Human Rights Center

A group of young people stand on steps outdoors. Text reads: YOUNG AMERICANS SUING THE EPA FOR EQUAL PROTECTION RIGHTS ARE HEADING TO COURT RALLY AND PACK THE COURTROOM! March 5, 2026 | Rally Starts at 8:30AM / Court Proceedings Start at 10AM at James R. Browning U.S. Courthouse, 95 7th St, San Francisco, CA 94103. RSVP: bit.ly/genesishearing-rsvp

TODAY! Rally with @youthvgov.bsky.social at the James R. Browning U.S. Courthouse, 8:30 AM, for youth climate plaintiffs in Genesis v. EPA and then pack the courtroom at 10 AM. Can’t attend in person? Tune in online to watch live at bit.ly/gvepa-live

On March 5, cheer on CA youth plaintiffs in @youthvgov.bsky.social’s Genesis v. EPA; pack the courtroom, and rally! Our students have supported OTC on separate climate migration and displacement research, and we are so proud of their work protecting CA’s future.

RSVP: bit.ly/genesishearing-rsvp

Family and Me Profile YouTube video by Human Rights Center, UC Berkeley

📽️ Watch our video describing the impact of FAM 2.0 with Freedom Forward's Francesca Gonzalez: www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdhG...

Youth choice and voice: A Q&A with Michaela Anastasia Austin exploring new model of foster care Explore how the FAM 2.0 supported foster youth over three years with lead researcher Michaela Anastasia Austin

📖 Learn more and read our Q&A breaking down the research with Senior Research Manager Michaela Anastasia Austin: medium.com/humanrightsc...

A report cover shows a man walking a dog in a crosswalk of a city street. There are cars and buildings and trees on both sides of the road. In the background is a bridge. Text reads: "I just wanted to leave, but I had nowhere to go. l just went to my family member's house, and they [the primary caregiver] didn't hear from me [for] a little bit. I feel like FAM is also a place for kids that are going through something...to get away for a minute. That's how I learned about the program. I wouldn't have to run away. If I need space or if I need time, I can go over there." — FAM 2.0 Participant reflecting on their Alternative Caregiver

A report cover shows a man walking a dog in a crosswalk of a city street. There are cars and buildings and trees on both sides of the road. In the background is a bridge. Text reads: "We had nowhere else for this client. Child Protective Services couldn't think of anywhere else to put this client. She woulda been on the streets if it wasn't for this caretaker." — FAM 2.0 Service Provider

A report cover shows a man walking a dog in a crosswalk of a city street. There are cars and buildings and trees on both sides of the road. In the background is a bridge. Text reads: "I do feel [FAM] offers support that we can't get otherwise, and I really appreciate the intention behind it. We'd love to continue to be a part of it. I definitely intend to continue parenting, especially my current foster youth." FAM 2.0 Alternative Caregiver

FAM 2.0 was designed to increase the safety, housing stability + well-being of youth experiencing / at risk of CSE. Our evaluation found that when youth can choose trusted adults in their lives, their housing stability, safety, and emotional well-being improve.

This evaluation marks the end of a six-year collaboration to develop a transformative, relationship-centered approach to care for a population long underserved by traditional child welfare systems.
humanrights.berkeley.edu/projects/sup...

Family and Me (FAM) 2.0 A New Model of Foster Care for Youth Impacted by Commercial Sexual Exploitation in San Francisco - Berkeley Human Rights Center

📣 📒 🥳 The Human Rights Center has published the final evaluation of the Family and Me (FAM) 2.0 foster care pilot, designed by Freedom Forward to support youth impacted by, or at high risk of, commercial sexual exploitation (CSE) in San Francisco: humanrights.berkeley.edu/publications...

🚨📢Only 3 days left to apply!📢🚨Are you an investigator, lawyer, journalist, or researcher interested in #OSINT? Join us + @instituteici.bsky.social this April in The Hague for our foundational open source investigations training:
🗓️ April 20–24
📍The Hague
🖊️Apply by Feb. 23:
iici.global/courses/open...

About - Berkeley Human Rights Center The Human Rights Center conducts research on serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law and on war crimes.

