Celebrating a decade of impact
Ten years ago, the Human Rights Center began a movement by creating the first university-based lab using digital open sources to investigate violations of human rights. For a decade, our students have explored how information that’s publicly accessible online — like social media posts, government websites, satellite imagery, and more — can provide valuable facts about the world.
More than 500 students from diverse disciplines have helped build the Lab, a model that has been adopted or adapted by close to two dozen universities globally. 2026 marks ten years of equipping the next generation of lawyers, journalists, and researchers with the mindset, methods, and tools to tackle human rights challenges in the 21st century!
Visit this page to learn about special events and conversations throughout this anniversary year. We’re grateful for your support of the Investigations Lab!
Ten Years of the Investigations Lab: Speaker Series
One of the ways we are celebrating this milestone year is with the “Ten Years of HRC’s Investigations Lab” speaker series, which invites current students, alumni, and investigative partners alongside moderator Alexa Koenig for a conversation on a crucial issue of human rights concern through the prism of open source investigations. We’ve released one episode so far, on using open source methods to investigate human rights abuses related to immigration. Stay tuned for our next episode, dropping in November 2026!
Investigations Lab Reported News
Myanmar’s junta uses bodies as tools of terror
Reported by the Associated Press
A new generation of human rights investigators turns to high-tech methods
Reported by the PBS Newshour
Berkeley students investigate war crimes using social media
Reported by Berkeley News
Fighting human rights violations through social media
Reported by Berkeley News
Select Lab Coverage
July 14, 2026
Investigations Lab in the News — The Guardian: ‘Misuse’ of crowd-control weapons on ICE protesters led to blindings and traumatic brain injuries, report finds, on HRC’s Investigations
November 17, 2025
Investigating hell: How our students supported Human Rights Watch’s report on El Salvador’s CECOT
Student Reflections — #Verified by the Human Rights Center: Investigating hell: How our students supported Human Rights Watch’s report on El Salvador’s CECOT, a blog co-authored by our
June 16, 2024
HRC in the News — California Magazine: Working Towards Justice, profiling HRC’s Investigations Lab and featuring an ongoing investigation into the targeting of protesters
March 21, 2024
More than 120 protesters blinded by Iranian agents, probe confirms
HRC in the News — Berkeley News: More than 120 protesters blinded by Iranian agents, probe confirms, profiling the Iran investigation supported by the Investigations Lab and
February 12, 2022
HRC in the News — Reveal: A strike at the heart of Roe, featuring investigative work by HRC Digital Investigations Lab students and reporting by the investigative reporting program students
July 19, 2020
China Is Using Uighur Labor to Produce Face Masks
HRC in the News — New York Times: China Is Using Uighur Labor to Produce Face Masks, reporting with Investigations Lab research. Left: A screenshot from the New York Times Visual
June 4, 2020
Alumna’s skills assist New York Times’ alarming George Floyd video
Haley Wills will be joining The New York Times on a year-long, paid 2019-2020 newsroom fellowship as a visual investigations reporter. She graduates from Berkeley this month with a double major in sociology and media studies. (Photo by
December 19, 2022
May 25, 2021
Myanmar’s junta uses bodies as tools of terror
HRC in the News — Associated Press: Myanmar’s junta uses bodies as tools of terror, reporting with Investigations Lab research. Left: In this April 1, 2021 photo provided by Dawei
March 12, 2020
Video contradicts Morocco’s justification of a brutal beating in Western Sahara
HRC in the News — The Washington Post: Video contradicts Morocco’s justification of a brutal beating in Western Sahara, reporting with Investigations Lab research.
January 27, 2020
Targeting the Caravan: Debunking an Anti-Migrant Video Spread as U.S. Right Wing Propaganda
Commentary — #Verified by the Human Rights Center: Targeting the Caravan: Debunking an Anti-Migrant Video Spread as U.S. Right Wing Propaganda, by Maria Di Franco, a Student Team Manager in
April 5, 2019
Rights group denounces targeting of Sudanese doctors and health facilities
HRC in the News — Sudan Tribune: Rights group denounces targeting of Sudanese doctors and health facilities, reporting with Investigations Lab research. Left: A Sudanese
August 15, 2018