Advocate Institute
"They burned the village and said it never existed. We had already written it down."
Amara Diallo · Guinea-Bissau · 2017
Survivor testimony, collected during the Farim Field Investigation
What We Believe
Evidence is not neutral.
It is an act of resistance.
We believe that every name recorded, every document preserved, and every testimony verified is a permanent rebuke to the forces that erase. Our work does not end at publication — it follows the evidence into courtrooms, legislative chambers, and the historical record.
4,200+
Survivor testimonies archived
61
Countries documented
38
Legal cases supported
17
Policy changes traced
Landmark Reports
The Kono Testimony Archive
Sierra LeoneCited in ICC Pre-Trial Chamber II ruling, leading to expanded witness-protection protocols across West Africa.
Borders Without Protection
Syria · Turkey · GreeceDirectly informed EU Parliament Resolution 2015/2095 on pushback documentation standards.
The Disappeared: Enforced Disappearances in the Andes
Peru · Bolivia · EcuadorUsed as primary evidence in three amicus briefs before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.
Digital Repression Index
41 countriesAdopted by the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression as a baseline methodology.
How Research Becomes Law
One finding.
One policy changed.
These are not aggregate statistics. Each card below traces a specific research finding to the legal or policy outcome it produced.
West Africa
A single survivor interview — cross-referenced with 14 corroborating accounts — established a pattern of systematic detention that prosecutors had previously been unable to document.
Outcome
International Criminal Court opened a preliminary examination within six months of publication.
Southeast Asia
Satellite imagery analysis combined with 89 testimonies from displaced Rohingya families confirmed forced demolition of 412 structures.
Outcome
Evidence package adopted by the Gambia's legal team in ICJ proceedings.
Central America
Three years of field documentation traced extrajudicial killings of environmental defenders to a single state security unit.
Outcome
Cited in Inter-American Commission on Human Rights precautionary measures for 47 defenders.
Eastern Europe
Digital forensics on 1,100 confiscated devices revealed a state-run surveillance infrastructure previously denied by authorities.
Outcome
EU Council used findings to expand targeted sanctions list by 78 individuals.
"Advocate's documentation was the only independent record that survived the government's archive purge. Without it, the case would not exist."
Valentina Osei-Mensah · Lead Counsel, ICC Prosecution, 2023
Stand With the Evidence
The next report is being
written right now.
A researcher in the field. A lawyer reviewing testimony. An analyst cross-referencing satellite images. Every dollar you give funds a specific act of documentation — and documentation is what makes accountability possible.
Manufactured Silence: State Interference with Witness Testimony in Post-Conflict Societies
Four years of field research. 318 witness testimonies. A systematic pattern of state interference that spans three continents.
432 pages · Includes classified annexes available to verified legal counsel
Read Our Latest Report
Not ready to give yet?
Start with the evidence.
We send our full reports — no paywalls, no summaries — to anyone who asks. Because accountability begins with people who know what happened.
"I've read every Advocate report. They're the only documents I trust when verifying claims on deadline."
Priya Krishnamurthy · Senior Correspondent, The Guardian