At the Human Rights Center, we investigate war crimes and human rights violations; set standards for practitioners; and train the next generation of human rights defenders. Join us in our mission as we craft our next thirty years of work:
humanrights.berkeley.edu/about/

⏳ One week left! Apply for the 2026 HRC Student Fellowship by Feb 17. Student fellows receive:
💰 $8,000 stipend
🌍 8+ weeks of fieldwork (US or abroad) with a partner org of your choice
🤝 A supportive cohort experience + lifelong alumni network
🔗 Apply:
humanrights.berkeley.edu/programs-and...

🚨🚨 Calling all investigators, lawyers, journalists + researchers interested in skilling up in #OSINT! Join us and @instituteici.bsky.social this April at The Hague for our foundational open source investigations training:
🗓️ April 20–24
📍The Hague
🖊️Apply by Feb. 23:
iici.global/courses/open...

🚨Are you an investigator, lawyer, journalist, or researcher interested in skilling up in
#OSINT? Join us and @instituteici.bsky.social this April at The Hague for our foundational open source investigations training:
🗓️ April 20–24
📍The Hague
🖊️Apply by Feb. 23:
iici.global/courses/open...

Innovative but Precarious: The Challenge of Running Open-Source Investigations Labs at Public Universities [Alexa Koenig, PhD, MA, JD, is a research professor at UC Berkeley School of Law, faculty director of UC Berkeley’s Human Rights Center, and director and co-founder of the center’s Investigations L…

In a new @opiniojuris.bsky.social blog, HRC's @alexakoenig.bsky.social & @bmcg-leyh.bsky.social from @utrechtuniversity.bsky.social reflect on the challenges of running open source investigations labs at public universities: opiniojuris.org/2026/01/12/i...

"[Bystander video] is one of the tools at the disposal of everyday people that is a cornerstone of really being able to hold government actors accountable + help individuals who cannot be there on the ground understand what is happening," @alexakoenig.bsky.social:
www.usatoday.com/story/news/n...

Corporate ‘60 Minutes’ censorship is a reminder that journalism must evolve or die My own proximity to this ordeal has provoked numerous conversations on journalists’ duties to investigate concentrated power while simultaneously working for the increasingly concentrated power struct...

"The censorship of this important story reminds us that the motivations or interests of wealthy owners of news organizations can diverge from those of their journalists and audiences," wrote Kyle Sweasey, HRC Investigations Lab student, for @dailycal.bsky.social:
www.dailycal.org/opinion/op-e...

Associate Director of Student Programming- Human Rights Center - School of Law University of California, Berkeley is hiring. Apply now!

Interested in joining our team? Check out our role for Associate Director of Student Programming. You'll be responsible for instructional design, academic year planning, administrative management, and partner/staff coordination for our Investigations Lab:
aprecruit.berkeley.edu/JPF05220

🚨Are you an investigator, lawyer, journalist, or researcher interested in improving your #OSINT skills? Join us and @instituteici.bsky.social this April at The Hague for our foundational open source investigations training:
🗓️ April 20–24
📍The Hague
🖊️Apply by Feb. 23:
iici.global/courses/open...

UC Berkeley student researchers featured in "60 Minutes" story pulled by CBS editor-in-chief Bari Weiss UC Berkeley Journalism offers a two-year Master of Journalism (MJ) degree and a summer minor, preparing students for careers in journalism.

Our @ucberkeleyofficial.bsky.social from the @hrcberkeley.bsky.social Investigations Lab — including J-School student Kyle Sweasey —contributed #OSINT for the @hrw.org report on #CECOT that was pulled from "60 Minutes" last month. journalism.berkeley.edu/uc-berkeley-...

El Salvador’s mega-prison: what UC Berkeley researchers found Alexa Koenig, Berkeley law co-faculty director, Human Rights Center, shares findings into the deportations of Venezuelan's to El Salvador's CECOT prison. The UC Berkeley research team was part of a st...

