past three years, our Human Rights Investigations Lab has trained more than 250 students WHAT WE DO • Investigate and verify facts • Conduct research • Teach and train WHY WE DO IT To enhance investigatory meth- ods, improve policies, amplify the voices of survivors, and prepare the next generation to further justice and human rights HOW WE DO IT • Listen to and support survivors • Draw from multiple disciplines • Test innovative ideas • Use rigorous research methods • Collaborate with partners This Annual Report is dedicated to our colleague Dr. Cristián Orrego Benavente who died on December 12, 2018. Cristián was a tireless leader in the search for El Salvador’s missing children and for reuniting families separated by war. We will never Front cover image A Rohingya girl lives in a makeshift camp in Sittwe, forget him or his important work Rakhine State, Myanmar, in 2013. Photographer Chris Beale spent more for human rights. than six years documenting the lives of the Rohingya living in Rakhine State and Bangladesh. His show “On the Edge of Existence” was up at Berkeley Law for six months. Report design Nicole Hayward 1 25 YEARS, 25 HIGHLIGHTS 1 HRC launches its flag- 7 Our Forensic Program, 13 Our amicus brief in 2016 15 In 2018 and 2019, our ship Fellowship Program launched in 2006, helps contributes to former Chad 82 Investigations Lab in 1994, empowering Pro-Búsqueda reunite dictator Hissène Habré’s students from 20 majors, hundreds of students to families separated during El conviction for sexual who speak more than a work with human rights Salvador’s civil war. violence crimes. dozen languages, com- defenders in more than 80 plete 39 investigations for countries. 8 Our conference on Kenya’s 14 With the motto “where 25 partners. Sexual Offences Act in 2011 facts matter,” we launch 2 Faculty Director Eric Stover helps to strengthen prose- the Human Rights 16 Our study on the harmful and photographer Gilles cutions of sexual violence Investigations Lab in 2016— effects of tear gas in the Peress expose how Serbian and care for survivors. training students to find West Bank in 2017 slows militiamen massacred hun- and verify information on its use in Aida refugee dreds of Muslim civilians 9 The UNHRC adopts our social media to strength- camp. and buried their victims in recommendations in Safe en legal cases, investiga- The Graves (1998). Haven (2013) to improve pro- tive reporting, and human tection for sexual violence rights advocacy. 3 Ugandan social worker survivors in refugee and Alice Achan creates the IDP camps. Pader Girls Academy in 2006, a school for young women who have escaped the Lord’s Resistance Army. HRC research prompts funding to open its doors. 4 Crimes of War: What the Public Should Know is the first handbook for frontline journalists and aid workers 10 In 2014, we publish the first on the laws of war (1999). research on witnesses at the International Criminal 5 The international workshop Court to make it safer for Soul of the New Machine survivors who testify. in 2009 helps launch human rights practice into 11 The Long Road (2015) ex- the digital age. poses the barriers to justice for wartime sexual violence. 6 The Guantanamo Effect, published in 2009, exposes 12 We win the MacArthur Award the post-captivity experi- for Creative and Effective ences of detainees. Institutions in 2015—and a $1 million prize. 17 The Health and Human 19 Our year-long event 21 After publishing the first 23 HRC convenes interna- Rights Program, launched series on mass incar- study of human trafficking tional law experts and in 2017, researches how ceration in 2016 offers in 2004, which sparks technologists at the to more safely transfer potential solutions to its anti-trafficking legislation, Rockefeller Foundation’s cash to vulnerable people social, economic and new research in 2017 Bellagio Center in 2017 to in emergencies. psychological harms. A and 2018 examines how begin drafting the world’s series on gun violence investigators, prosecutors, first protocol on the col- 18 The Investigations Lab follows in 2017. and social workers can lection and use of open contributes to Reuters collaborate to better source evidence. journalist Steve Stecklow’s 20 Hiding in Plain Sight— support survivors in Los story on the weaponization a six year study culminat- Angeles and the Bay Area. 24 Thousands of Berkeley of Facebook in Myanmar, ing in a book in 2016— students learn about hu- which is part of a series highlights the search 22 Our “Toward an End to man rights in our classes— that wins the Pulitzer for war criminals and Child Marriage” study in graduating to become Prize in 2019. strategies to bring them 2018 evaluates what works teachers, journalists, law- to justice. to end child marriage in yers, advocates, doctors, development and human- technologists, and others itarian settings. who understand how to use research to do work that matters. 25 At UC Berkeley in 2019, HRC moves into its own home on campus, creating a new hub to nurture innovative, groundbreaking ideas for justice and human rights. 3 HEALTH AND HUMAN RIGHTS 2018/2019 HIGHLIGHTS To improve the health and Child Marriage Research Initiative — Our 2018 report with Save the Children, ”Toward an End to Child Marriage,” identifies what works protection of some of the to end child marriage in development and humanitarian settings. world’s most marginalized In 2019, we will engage young people in participatory research to populations—including understand what drives child marriage in crisis settings—a project with Save the Children and Plan International. those affected by human- itarian crises, forced “Safer Cash in Emergencies” — As donors and aid agencies increasingly turn toward cash assistance instead of services to displacement, or violence. support people displaced by conflict or natural disaster, we have very little information about how to ensure that cash safely and efficiently reaches those who need it most. With our USAID- funded “Safer Cash” project, our research in conflict-affected communities in Cameroon and Afghanistan led us to create a Left A 13-year-old girl lives in the Koulikoro region toolkit for humanitarian practitioners (in partnership with the in the heart of Mali where more than half of girls are International Rescue Committee) to make cash programming married before age 18 (photo by J’rgen B’tz/picture- alliance/dpa/AP Images, May 2018). Below Health safer for vulnerable groups in emergencies—including people and Human Rights Program Director Julie Freccero is with disabilities, female heads of households, and older people. with the Safer Cash research team at the International Rescue Committee in Northern Cameroon in 2018. Support to Youth Impacted by Commercial Sexual Exploitation — In collaboration with the City of San Francisco’s Department on the Status of Women and Freedom Forward, we will interview youth, caregivers, and service providers and work closely with community- based partners to develop a model foster care program for young people affected by trafficking and sexual exploitation and assess its impact on their health, safety, and well-being. 5 SEXUAL VIOLENCE 2018/2019 HIGHLIGHTS To improve legal Handbook for the Investigation, Prosecution, and Adjudication of Sexual and Gender-based Violence Crimes in Uganda — With accountability for sexual local partners in Uganda, we are developing a handbook for survivor- violence during and centered investigation and prosecution of sexual and gender-based violence. This practical tool will be the first of its kind to link health, after armed conflict and law enforcement, justice, and military sectors to promote coherent provide protection and responses to sexual violence.
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