The Human Rights Investigation Clinic was launched in 2017 with the support of Amnesty International and its innovative Digital Verification Corps (DVC).

The Clinic trains students to employ cutting edge fact-finding and investigation methods to gather and verify information related to human rights violations. The Clinic is also developing and supporting innovative legal protection through policy papers and modal law proposals based on open-source fact-finding, in partnership with local civil society organisations and lawyers throughout the Asia-Pacific region.

The Clinic partners with Amnesty International and the Digital Verification Corps (“DVC”), which includes UC Berkeley, University of Essex, University of Pretoria, University of Toronto, and Cambridge University. Amnesty experts train Hong Kong University students in verification and discovery techniques, and then work with students to discover and verify content—sometimes in a matter of hours or days—for international analysis and reporting. Hong Kong hosted the first regional Digital Verification Corps training in September 2018, bringing together students from participating schools as well as leading open-source experts, for evaluation, training, and planning.

2019

Hong Kong University co-hosted the 3rd annual Summit for the international consortium of DVC from 2 to 6 June 2019. DVC teams from the universities of UC, Berkeley, USA; Toronto, Canada; Essex, UK; Hong Kong; and Pretoria, South Africa, were invited to talk about their human rights investigation projects and to share their experiences with an aim to improve the initiative. Skill-sharing sessions were led by experts including:

Gian Miko L. Arabejo

Project Coordinator, Alternative Law Groups

Daniel Anlezark

Open Source Investigator, United Nations Commission of Inquiry on Yemen

Sam Dubberley

DVC Manager, Evidence Lab, Crisis Response Programme, Amnesty International

Phoebe Ewen

Project Manager, The Mekong Club

Tirana Hassan

Director of Crisis Response Programme, Amnesty International

Micah Farfour

Senior Adviser in Remote Sensing, Evidence Lab, Crisis Response Programme, Amnesty International

Chris Hambarsoomian

Senior Associate, Diginex

Alexa Koenig

Executive Director of the Human Rights Center, UC Berkeley School of Law

Milena Marin

Senior Adviser in Tactical Research and Analysis, Evidence Lab, Crisis Response Programme, Amnesty International

Daragh Murray

Senior Lecturer, University of Essex Human Rights Centre & School of Law

Hana Young

Regional Communications Manager, Amnesty International East Asia Regional Office

Jackie Zammuto

Program Manager, WITNESS

Highlights of the event:

2018

HKU law students, Mathilda Kwong Yuan Shang, Yuki Lok Chi Yu, Flora Chan Wai Shan, and Areon Chan Yee Tak, created a video sharing their experience participating in the 2017-18 DVC Summit from 26 to 28 June 2018.