INDEX, independent expertise, video investigations and 3D reconstructions

Images are not enough The question of the use of violence by the state is a major source of debate in today’s France. From the working class districts to the city centers where demonstrations take place, images and accounts of police violence are flooding our media landscape. While the trust of many French citizens in its law enforcement institutions has degraded in the last few years, the government is still turning a blind eye to the problem. The president told us that the very use of the term "police violence" was "unacceptable". Many reports point to the declining number of prosecutions faced by law enforcement agents, and new legislation has been passed that keeps expanding police and security powers. Due to the difficulty of establishing responsibility, cases of state violence tend to be promptly dismissed. As for its victims, the procedures to obtain truth and justice all too often end up in deadlock. Laying down the facts This is the context in which INDEX intervenes. As an independent expertise laboratory, we investigate cases of state violence in order to establish the objective facts. From dynamic 3D modeling to frame-by-frame analysis of collected footage, our investigative methods derive from the possibilities brought about by smartphones and social media. The critical mass of images and data that circulates online today allows for a deep level of citizen scrutiny of events and incidents which, until recently, we had little visibility upon. However, the possibilities offered by new technologies must be met with rigorous methods, in order to tell true from false and to lay down the facts. The work of our team members has already clarified the circumstances of three deaths and two serious injuries, all of which have resulted from police operations. Investigation into Adama Traoré's death (with Le Monde and Forensic Architecture) Investigation into Zineb Redouane's death (with Disclose and Forensic Architecture) Investigation into Gaye Camara's death (with Disclose) Investigation into Adnane Nassih's mutilation (with Libération) Investigation into Jean-François Martin's mutilation (report submitted in court) Investigation into the aggression of "Moussa" by policemen inNoisy-le-Grand (with Le Média TV) As truth is everyone’s business we strive to make it public, working alongside investigative media outlets and NGOs. In addition, several of our reports have been entered into evidence in court, so that they can have a concrete impact on the verdict to come. Impossible without you INDEX is the only structure in France to offer rigorous and truly independent expertise in cases of state violence. In that respect, we are receiving more and more requests from victims' families, attorneys, as well as NGOs and media organisations. In order to be able to respond to these calls, we must develop our means of action. It is why we are calling on your support today. INDEX brings together researchers, architects, journalists, videographers and data modelers. So far, our capacity to work has relied on our members’ commitment to the issue at stake. Now, we need to cover the cost of the regular work of our team and to strengthen our human and technical capacities. Before October 13th, we need to raise at least 30,000 euros in order to be able to run INDEX for another year and to cover the cost of three to five new investigations. Regardless of its amount, your contribution will help us carry on our work. Independent Expertise INDEX combines the notions of independence and expertise. Thereby, we are claiming the right to an in-depth and thorough look at the practices of those who are tasked with monitoring us. Our core competence lies in the reconstruction of events through their modeling in space and in time. In our investigations we cross-reference diverse fragments of information - pictures, videos, material traces or testimonies - which we bring together in a 3D virtual environment for the purposes of analysis and fact-checking. Through INDEX, we aim to reclaim the notion of expertise from a civil society perspective. While the expert is traditionally considered authoritative on a given question based on their expert status, we believe the truth value of an expertise should first reside in its content : in the facts that it establishes, and in the rigour of its demonstration. Within INDEX, our expertise is not individual, but collective: it is the combination of our various disciplinary skills that enables us to produce reliable evidence on the cases we work upon. INDEX stems from Forensic Architecture : a research agency based at Goldsmiths, University of London which, since its establishment a decade ago, has become a global reference in open source investigation, spatial analysis and digital modeling. Its expertise has been requested by NGOs such as Amnesty International or Human Rights Watch and by media outlets such as the New York Times, the Guardian and Der Spiegel. Forensic Architecture's investigations on human rights violations have been presented in the United Nations Security Council and in the International Criminal Court. Closely linked to Forensic Architecture through our team and our methods, INDEX continues its investigative work and grounds it in France. Strictly non-profit INDEX is an non-profit organisation (“association loi 1901”), established in France in October 2020. It is solely funded by donations from individuals or charitable foundations who wish to support us without conditions or compensations. It is as members of civil society that we aim to conduct and share our work. In order to ensure our independence, we do not accept government subsidies or corporate donations. For the sake of impartiality, we also do not accept remuneration from the victims’ families when we conduct investigations at their request. Current Team Francesco Sebregondi, founder / researcher (doctor in architecture) Florence Cherrier, coordinator Galdric Fleury, architect / videographer Antoine Fontaine,  architect / videographer Tara Sasson, videographer / editor Matthieu Vitse, researcher (doctor in computational mechanics) Alexander Samuel, researcher (doctor in molecular biology) The team will evolve according to the specific requirements of our investigations and activities to come. If you are interested in joining INDEX, contact us at contact@index.ngo