WITNESS: See it. Film it. Change it.

WITNESS was founded in 1992 by musician and activist Peter Gabriel and the Reebok Human Rights Foundation as a project of the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights (now Human Rights First).

In 1988, Peter was part of Amnesty International’s Human Rights Now! Tour. He was struck by the stories he heard from survivors of human rights abuses and the lack of attention these stories received. Peter had brought along one of the first camcorder models and realized the potential of video as a tool against abuse; he noted that perpetrators of abuses were often brought to justice when photographic or video evidence of abuses existed.

Then in 1992, not long after video of Rodney King being assaulted by four Los Angeles police officers catalyzed interest in the use of video for concrete human rights change, WITNESS was born. Today, WITNESS is an independent nonprofit organization with offices in Brooklyn, New York, and human rights partners based around the world.

WITNESS is much more than a provider of technology. We know that images are important, but footage alone is not enough to stop human rights violations. WITNESS makes a difference because we train our partners to turn compelling testimony and images into powerful human stories and strategic advocacy campaigns that make a difference.

WITNESS videos have been used:
• to promote grassroots education and mobilization
• to corroborate allegations of human rights violations
• as a resource for news broadcasts
• to catalyze human rights advocacy via the worldwide web
• as evidence in court and quasi-judicial hearings
• to complement official written reports of human rights abuses
• as a deterrent to further abuse

WITNESS, Inc.

WITNESS, Inc.
A 501(c)(3) nonprofit