New on HRDAG: how processing body-worn camera footage helped support reform around traffic stops in Siskiyou County, CA. Data work can turn massive evidence into something communities can use. hrdag.org/2026/05/01/s...

HRDAG’s 2025 Year in Review is about standing up to tyranny, trusting community, and using data science in service of human rights. hrdag.org/2026/03/03/h...

Human rights data is rarely perfect. But imperfect data can still reveal truth—when we ask careful questions, make uncertainty visible, and stay accountable to the communities behind the numbers.

Human rights researchers today and future generations need evidence of state violence to be stored safely for decades. That's why HRDAG, Datacivica, and other civil society orgs are building a network of databases we control, instead of turning to big tech.

A new public database names 10,000+ people killed or disappeared during one devastating period of the Sri Lankan civil war. In Structural Zero, Michelle Dukich writes about Sri Lanka, record linkage, and the painstaking work of documenting lives lost. hrdag.substack.com/p/the-names-...

Please support HRDAG with a donation today so our statisticians can bring rigorous scientific analysis to human rights data. hrdag.networkforgood.com

Statisticians love to have perfectly-designed, random samples to study. But reality is messy and many datasets have some inherent bias. That doesn't mean we can't use them. It means we need to acknowledge and account for bias. hrdag.substack.com/p/yes-your-d...

There is no single authoritative list of Sri Lanka’s dead and disappeared. There are fragments: survivor testimony, NGO reports, memorial lists, legal filings, handwritten records, and more.

Asian-American residents in Siskiyou County alleged years of discriminatory policing. HRDAG helped the ACLU of Northern California process and analyze ~6,500 body-worn camera videos to support accountability efforts and ongoing monitoring. hrdag.org/2026/05/01/s...

Interesting read: this piece from @codastory.com‬ captures something important about the current moment: there is a struggle not only over truth, but over the conditions that make truth legible, findable, and believable at all. www.codastory.com/rewriting-hi...

We are pleased to accept donations through Donor Advised Funds. Check out our guide to to directing charitable contributions to HRDAG. hrdag.org/donate-with-...

Sign up for our newsletter today. Each month, we write about a mathematical or scientific concept we use in our work and how it can be applied to understanding the world. hrdag.org/introducing-...

We bring scientific approaches to investigate complex human rights violations--looking for patterns in databases related to state violence, police homicides, disappearances, and more. Support our efforts with a donation today. hrdag.networkforgood.com

Asian-American residents in Siskiyou County alleged years of discriminatory policing. HRDAG helped the ACLU of Northern California process and analyze ~6,500 body-worn camera videos to support accountability efforts and ongoing monitoring. hrdag.org/2026/05/01/s...

We are so glad to welcome Dorothy Chou, a long-time advocate for transparency and equity in tech, to our advisory board. hrdag.org/2026/05/07/n...

Asian American drivers in Siskiyou County were reportedly stopped and searched at dramatically disproportionate rates. HRDAG supported @aclu-norcal.bsky.social by building large-scale transcription and analysis workflows for police body-camera footage. hrdag.org/2026/05/01/s...

Today we remember the tens of thousands of lives lost in that civil war.

HRDAG continues to provide technical assistance to groups engaged in research and accountability in Sri Lanka. hrdag.org/srilanka/

HRDAG's analysis showed over 500 people were subject to enforced disappearance after they surrendered in the last three days of the Sri Lankan civil war. hrdag.org/wp-content/u...

Trapped between the LTTE and the Sri Lankan army, with food and medicine in short supply, people could not get out. Even surrendering did not ensure safety; many people were killed or disappeared after they surrendered.

In May 2009, in the final days of the Sri Lankan civil war, hundreds of thousands of people were trapped on a small strip of coastline. They were promised safety in "no fire" zones, but instead faced wave after wave of shelling. Families tried to build bunkers in the sand.

In May 2009, in the final days of the Sri Lankan civil war, hundreds of thousands of people were trapped on a small strip of coastline. They were promised safety in "no fire" zones, but instead faced wave after wave of shelling. Families tried to build bunkers in the sand.

Not all victims are counted in the data. Some are never recorded at all. In our latest Structural Zero newsletter, Maria Gargiulo explains how statisticians work to account for these missing lives—and why it matters. hrdag.org/2026/05/03/a...

For the first time, researchers have identified by name more than ten thousand people who were killed or disappeared when the Indian Peace Keeping Force was sent to Sri Lanka in the late 1980s. This is not just a number, but a record of lives erased.