Watch: Professor Alexa Koenig, co-faculty director of @hrcberkeley.bsky.social, appeared on @ktvufox2.bsky.social to discuss research on El Salvador’s CECOT prison: https://www.ktvu.com/video/1759430 #BerkeleyLaw @alexakoenig.bsky.social

Berkeley Human Rights Center challenges CBS decision to pull '60 Minutes' El Salvador prison report HRC's co-faculty director Alexa Koenig said her team was "surprised" to learn the segment had been shelved despite clearing CBS's extensive legal and editorial review. Berkeley researchers had spent m...

Berkeley Human Rights Center challenges CBS decision to pull '60 Minutes' El Salvador prison report:
abc7news.com/post/berkele...

Human Rights Center response to pull of 60 Minutes segment "INSIDE CECOT" - Berkeley Human Rights Center

Our response to the pulling of the @60minutes.bsky.social segment “INSIDE CECOT:”
humanrights.berkeley.edu/uncategorize...

Paramount Press Express | “60 MINUTES” LISTINGS FOR SUNDAY, DEC. 21 Airs 7:30-8:30 PM, ET/7:00-8:00 PM, PT, After NFL Football, on the CBS Television Network and Paramount+ INSIDE CECOT – Earlier this year, the Trump adm

Tune into @60minutes.bsky.social this Sunday to watch @alexakoenig.bsky.social & our Investigations Lab students highlight their research with @hrw.org + @cristosal.bsky.social, documenting inhumane conditions in El Salvador’s CECOT mega-prison:
www.paramountpressexpress.com/cbs-news-and...

💫 30+ years of impact
🎒 400+ student fellows from UC campuses
🤝 350+ partner orgs
🌎 88+ countries & territories

Apply to be a part of HRC's 2026 Student Fellowship today!

🗓️ Deadline: Feb 17
🔗 Apply now: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
🔗 Learn more: humanrights.berkeley.edu/programs-and...

I'm tremendously honored to have contributed to the drafting of the Open Source Practitioner's Guide to the Murad Code, and thrilled that it is finally out in the world. For my law and OSINT friends, the Guide is also available in French, Arabic, and Ukrainian--so please share widely!

Join us TODAY in 10 mins to officially launch the Open-Source Practitioner’s Guide to the Murad Code w/
@instituteici.bsky.social, a new resource supporting safe & ethical digital investigations into conflict-related sexual violence. Join us (translation: FR/AR/UK):
us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

Israel rejects Gaza war crime allegations | DW News YouTube video by DW News

HRC's @alexakoenig.bsky.social spoke with @news.dw.com about collecting, preserving & verifying digital evidence of atrocities in conflict, using the #BerkeleyProtocol as a framework on seeking accountability for atrocities and potential war crimes committed in Gaza:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPm3...

Join us on Dec. 16 to officially launch the Open-Source Practitioner’s Guide to the Murad Code with @instituteici.bsky.social, a new resource supporting safe & ethical digital investigations into conflict-related sexual violence.
✍️ Register: us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...
🎙️ Translation: FR/AR/UK

Today marks the end of #16Days of Activism to End Gender-based Violence, which this year focused on ending digital violence. Kolina works to unmask companies and individuals responsible for creating and profiting off of non-consensual deepfake imagery that primarily depicts women and girls.

Investigating sexual and gender-based crimes online To celebrate the publication of the Open-Source Practitioner’s Guide to the Murad Code, our Faculty Director Alexa Koenig sat down with…

"We have to decide globally if it is acceptable to generate AI SGBV content and share it online," @bellingcat.com's @koltai.bsky.social told HRC's @alexakoenig.bsky.social. "The harm it currently generates will only amplify if we let this go unchecked."
medium.com/@maggie.visu...

As Russia's Africa Corps fights in Mali, witnesses describe atrocities from beheadings to rapes The Associated Press has spoken to over 30 refugees from Mali who say they witnessed beheadings, rapes and other abuses committed by Africa Corps, a new military unit under Russia's direct command.

“That means any war crimes committed by Africa Corps in Mali are, in principle, attributable to the Russian government under the rules on state responsibility,” Lindsay Freeman, Senior Director of International Accountability at @hrcberkeley.bsky.social, told @apnews.com https://bit.ly/4oCUUbd