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Global Positioning System (GPS) Informed consent Is a satellite-based navigation system made up of a network of 24 satellites placed into orbit. Intermediary Individuals that unofficial investigators may use to identify and liaise with members of the community, overcome cultural and social barriers, and identify potential victims and other witnesses. Kobo Toolkit Is an open source application for field data collection that is free of cost. Martus An application that is a helpful tool to secure the original metadata of information. Privacy Interviews and external physical assessment must be conducted in private under the control of the unofficial investigator. Privacy is not only necessary for ethical reasons, but also when talking about sensitive issues that may be embarrassing or shameful for the person being evaluated. Unofficial investigators should establish and maintain privacy during the entire information-gathering exercise. The presence of police officers or other officials should be weighted on a case to case basis, and against the situational background and likelihood that their presence might lead to more harm than good. The presence of police officers, soldiers, prison officers or other law enforcement officials in the room, for whatever reason, should be noted in the unofficial investigator’s report. Their presence during the information-gathering exercise may be grounds for disregarding the information. If any other persons are present in the room during the information-gathering exercise, the identity, titles, affiliations of those persons should be made clear to the information provider and indicated in the report. Probative value Is a legal concept used to the describe the extent to which a piece of information tends to prove something material about the crime alleged. Ensuring that consent is based on adequate disclosure and understanding of: the potential benefits and adverse consequences of providing information, including the nature of the process, why the information is being sought, how the information will be used and possible consequences; their right to refuse to participate; and that consent is given voluntarily without coercion by others. 9

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

Document

Documentation Purpose

Perpetrator-centred documentation

Topic(s)

Data/Information Strategy
Preservation and Archiving
Verification

Type

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.

Primary Documents

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

Primary Documents

Verification Handbook

Notifications