STAFF CORRESPONDENT

Bangladesh Protest Archive, a digital platform that has been collecting videos, audio recordings, and photos documenting the state-led atrocities, including police brutality, perpetrated during the July uprising last year, announced its official launch yesterday.

Two non-profit organisations—Activate Rights, which advocates digital rights among youth in Bangladesh, and Witness, an international organisation that helps human rights defenders use video to expose injustice—are jointly collaborating on the initiative.

The launching ceremony was organised at DrikPath Bhobon in the capital’s Panthapath yesterday.

Bangladesh Protest Archive aims to use digital evidence of the gross human rights violations during the July uprising to pursue justice through formal channels in Bangladesh and internationally.

It has so far collected around 1,500 videos and photos from open sources, including social media, as well as from journalists and the public.

The platform also allows independent users to contribute to the archive by uploading media recorded personally or media recorded by trusted sources to its website (bangladeshprotestarchive.com).

Prominent photographer Shahidul Alam, Dhaka-based fact-checkers Qadaruddin Shishir and Minhaj Aman, researcher Altaf Parvez, and human rights defender Mustain Billah, also a member of the interim government’s Constitutional Reform Commission, spoke at yesterday’s event.