Human Rights Electronic Evidence Study Final Report A report from the Center for Research Libraries in fulfillment of Grant No. 08-91495-000-GSS from the John D. and Katherine T. MacArthur Foundation February 2012 Public release – some content and references to sensitive sources have been removed. This page intentionally left blank Table of Contents I. Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 1 I.A. Project Aims ........................................................................................................................ 2 I.B. Methodology ........................................................................................................................ 2 I.C. Organizations Visited ........................................................................................................... 3 I.D. Advisors and Consultants .................................................................................................... 5 II. Landscape ................................................................................................................................... 6 Gikonda Footage ......................................................................................................................... 7 Iran Elections 2009 ..................................................................................................................... 7 Documentation Challenges ......................................................................................................... 8 III. Nature and Varieties of Electronic Evidence .......................................................................... 11 III.A. Producers of Electronic Evidence ................................................................................... 11 III.B. Types of Electronic Evidence ......................................................................................... 13 III.B.i. Audio and Video-recorded Testimony ...................................................................... 13 III.B.ii. Digital Photographs.................................................................................................. 14 III.B.iii. Video Documentation ............................................................................................. 16 III.B.iv. Email and Networked Communication ................................................................... 18 III.B.v. Text Messages and SMS Communication ............................................................... 19 III.B.vi. Technical Platforms for Distribution of Electronic Documentation ....................... 20 III.B.vii. Metadata ................................................................................................................. 24 III.C. Collection Devices .......................................................................................................... 25 III.C.i. Cameras ..................................................................................................................... 26 III.C.ii. Video Devices .......................................................................................................... 26 III.C.iii Mobile Devices ........................................................................................................ 27 IV. Overview of the Lifecycle of Documentary Evidence ........................................................... 29 IV.A. Creation of Documentary Evidence ................................................................................ 30 IV.B. Collecting and Acquiring Evidence ................................................................................ 31 IV.C. Authentication and Documentation ................................................................................ 33 IV.D. Organization and Management ....................................................................................... 34 IV.E. Migration ......................................................................................................................... 41 IV.F. Access .............................................................................................................................. 41 IV.G. Storage and Protection of Evidence ................................................................................ 42 IV.H. Disposition and Use of Documentary Evidence ............................................................. 44 V. Uses and Requirements of Electronic Human Rights Documentation .................................... 45 V.A. Advocacy.......................................................................................................................... 45 V.B. Justice ............................................................................................................................... 49 V.C. Societal Memory and History ........................................................................................... 51 VI. Adequacy of Electronic Documentation Practices in the International Setting ..................... 54 VI.A. Fieldwork Case Studies – General Findings ................................................................... 54 VI.B. Challenges of Collecting and Maintaining Evidence for Advocacy Work ..................... 55 VI.C. Challenges of Preserving Evidence for Justice and Societal Memory ............................ 56 VII. Recommendations and Resources ......................................................................................... 57 VII.A. Creating Documentation ................................................................................................ 58 VII.B. Collecting Documentation ............................................................................................. 59 VII.C. Authenticating Documentation ...................................................................................... 60 VII.D. Organizing and Maintaining Documentation ................................................................ 62 VIII. Conclusions .......................................................................................................................... 64 IX. Appendices ............................................................................................................................. 66 IX.A. Project Background ......................................................................................................... 67 IX.A.1. Organizations Visited: Use of Electronic Evidence ................................................ 67 IX.A.2. Organization Survey Questions ............................................................................... 74 IX.B. Legal Consultant Reports ................................................................................................ 76 IX.B.1 Thomson Report: Admissibility of Electronic Documentation as Evidence in U.S. Courts .................................................................................................................................... 76 IX.B.2. Rapoport Center Report: New Wine in Old Wineskins? New problems in the use of electronic evidence in Human Rights investigations and prosecutions .............................. 106 IX.C. Case Studies .................................................................................................................. 146 IX.C.1. Case Study: Gikonda Footage ................................................................................ 146 IX.C.2. Case Study: “Tweeting out a Protest” - Iran Elections 2009 ................................. 149 IX.C.3. Case Study: Advocacy in Mexico .......................................................................... 157 IX.C.4. Case Study: Justice in Russia ................................................................................. 164 IX.C.5. Case Study: Memory in Rwanda ........................................................................... 173 IX.D. Human Rights Resources Profiles: ............................................................................... 177 I. Introduction In 2008, the Center for Research Libraries (CRL) received an award from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to assess the practices and technologies used by a variety of human rights monitoring groups in the United States, Mexico, Rwanda, and Russia to create and collect documentation, particularly electronic documentation, and the adequacy of that documentation for supporting advocacy, investigations, reporting, and legal proceedings on a local and international basis. From the social media reports of violence following the 2008 Kenya elections to the widely shared videos of the protests of the Arab Spring, human rights organizations (HROs) around the world increasingly collect, create, and disseminate documentation in electronic form. While electronic “evidence” has been produced in a variety of media for more than four decades, the recent explosion of communication technologies and emergence of social media have offered unprecedented opportunities for the collection, use, and distribution of digital materials by human rights activists and advocates. International NGOs like Human Rights Watch and WITNESS collect citizen journalists’ digital photos and cell phone videos of instances of state-sponsored violence. Other groups compile and analyze statistics and mine digital news and incident reports using various types of proprietary and open source software. In the past, documentary evidence collected or produced