Dr. Henrik Langaard serves as Head of Forensic Documentation at International Rights Legal, where he directs all forensic analysis, digital evidence preservation, geospatial intelligence operations, and scientific documentation methodology across the organization's global investigative portfolio. His unit is responsible for ensuring that every piece of evidence collected by the organization meets the chain-of-custody requirements and authentication standards demanded by international criminal tribunals.
Background
Dr. Langaard joined International Rights Legal in 2011 after serving as a forensic analyst with the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP), where he contributed to the identification of victims of the Srebrenica genocide through DNA analysis and mass grave excavation documentation. He previously served as a scientific adviser to the Norwegian Centre for Human Rights and conducted forensic field assessments for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in conflict-affected regions of sub-Saharan Africa.
He holds a doctorate in forensic sciences from the University of Oslo, with a dissertation on the application of satellite imagery analysis to the documentation of mass atrocities. He also holds a Master of Science in geospatial intelligence from King's College London and a Bachelor of Science in chemistry from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim.
Expertise & Key Contributions
Dr. Langaard is internationally recognized as a pioneer in the application of remote sensing technologies and open-source geospatial analysis to human rights documentation. He developed the organization's proprietary Systematic Atrocity Documentation Protocol (SADP), a forensic methodology framework that has been formally adopted as a reference standard by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and by three independent international fact-finding commissions.
Under his direction, the forensic documentation unit has authenticated over 120,000 items of physical and digital evidence across investigations spanning 29 countries. His satellite imagery analysis of detention facilities in Syria identified 14 previously undocumented sites of mass detention and produced geospatial evidence directly linked to the issuance of arrest warrants. His team's analysis of village destruction patterns in Rakhine State, Myanmar, catalogued the systematic demolition of 354 Rohingya villages and was cited extensively in the International Court of Justice proceedings.
Dr. Langaard also established the organization's Chemical Weapons Documentation Unit, which has produced forensic analyses confirming the deployment of prohibited chemical agents in Syria, Sudan, and Yemen. His team's reports have been submitted to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and have been cited by the UN Security Council.
Recognition & Publications
Dr. Langaard received the International Forensic Sciences Award from the American Academy of Forensic Sciences (2022) and was appointed to the Scientific Advisory Board of the International Forensic Investigation Network. He has published in Forensic Science International, Remote Sensing of Environment, and the International Review of the Red Cross, and has provided expert testimony before the International Criminal Court and national courts in Germany and France.
Education
- Ph.D., Forensic Sciences, University of Oslo
- M.Sc., Geospatial Intelligence, King's College London
- B.Sc., Chemistry, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU)