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Bellingcat (also spelled bell¿ngcat) is an investigative search network founded by the British network activist Eliot Higgins. It uses open source and social media investigation to investigate a variety of subjects ranging from Mexican drug lords to conflicts fought around the world. Bellingcat brings together contributors who specialise in open source and social media investigation, and it creates guides and case studies so others can learn to do the same. Bellingcat began as an investigation of the use of weapons in the Syrian civil war. It first received international attention with its analysis of forged data on satellite images of the downing of the Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 during the still ongoing war in eastern Ukraine.

Name

The name derives from the phrase "belling the cat". This goes back to a medieval fable. In this, the mice discuss how to make the cat harmless. One suggests hooking a bell around his neck, but no mouse is willing to do it.

Prehistory

Eliot Higgins began the Brown Moses blog in March 2012 with investigations of videos from the Syrian Civil War. He looked at hundreds of these short clips on the Internet, localized them, and examined details of the weapons used. As a result, Higgins was able to demonstrate that the Syrian regime was using cluster munitions and chemical weapons. In 2013, Higgins linked the significant chemical attack in Ghouta to Bashar al-Assad.

Once Bellingcat was successfully launched, major ground was covered over the course of it's first campaign. It was discovered that the downing of MH17 was initiated by a group of separatists. Through the use of Google Earth, analysts discovered the coordinates of an ISIS Training camp, as well as the site where an American Journalist was killed.

Kristyan Benedict, an Amnesty International campaign manager, said in 2013 in the New Yorker that many organizations had analysts but that Higgins was faster than many established investigation teams.

On July 15, 2014, Higgins launched the Bellingcat platform with the help of private donations received through Kickstarter.com. The platform's team evaluates photos and videos that are publicly available on the Internet. According to Bellingcat, it is funded by means of crowdfunding.

War in eastern Ukraine

On 21 December 2016, a report by Bellingcat was published which analyzes the use of Russian artillery in the summer of 2014 against Ukrainian villages.

MH17

On July 17, 2014 Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, a passenger flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, was shot down while flying over eastern Ukraine. All 283 passengers and 15 crew members died after the Boeing 777 was hit by a burst of “high-energy objects” .

In a press conference, Russian officials blamed the flight’s destruction on Ukrainian forces and presented radar data, expert testimony and satellite image. The radar data that showed another aircraft in the vicinity of MH17 was debunked as falling debris from MH17 by experts. A Spanish air traffic controller in Kiev gave interviews that stated that two Ukrainian fighter jets followed the Malaysian plane but the Spanish Embassy later said that there was no Spanish air traffic controller at either of Kiev’s airports. The satellite image that showed an aircraft firing on the airline but Bellingcat exposed the photo as a composite of Google images, with the Malaysian airline logo even being misplaced.

Russia changed their position and declared that the MH17 was hit by a Buk missile but it was launched from Ukrainian territory and fired by troops loyal to Kiev. Satellite images they used to backup their claims were debunked when Bellingcat purchased their own satellite images that indicated the Russian ones may have been altered.

On November 9, 2014, The Bellingcat MH17 Investigation team published a report titled “MH17: Source of the Separatists’ Buk”. Based on evidence from open sources, primarily social media, the report links a Buk missile launcher that was filmed and photographed in eastern Ukraine on July 17 to the downing of the MH17 flight. The 35 page report, including photographs and maps, details the movements of the Buk in eastern Ukraine on July 17, evidence that the Buk originated in Russia, along with a convoy headed towards the Ukrainian border, and the activity of the vehicles seen in the same convoy after July 17.

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (December 2016)

Syrian Civil War

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (December 2016)

Beginning in March of 2011 after political protests turned violent , the Syrian Civil has been an ongoing conflict between the Syrian Arab Republic, Syrian Opposition, Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, and other combatants. Bellingcat reports primarily analyze the factions at war, and what weapons and armor they utilize, as well as news that that would normally go unreported by the mainstream media. Bellingcat utilizes a network of contributors who specialize in open source and social media investigation, and creates guides and case studies so others may learn to do the same .

In July of 2014, Bellincat published extensive evidence of chemical weapons being used on Syrian civilians, including children . Collecting video footage from local sources, Higgins analyzed the footage and was able to deduce that Chlorine gas was dropped from helicopters by the Syrian.

