An RDF Data Management System for Conflict Casualties

Abstract

In a world embroiled in armed conflicts, documenting conflict casualties is an important goal for many NGOs. Most of such documented records of casualties are however managed through internal databases, spreadsheets or Web forms. As such, exploring and querying such data becomes extremely chaotic. In this paper, we demonstrate CasualtIS, an RDF data management system for conflict casualties. Our system models conflict casualties data as RDF graphs and allows users to query such data using a SPARQL endpoint. Our system also includes a template-based natural-language querying interface to support non-expert users. Our system can be used for various purposes by end users, such as fact-checking certain claims about conflict casualties, aggregating casualties over time and location, and finding contextual information about casualties, such as the cause of death, actors involved, and other similar critical information. We demonstrate our system using two case studies, one related to casualties in the Iraqi war and the other related to casualties in the Syrian war.