​​The Monsoon Protest Archive (also known as the Monsoon Archive) is a digital repository established by a global consortium of human rights organizations, including groups in Bangladesh, to advance truth, justice, and accountability for victims and survivors of Bangladesh’s July 2024 mass uprising.
From July 1 public university students began protests against a court decision reimposing job quotas. After the killing on 16 July of Abu Sayeed in Rangpur by law enforcement authorities the protests widened to include students from private universities and in subsequent days, as the killings of protestors continued, widened even further to include a much broader spectrum of society with a wider set of demands concerned with accountability for extra judicial killings, torture and arbitrary detentions. In the end, on August 4, the demands narrowed down to calling for the ouster of Sheikh Hasina, the prime minister of Bangladesh, and after huge crowds gathered calling for her resignation, and with the army refusing to shoot, Hasina left the country.
Began in mid July 2024, the Archive’s work centers on the collection, verification, and preservation of digital evidence, alongside research and advocacy to support truth-recovery and international accountability.

Co-convened by the Tech Global Institute (Bangladesh/Canada/Global) and the International Truth and Justice Project (UK/Global), the Monsoon Archive is supported by a diverse network of human rights groups and experts worldwide. 

Our globally distributed team consists of experienced lawyers, researchers, and investigators with expertise in international criminal and human rights law, open-source investigation, forensic technology, journalism, and legal advocacy. We conduct independent investigations to support truth-recovery and build legal dossiers documenting patterns of violence and identifying alleged perpetrators with the aim of enabling sanctions and universal jurisdiction cases.

Contributing Partners

Tech Global Institute

Tech Global Institute (TGI) is a technology nonprofit committed to advancing accountability and protecting the digital rights of communities across the Global Majority. Specializing in digital systems and information research, legal scholarship, and open-source investigations, TGI uses data-driven methods to support legal and policy advocacy aimed at strengthening human rights protections for underserved and marginalized groups online. Founded in Bangladesh, TGI now operates with staff and fellows in 23 cities worldwide, working at the intersection of digital rights, internet governance, and justice and accountability. On July 15, following coordinated attacks by police and the Chhatra League on unarmed protesters, TGI repurposed its information investigations unit to urgently document and verify evidence of violence. This work evolved into a dedicated program focused on using digital forensics to advance human rights accountability after Sheikh Hasina’s departure on August 5.

International Truth and Justice Project

The International Truth and Justice Project (ITJP) began its work with the collection and preservation of evidence pertaining to the final phase of Sri Lanka’s civil war in 2008-09 and post-war torture and sexual violence. In relation to this conflict, it has filed a number of  universal jurisdiction cases against Sri Lankan politicians and military officers in courts in Latin America, the USA and Singapore as well as applied, often successfully, for the imposition of sanctions on human rights violations. The ITJP has specialised in building dossiers on alleged perpetrators and identifying units involved in patterns of violations.. ITJP started work in Bangladesh immediately after the killings on 16 July, and set up an investigation team in Bangladesh in the days after Sheikh Hasina left the country. ITJP began working on Bangladesh in 2024.

Acknowledgement

In addition to its own data collection, investigation and forensic analyses, the Monsoon Protest Archives has relied on information publicly shared by several organizations and entities. 

The Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in Bangladesh, has been routinely maintaining a nationwide database of deaths and injuries from the July Uprising using information provided by hospitals and clinics.

Manabidhikar Sangskriti Foundation (MSF) (Foundation for Human Rights Culture) is a Bangladeshi non-government and non-partisan organization that is committed to advancing human rights and dignity in the country. Since July 2024, MSF has been collecting, and verifying information about victims and survivors, resulting in one of the most comprehensive databases till date.

The Daily Prothom Alo, Bangladesh’s leading Bangla-language national daily, has verified death and injury data through contact with victims’ families, drawing from DGHS and other non-government and independent sources to publish a series of investigative stories.

The Daily Star, Bangladesh’s leading English-language national daily, has been investigating specific events of state-sanctioned violence against unarmed civilians in July 2024, and published a series of stories.

