1. eyeWitness to Atrocities – available for download from Google Play Store

The International Bar Association (IBA), in collaboration with LexisNexis, has launched eyeWitness to Atrocities, a new app that enables users to take photos and record video footage whilst automatically collecting GPS coordinates, date and time stamps, device sensor data, and surrounding objects such as Bluetooth and Wi-Fi networks.

The user can submit the footage directly from the eyeWitness app to a database maintained by LexisNexis, where it is stored in a secure repository that functions as a virtual evidence locker, safeguarding the footage for future investigations and legal proceedings. The user also retains the option of uploading the footage to social media.

2. MediCapt

Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) is currently developing MediCapt, an app that seeks to help clinicians collect, document, and preserve forensic medical evidence of sexual violence to support the local prosecution of these crimes. In many conflict zones, paper medical intake forms often produce inconsistent, illegible, and incomplete reports that are prone to be dismissed by courts. MediCapt replaces these paper documents with a digital form combined with a secure mobile camera to facilitate forensic photography. Health care professionals can use the app to compile medical evidence, photograph injuries, and securely transmit the data to relevant local authorities responsible for investigating such crimes.

To date, two pilots have been conducted in Bukavu, Democratic Republic of the Congo, the intention being to scale MediCapt for use in North and South Kivu provinces as well as other areas where mass atrocities are widespread.

3. Fighter, not Killer – available for download from Google Play Store or App Store

The app was recently launched by Geneva Call. Geneva Call’s mission is to work with armed non-state actors (ANSAs) in an effort to convince them to respect norms of international humanitarian law (IHL). Based on its realization that many armed fighters use smartphones even in very remote areas, Geneva Call developed an app that aims to spread knowledge about IHL through the form of an interactive quiz.

This is cross-posted from Justice in Conflict blog series. See the original post on these mobile applications.