The Role of Mobile Technology in Documenting International Crimes

Abstract This article reflects on the landmark use of photo and video evidence in the Affaire Castro et Kizito. In 2018, a mobile military court in Kalehe, South Kivu, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) tried two members of the Forces Démocratiques de Libération du Rwanda (FDLR) for crimes against humanity and war crimes. This case broke new ground not only in the DRC, but also globally. For the first time, a court of law admitted digital photography that had been captured with the eyeWitness app, a ready-for-court technology developed to streamline the documentation of international crimes. The authors of this article are legal advisers who were involved in the case and write from their own experience to illustrate how photo and video evidence can strengthen cases and advance justice for the gravest crimes.