4 months ago
33
There are more than 100 armed conflicts and wars taking place around the world today: Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and, more recently, the war between Israel and Hamas, are two most frequently in the news. But violent conflicts continue in Syria, Sudan, the Sahel, Yemen, Afghanistan, Myanmar, Nagorno Karabakh, Mexico, and in many many other places. The wanton killing and abject treatment of human beings during times of war and conflict, and the attendant horrors of such violence, demand accountability. Journalists have a critical role in reporting and investigating war and conflict.
GIJN, working with investigative journalists, war correspondents, lawyers, and human rights experts, has published its Reporter’s Guide to Investigating War Crimes. Shining a light on the practices of those who wage war, asking tough questions, digging to find evidence, exposing lies and propaganda, and what is really going on — are a critical part of the work of investigative journalists, work that complements the work of other war correspondents and investigators. Reporting and investigating war and conflict are critical, whether or not a war crime may have been committed. Yet as Ukrainian investigative journalist and contributor to this guide Valentyna Samar notes: “It is impossible to write professionally about war without basic knowledge of the laws and customs of war.”
This webinar shares methodologies for investigating war and conflict, and provide a briefing on the laws that govern what, in popular usage, are called “war crimes.”
Sam Dubberley is the managing director of the Digital Investigations Lab in the Technology and Human Rights Division at Human Rights Watch. Prior to joining HRW, Sam was the head of the Evidence Lab at Amnesty International, where he conducted a wide range of open source research for Amnesty International, including the 2021 Webby Award-winning platform “Teargas: An Investigation.” He has collaborated with several media organizations and is co-editor of “Digital Witness – Using Open Source Information for Human Rights Investigation, Documentation and Accountability.”
Christina Lamb is the chief foreign correspondent of The Sunday Times and one of Britain’s leading foreign correspondents, who has reported from most of the world’s hotspots for more than 30 years. She has won numerous awards including five times being named Foreign Correspondent of the Year and Europe’s top war reporting prize, the Prix Bayeux. She is the author of nine books, including “Our Bodies, Their Battlefields: War Through the Lives of Women.”
Claire Simmons is a legal expert on international humanitarian law. She is a senior lecturer at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, and fellow of the University of Essex Armed Conflict and Crisis Hub. She has experience working on international humanitarian law and human rights in academic institutions and nonprofit organizations.
Tony Wilson is the founder and director of the Security Force Monitor at the Columbia Law Human Rights Institute. He has led the research on security forces of over 20 countries and contributed to investigations published in The Atlantic, The New Humanitarian, The New York Times, and The Washington Post.
Our webinar moderator, Denis Džidić, is the executive director and editor of the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BIRN BiH), an outlet that won the 2020 European Press Prize special award for its reporting about the Bosnian war. A journalist since 2006, he has worked for the Institute for War and Peace Reporting in Sarajevo and The Hague investigating transitional justice issues and covering war crimes trials related to the 1992-1995 conflict in BiH.
———————–
The Global Investigative Journalism Network is an international association of journalism organizations that support the training and sharing of information among investigative and data journalists—with special attention to those from repressive regimes and marginalized communities.
Our key activities include:
Providing resources and networking services to investigative journalists worldwide;
Publishing in multiple languages and on multiple platforms the latest tools, techniques and opportunities for those in the field;
Helping organize and promote regional and international training conferences and workshops;
Assisting in the formation and sustainability of journalism organizations involved in investigative reporting and data journalism around the world;
Supporting and promoting best practices in investigative and data journalism;
Supporting and promoting efforts to ensure free access to public documents and data worldwide.
Find more information on our website: https://gijn.org
