Getting started Case study Making better use of data from Syria to document violations In April 2011, a group of activists in Syria began systematically monitoring and documenting the human rights violations by collecting and watching online videos of violence and atrocities. When several people from the team were kidnapped, the remaining members set upon improving their security, methods and datasets through consultation with experts. They eventually developed a non‑profit organisation called the The Violations Documentation Center (VDC) and now collect data on the imprisonment, torture, missing and killed civilians, rebels, and regime forces in Syria using rigorous verification methods, so their documentation could potentially be used in transitional justice events when the conflict ends. They have more detailed database categories, more filtering options for search, and make better use of satellite imagery for corroboration. “Now our information is used confidently by UN representatives, governments and advocates around the world, since we feel certain that our data is complete,” says a VDC representative. Photo: Damascus, by Игорь М, CC-BY-SA 2.0 licensed. 12