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This Handbook discourages lay individuals that act in their personal capacity and are without the support of a network or organization from engaging in information-gathering exercises for safety reasons, not only concerning their own safety but also that of those they engage with (victims, witnesses). 1.4 Terminology The Handbook’s terminology is the result of careful choices by the authors based on extensive consultations with a variety of stakeholders and experts in the fields of accountability, investigations and documentation of serious human rights violations. 1.4.1 Investigation and Documentation Talking of “investigation by civil society actors” can both be misleading and controversial. The term “investigation” convenes the idea of an activity that only highly skilled and trained professionals are equipped to carry out. Furthermore, criminal investigations are subjected to legal and procedural standards that fall well beyond what this Handbook can and aims to accomplish. The use of the word intends to neither mislead nor exacerbate the controversy. While only professionally trained experts acting in their official capacity can carry out “formal investigations” for the purposes of criminal accountability, abiding by criminal investigative standards has the potential to maximize the reliability and possible use of the information collected. However, the weight and role of this information within the criminal process itself is a matter of judicial decision only, and following this Handbook’s standards will not guarantee the admissibility of information as “evidence” in trials. The collection of information by high evidentiary standards can strengthen the overall process of documenting serious human rights violations by enhancing the quality of the information collected, and expanding the possibilities to use this information in and beyond the criminal process. Furthermore, there is a disconnect between the way the word “investigation” is (and should be) used by the highly trained community of official legal and investigative authorities and the way it is used by the audience for which this Handbook was written. The term “investigation” is therefore used purposefully to adapt to the language used by the audience the Handbook intends to reach, while making explicit that it 15

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PILPG Handbook on Civil Society Documentation of Serious Human Rights Violations Sept 2016

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Documentation Purpose

Perpetrator-centred documentation

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Data/Information Strategy
Preservation and Archiving
Verification

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Guide

Description: Increasingly, civil society actors engage in documentation and investigation processes, seeking to collect evidence against those responsible for serious human rights violations. The purpose of this Handbook is to provide guidelines and best practices for the collection and management of information on serious human rights situations for those that are not professionally trained in such documentation practices. While the Handbook strongly emphasizes the need to refrain from investigating human rights abuses and to refer to professionals, practice shows that this is not always possible. Only under such circumstances and as a last resort may civil society actors consider engaging in certain documentation practices and not in others, always seeking to include professionals when and where possible. They may however only do so by adhering to the ethical principles and documentation guidelines that are provided in this Handbook. These enable unofficial investigators to do no harm, identify security risks, preserve crime scenes, prevent the loss of evidence, and manage the information in manner that preserves confidentiality, security and probative value, with an eye to possible use in later redress processes and without jeopardizing the future work of professionally trained and officially appointed investigators.

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PILPG_Handbook_on_Civil_Society_Documentation_of_Serious_Human_Rights_Violations_Sept_2016_tcm289-785328.pdf
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PILPG Handbook on Civil Society Documentation of Serious Human Rights Violations Sept 2016

Primary Documents

Verification Handbook

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