July Revolutionary Alliance is a grassroots crowdsourcing initiative in Bangladesh that has compiled a victim database, and curated a catalogue of eyewitness videos and photos that circulated on social media during the July Uprising.

Credit

Web Development
Arafat Ahmed _{- Sr. Software Engineer}
Md Farhad Alam Bhuiyan _{- Research Engineer | Data Scientist}

Web Design
Sashoto Seeam
Ashraful Amin

Map Design
Riaz Ahmed

Team

Tech Global Institute

Sabhanaz Rashid Diya is the executive director of Tech Global Institute with over 20 years of experience working at the intersection of technology policy and human rights. She is a visiting policy fellow at the University of Oxford, a senior fellow at Centre of International Governance Innovation, and serves on the advisory network of the Freedom Online Coalition. Diya’s writing and commentary has been featured in Wired, The New York Times, Financial Times, BBC, Reuters, Rest of World, and several national and international media.

Fowzia Afroz is the head of operations at Tech Global Institute and serves as chief of party for its work in Bangladesh. She brings over a decade of experience at the intersection of international development and anthropological research, with a focus on gender politics and the role of women during Bangladesh’s 1971 Liberation War. Fowzia holds a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) from BRAC University and a MSc. in Criminology from the University of Dhaka.    

Apon Das is a researcher and investigator at Tech Global Institute with expertise in media literacy, disinformation, fact-checking methodologies, and open-source investigations. He is the author of a book that introduces fact-checking as a media literacy intervention tailored for Bengali-speaking communities. Apon holds a BSS in Media Studies and Journalism from the University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh, and an MSc. in Anthropology from the University of Delhi.

Sams Wahid Shahat is a researcher and investigator at Tech Global Institute with expertise in forensics investigations, media analyses and archival curation. Sams began his career at FactWatch—Bangladesh’s first verified signatory of the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN). Sams holds a BSS in Media Studies and Journalism from the University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh.

Mohammad Arafat is an investigator at Tech Global Institute with expertise in open-source investigation and forensics analyses. He has received training on documenting atrocities using open-source techniques from Bellingcat, and specializes on forensic reconstruction of events. Arafat holds a BSS in Media Studies and Journalism from the University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh.

Taqbir Huda is a senior fellow at Tech Global Institute, and a human rights lawyer with a focus on social injustice, accountability, and legal reforms. He was formerly a researcher for South Asia at Amnesty International. Taqbir holds a Bachelor of Law (LLB) from University of London, a MSc. in Criminology from University of Oxford, and a Master of Law (LLM) from Harvard University. 

TGI would like to thank several volunteers, student protesters and journalists who contributed to the Archive, and verification of information, who chose to remain anonymous.

International Truth and Justice Project

Yasmin Sooka is a globally recognized South African human rights lawyer and the director of the International Truth and Justice Project. She served on South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission from 1996 to 2001 and later chaired the committee responsible for its final report from 2001 to 2003. She served on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Sierra Leone from 2002 to 2004. Since 2000, she has been a member of the Advisory Body on the Review of Resolution 1325. In 2010, she was named to the UN Secretary-General’s Panel of Experts on accountability for war crimes committed during the final stages of the conflict in Sri Lanka. In 2016, she was appointed Chair of the UN Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan.

Frances Harrison is a journalist and human rights advocate, and executive director at the International Truth and Justice Project. She is the author of ‘Still Counting the Dead’ (2012), a book of survivors’ stories from the end of the civil war in Sri Lanka. She was a foreign correspondent for the BBC in Sri Lanka (2000–2004), as well as in Pakistan, Malaysia, Bangladesh and Iran.

David Bergman is an award-winning British investigative journalist widely recognized for his reporting in both Bangladesh and international media on the accountability for war crimes committed during the country’s 1971 Liberation War as well as for his general reporting on human rights, politics and corruption in the country. He was a co-founder (and English Editor) of Netra News, an independent outlet known for its analysis and in-depth investigations into enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings in Bangladesh.