The International Bar Association (IBA)-founded eyeWitness to Atrocities initiative (eyeWitness) has reached a significant milestone: 100,000 items of footage captured using its mobile phone app, helping to preserve potential evidence of human rights violations, war crimes and other international crimes around the world.

For victims and survivors of atrocities, documenting what happened can be a critical first step towards justice. However, investigators and lawyers need to establish where and when material was recorded, demonstrate that it has not been manipulated and preserve items in a way that can support legal proceedings.

The free eyeWitness app is designed to address these challenges. Each item of footage captured with the app is embedded with metadata designed to strengthen its evidentiary value – including time, date and location information – and securely transferred to a server hosted by LexisNexis. Each item is preserved in a manner intended to maintain authenticity and chain of custody, which are critical components to build cases and admissibility before courts and investigative bodies, thus supporting lawyers, investigators and accountability mechanisms as they seek to establish the facts.

The 100,000-item milestone highlights the scale of documentation taking place globally and the growing role individuals can play in recording potential violations. It also underscores the importance of protecting digital evidence so that it can be assessed and, where appropriate, used in efforts to secure accountability.

Claudio Visco, IBA President, stated: ‘The ability to document serious violations and preserve reliable evidence is fundamental to the pursuit of justice. Reaching 100,000 submissions marks a significant milestone, reflecting the commitment of individuals around the world to ensure that potential crimes are recorded and not forgotten. The legal profession has an important role to play in ensuring that such evidence can support accountability and help uphold the rule of law. Through eyeWitness, the IBA has been at the forefront of harnessing innovative technology to advance the cause of justice, demonstrating how technological innovation can strengthen the legal profession's response to some of the world's most serious crimes. The initiative reflects the IBA's commitment to embracing new technologies and applying them in meaningful ways to support accountability and protect human rights.'

The impact of eyeWitness footage is already evident in legal proceedings and wider accountability efforts

The significance of eyeWitness extends beyond the volume of material collected. Footage captured using the app has already contributed to legal proceedings and wider accountability efforts, demonstrating how carefully-preserved digital evidence can help investigators and lawyers pursue cases that might otherwise be difficult to substantiate.

In Ukraine, authenticated footage captured using the eyeWitness app has been relied upon in four court cases, including civil claims before the Commercial Court of Kharkiv and rulings in the Kharkiv District Administrative Court. The material has also contributed to a joint report, Destruction and Devastation: One Year of Russia's Assault on Ukraine's Health Care System, published in February 2023 by eyeWitness, Insecurity Insight, Media Initiative for Human Rights, Physicians for Human Rights and the Ukrainian Healthcare Center. It also supported the online map, Attacks on Health Care in Ukraine. Read more about the use of eyeWitness footage in Ukraine.

In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), verifiable images captured using eyeWitness technology have supported judicial processes that led to the conviction of warlords for crimes against humanity. The case illustrates how preserved documentation can contribute to accountability for serious crimes, including in contexts where gathering evidence is particularly challenging. Read more about the DRC case.

Carrie Bowker, Director of eyeWitness, commented: ‘This moment reflects both the scale of the documentation being captured and the growing recognition that digital evidence can play a critical role in accountability efforts. The eyeWitness app is designed to ensure that footage is not only safely recorded but also preserved in a way that meets legal standards. Reaching 100,000 items is an important achievement, but our commitment and focus remain on supporting those on the ground who are documenting potential violations, as well as working with partners to ensure this material can be used effectively in the pursuit of justice — that evidence gathered today can help establish the truth tomorrow.’

Beyond litigation, eyeWitness has prepared footage dossiers and submissions to international bodies to inform investigations, human rights mandates and reporting. These efforts include contributions to United Nations Special Rapporteurs, including the eyeWitness October 2025 joint urgent appeal calling attention to grave human rights violations taking place in Nigeria’s Middle Belt region. Read the joint urgent appeal.

Mark Ellis, IBA Executive Director, commented: ‘As digital documentation plays an increasingly important role in investigating and prosecuting atrocity crimes, the need for the eyeWitness app has never been greater. Accountability requires evidence that investigators can examine, lawyers can put before the appropriate courts and mechanisms and decision-makers can assess. Through eyeWitness, the IBA is helping to bridge the gap between witnessing potential crimes and preserving material that can contribute to credible investigations and legal proceedings. This 100K milestone reinforces the importance of sustained collaboration to ensure that evidence can support meaningful accountability for victims and survivors.’

The 100,000-item milestone marks an important step in eyeWitness’ ongoing work to help transform digital documentation into credible evidence and create pathways towards justice for victims and survivors of serious human rights violations and international crimes.

**ENDS**

Contact: IBApressoffice@int-bar.org | media@eyewitness.global

Notes:

1. About eyeWitness: founded by the International Bar Association in 2015, eyeWitness to Atrocities helps human rights defenders around the world capture and use verifiable photos and videos for justice. Since its launch, eyeWitness has worked at the intersection of technology and international law to enable citizens, journalists and human rights defenders to document events safely and securely. As well as providing the specialist camera app, eyeWitness also offers training on photo and video documentation, legal expertise and links to key investigative bodies such as the United Nations and the International Criminal Court. All these services are free. By combining law with technology, eyeWitness ensures that images are not only verifiable, but that they can be used to hold perpetrators accountable in courts of law.

2. How the eyeWitness to Atrocities mobile camera app works: it works by capturing and sealing evidence of potential human rights abuses in a tamper-proof way so that it can be verified for use in a court of law. When a user shoots a photo or video, the app automatically embeds critical metadata directly into the file at the exact moment of capture – including GPS coordinates, date and time, device sensor data and surrounding Wi-Fi/Bluetooth networks. To ensure security and compliance with legal standards, the footage is immediately encrypted and saved within a hidden, password-protected section of the app rather than the phone’s public gallery, featuring a quick-erase function to protect the user if they are compromised. Once uploaded, the files are transmitted to a secure virtual evidence locker hosted by LexisNexis. This creates an unassailable record of a trusted chain of custody, ensuring the media has not been edited nor digitally manipulated. Finally, a team of legal experts reviews, catalogues and compiles the verified footage into dossiers to assist international tribunals and investigators in prosecuting war crimes. The app can be downloaded here: eyeWitness to Atrocities - Apps on Google Play

3. Charity registration: eyeWitness is a registered charity (registered number 1156242) and company limited by guarantee, incorporated in England and Wales (registration number 08703983). eyeWitness is regulated by the Charities Commission.

4. Find eyeWitness on social media here:

   • x.com/eyewitnessorg
   • facebook.com/eyewitnesstoatrocities
   • linkedin.com/company/eyewitness-to-atrocities
   • youtube.com/channel/UC-cww3Wwuoz9GQ1dmBstxPg

5. The International Bar Association (IBA), the global voice of the legal profession, is the foremost organisation for international legal practitioners, bar associations and law societies. Established in 1947, shortly after the creation of the United Nations, it was born out of the conviction that an organisation made up of the world’s bar associations could contribute to global stability and peace through the administration of justice.

   The IBA acts as a connector, enabler, and influencer, for the administration of justice, fair practice, and accountability worldwide. The IBA has collaborated on a broad range of ground-breaking, international projects with the United Nations, the European Parliament, the Council of Europe, The Commonwealth, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the World Trade Organization, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, among others.

6. Find the IBA (@IBAnews) on social media here:
   • x.com/IBAnews
   • x.com/IBAevents
   • x.com/IBAHagueOffice
   • bsky.app/profile/ibanews.bsky.social
   • facebook.com/internationalbarassociation
   • linkedin.com/company/international-bar-association

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