WhoWasInCommand

A system for compiling public information on security forces to aid journalists, human rights groups and litigators to hold security forces accountable.

WhoWasInCommand is a public database of military, police and other security and defence force units around the world. It contains data on their organizational structure, command personnel, geographical footprint (such as bases and areas of operation), and their connections to allegations of human rights violations as documented and published by human rights organizations.

WhoWasInCommand hosts information on organizational structures, chains of command, and commander career histories in over 20 countries. Backed by transparent information sources and explorable by a powerful search interface, this platform empowers human rights reporting and is available in English, Arabic, French and Spanish.

DataMade built and maintains an open source web tool for collecting and scrutinizing dossiers on units, personnel, and incidents associated with security force activity around the world, sourced from news articles and released to the public through an explorable interface.

For a guided tour of WhoWasInCommand, see our blog post announcing the launch. For more of our thoughts on building dossier tools like WhoWasInCommand, read our whitepaper on Machine Assisted Dossiers (Gregg, Cochrane, McGovern) that we presented at the 2017 Computation and Journalism symposium in October 2017.