Interactions between civil society and law enforcement and investigatory bodies in open-source investigations of atrocity crimes.

• In Event: New Challenges and Developments in Transitional Justice (ECACTJ Working Group)

Abstract

During the past decade, online open-source investigations by journalists, NGOs and other non-state researchers have become a prominent reaction to atrocity crimes, such as war crimes and gross human rights violations. Civil society responses to recent proliferations of conflict and violence show how the open-source investigation field has become increasingly professionalised, organised and visible to the public. The changing role of civil society actors in online investigations has meant that public law enforcement and investigatory bodies, such as domestic war crimes units, Europol, UN investigative mechanisms and the International Criminal Court, have had to relate to these ‘unofficial’ investigators and collaboration initiatives and discover how they can potentially assist or hinder criminal accountability processes.

Based on empirical research among open-source researchers working within non-governmental organisations and public law enforcement and investigative bodies, this paper discusses the development and dynamics of open-source investigations by civil society actors and public bodies in the context of international justice and accountability processes. Attention is given to dynamics of trust, collaboration, and perceptions of digital justice-seeking in the context of atrocity crimes, where political, legal and security complexities pose additional complications to seeking justice in the aftermath of mass atrocities and conflict.

Author

• Isabella Regan, Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam