Digital Technology and Conflict Documentation in Syria and Ukraine

This session offers a comparative analysis of two established research pillars: the genesis of digital documentation practices in Syria and the application of digital open-source evidence in trials of international crimes committed in Ukraine. Drawing on over a decade of conflict in Syria, we first examine the challenges and opportunities of the human rights documentation.  We show how the experience of investigating the Russian atrocities in Syria informed similar efforts during the the war in Ukraine. We discuss how digital materials, after being verified and authenticated, become legal evidence. We highlight the opportunity of high-speed digital forensics to counter disinformation in real-time, while addressing the challenge of the legal hurdles of authenticating viral data for international and domestic courts.