2020/2021 Annual Report

At the Human Rights Center, we documented this unprecedented year—working with partners in media and advocacy organizations to gather, verify, preserve, and present information about police violence, the dangers of less-lethal weapons, the use of federal agents to arrest protesters, and more. Through our Investigations Lab, we also monitored the US elections, mapped attacks on healthcare in the wake of COVID-19, and documented the use of chemical weapons in Syria. We also worked with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to launch the Berkeley Protocol on Digital Open Source Investigations—the first international guidelines for collecting and verifying online information of potential war crimes and violations of international human rights. And we supported 16 student fellows to work, albeit remotely, with human rights defenders worldwide. Meanwhile, our Health and Human Rights Program collaborated with leading international and local organizations to conduct on-the-ground research and develop innovative approaches to help prevent child marriage in refugee settings and to safeguard young people against the dangers of human trafficking in the Bay Area.