In June of 2016, Bellincat published an article showing the use of Cluster munitions were being used against the New Syrian Army, in clear violation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions. Bellingcat provided photographic evidence from firsthand sources that the munitions used were identical to those used by the Russian Military . .

In February of 2017, Bellincat published an article detailing how rudimentary drones were being used by ISIS to drop explosives onto opposition targets. Analyzing footage from Twitter and other social media platforms, it was discovered that the drones were dropping modified 40mm grenades.

Bellingcat also does extensive reporting into attacks that are not openly claimed by combatants.

In September of 2017 Bellingcat released a fact-checking article in response to Russia denying the bombing of hospitals in Syria. The article analyzed footage from Youtube and images from Facebook, cross referencing them with areas that were confirmed to be attacked by Russian forces. The article revealed that the hospital in question was within the area under Russian attack, although Russia denies these claims. .

In March of 2017 Bellingcat published an investigative report on the bombing of a mosque in Aleppo that claimed the lives of over 50 civilians. The article included photographs of the remnants of the bomb used, and showed that the piece was identical to that of similar bombs used by the US military .

Awards

In 2015 Eliot Higgins and Bellingcat received the special prize of the Hanns-Joachim-Friedrichs-Award.

References

1. Bellingcat website
2. "To bell the cat - definition of To bell the cat by The Free Dictionary". Thefreedictionary.com. Retrieved 2016-12-24.
3. "Brown Moses Blog: March 2012". Brown-moses.blogspot.de. Retrieved 2016-12-24.
4. "Watch out for Bellingcat". Columbia Journalism Review. Retrieved 2017-03-19.
5. "Bellingcat: the home of online investigations". Kickstarter. Retrieved 2017-03-19.
6. Batuman, Elif. "Rocket Man". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2016-12-24.
7. "Bellingcat, for and by citizen investigative journalists by Eliot Higgins". Kickstarter.com. Retrieved 2016-12-24.
8. Sean Case; Klement Anders. "Putin's Undeclared War : Summer 2014 : Russian Artillery Strikes Against Ukraine" (PDF). Bellingcat.com. Retrieved 2016-12-24.
9. CNN, By Jethro Mullen. "Report: MH17 hit by burst of 'high-energy objects' - CNN.com". CNN. Retrieved 2017-03-21. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
10. ^ AM, Maxim Tucker On 6/22/15 at 9:14 (2015-06-22). "Meet Eliot Higgins, Putin's MH17 Nemesis". Newsweek. Retrieved 2017-03-21.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
11. Bellingcat (November 9, 2014). "Origin of the Seperatists' Buk" (PDF). Bellingcat. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
12. BBC, By BBC NEWS. "Middle East unrest: Three killed at protest in Syria - BBC.com". BBC. Retrieved 2017-03-21.
13. Higgins, Elliot. "About - https://www.bellingcat.com/". Bellingcat. Retrieved 2017-03-21. {{cite web}}: External link in |title= (help)
14. Moses, By Brown. "Evidence From 2 Weeks Of Chlorine Barrel Bomb Attacks - http://brown-moses.blogspot.co.uk/". brown-moses. Retrieved 2017-03-21. {{cite web}}: External link in |title= (help)
15. Komar, Rao. "The al-Tanf Bombing: How Russia Assisted ISIS by Attacking an American Backed FSA Group with Cluster Bombs - https://www.bellingcat.com/". Bellingcat. Retrieved 2017-03-21. {{cite web}}: External link in |title= (help)
16. Waters, Nick. "Death From Above: The Drone Bombs of the Caliphate - https://www.bellingcat.com/". Bellingcat. Retrieved 2017-03-21. {{cite web}}: External link in |title= (help)
17. Al-Khatib, Hady. "Fact-Checking Russia's Claim that It Didn't Bomb a 5-Year-Old in Syria - https://www.bellingcat.com/". Bellingcat. Retrieved 2017-03-21. {{cite web}}: External link in |title= (help)
18. Triebert, Christiaan. "CONFIRMED: US Responsible for 'Aleppo Mosque Bombing' - https://www.bellingcat.com/". Bellingcat. Retrieved 2017-03-21. {{cite web}}: External link in |title= (help)
19. "Pressemitteilung 2015 - Hanns-Joachim-Friedrichs-Preis". Hanns-joachim-friedrichs.de. Retrieved 2016-12-24.

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