Today, we honor the lives lost in Sri Lanka. This week marks the 17th anniversary of the end of the civil war in Sri Lanka. So many questions remain. We still don’t know to the nearest ten thousand how many people perished. But we will continue to work with our partners to seek truth.

Not all victims are counted in the data. Some are never recorded at all. In our latest Structural Zero newsletter, Maria Gargiulo explains how statisticians work to account for these missing lives—and why it matters. hrdag.org/2026/05/03/a...

What does accountability look like when discovery includes 6,500 police body-worn camera videos? HRDAG partnered with @aclu-norcal.bsky.social to process footage at scale, helping identify traffic stops for investigation and uncover racial profiling. hrdag.org/2026/05/01/s...

➡️ All of the projects highlighted so far have been facilitated in one way or another by the Human Rights Data Analysis Group and its Data Scientist, Tarak Shah. This org’s work is essential to tracking police violence across the country. hrdag.org/usa/ @hrdag.org

➡️ The National Police Index helps identify “wandering officers” — aka, officers fired from one department, sometimes for serious misconduct, who then find work at another agency. national.cpdp.co @invisible.institute @hrdag.org

➡️ The Civic Police Data Project includes Chicago officer demographics, data on misconduct, employment history, and use of force reports spanning from 1988 to 2018. The @invisible.institute is now expanding this work to look into other counties in Illinois. cpdp.co

➡️ The Police Records Access Project contains data from 700 law enforcement agencies across CA, including police and sheriffs’ departments, school police forces, prisons, probation departments, and other government agencies. clean.calmatters.org @calmatters.org

➡️ The Louisiana Law Enforcement Accountability Database consolidates data from 600+ law enforcement agencies, covering employment history, police misconduct records, use-of-force reports, salary and settlement payments, and more. llead.co

The need for law enforcement transparency & accountability has never been clearer. But police misconduct has always been hard to track, penalize, and prevent. This National Police Week, we're uplifting the resources that aim to change that 🧵

Have you signed up for Structural Zero? Monthly insights from HRDAG scientists on statistics and human rights. hrdag.org/introducing-...

Watch now: New interview with Maria Gargiulo of HRDAG about human rights data, under-reporting, and the hidden victims inside conflict statistics. www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFYi...

“If we wait for data to be perfect, we’ll be waiting forever.” Statistician Maria Gargiulo explains how researchers use multiple systems estimation to measure hidden victims of armed conflict and political violence. www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFYi...

Bias in human rights data isn’t a flaw—it’s a reality. The question is what we do about it. In this issue, we pull back the curtain on Multiple Systems Estimation, an statistical technique that helps us estimate missing and incomplete data. hrdag.substack.com/p/all-is-not...

The National Police Index helps people across the country learn why police officers were removed from their positions, including if it was for ethical violations or violence. national.cpdp.co

Bias in human rights data isn’t a flaw—it’s a reality. The question is what we do about it. In this issue, we pull back the curtain on Multiple Systems Estimation, an statistical technique that helps us estimate missing and incomplete data. hrdag.substack.com/p/all-is-not...

What do statisticians mean with the term "structural zero"? Read our most recent newsletter to find out. hrdag.substack.com/p/all-is-not...

“What I love about HRDAG is that it represents the very best of what AI/ML can do in the world. It is rigorous without losing sight of humanity." Dorothy Chou has joined HRDAG's advisory board!

Behind every dataset are people who took risks to document the truth. One way we honor that work is by using methods that acknowledge limitations and reduce bias. hrdag.substack.com/p/all-is-not...

Every dataset is produced by a set of choices—about technology, language, geography, incentives, and risk. hrdag.substack.com/p/who-is-mis...

What do statisticians mean with the term "structural zero"? Read our most recent newsletter to find out. hrdag.substack.com/p/all-is-not...

Every dataset is produced by a set of choices—about technology, language, geography, incentives, and risk. hrdag.substack.com/p/who-is-mis...

Remember: one-third of all Americans killed by strangers in the United States are killed by the police. hrdag.org/violence-in-...

In any statistical research, it's vital to ask who may be missing from the data. Which survivors are too difficult to reach, too afraid of repercussions to tell their stories, or too mistrustful of our research to offer their perspectives?

Not everyone will be willing or able to make a report if they witness a police homicide. Our director of research highlights 3 communities less likely to speak out: folks living on Native American reservations, those without permanent housing, and undocumented people. hrdag.org/2025/06/11/p...

Watch How to Tell the Truth with Statistics, a series exploring how statistical thinking helps us better understand the world around us. www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2Cs...

A new study in Population & Development Review uses statistical analysis to show how bereavement persists in Colombia even decades after the armed conflict ended. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...