The Team
The co-founders and co-directors of the Center are Fred Abrahams and Marija Ristic, who bring deep, hands-on experience in human rights research, complex collaborations, teaching, training, and management.
Fred Abrahams is a seasoned human rights investigator, author, and trainer with more than three decades of experience responding to crises and advancing accountability. A former researcher, director, and senior manager at Human Rights Watch, he served as associate program director there until 2024, overseeing the organization’s work on Crisis and Conflict, Arms, and Technology—including the Digital Investigations Lab—and leading its research training program.
Fred has testified before the U.S. Congress and the German Bundestag, and his expertise has been featured widely in international media, including BBC, CNN, ZDF, and other major outlets, as well as in the documentary E-Team. He worked at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and has testified in five war crimes trials, including the case against Slobodan Milosevic. Fred has taught and trained extensively on human rights at institutions including Columbia University, the New School, and currently Bard College Berlin. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Der Spiegel, and other leading publications. He is co-author of A Village Destroyed: War Crimes in Kosovo and author of Modern Albania: From Dictatorship to Democracy in Europe
Marija is an award-winning investigative journalist and human rights researcher, currently serving as Manager in Amnesty International’s Crisis Response Programme, where she leads the Digital Verification Corps. In this role, she spearheads open-source digital investigations, harnessing technologies like photogrammetry, 3D modelling, geospatial mapping, and weapons analysis to document and expose human rights violations.
Prior to joining Amnesty International, Marija led the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN), overseeing editorial, operational, and fundraising efforts in 15 countries. Under her leadership, BIRN won numerous awards, including the European Press Prize, and expanded its digital rights and tech-focused programming across Central and South Europe. Marija has deep experience training students and human rights professionals in open-source research and evidence methods, and is guest faculty at Bard College Berlin. She is a graduate of Geneva Academy for International Humanitarian Law.