Assessing Risks to Victims and Witnesses 1. Risks for victims and witnesses associated with the documentation of serious human rights violations include: • Retaliation, intimidation or threats by alleged perpetrators, their families and their supporters against victims or witnesses and/or their families. • Punishment, including physical violence, by members of the immediate community, family or caregiver. • Coercive pressure to force victims or witnesses to reconcile with perpetrators. • Re-traumatization. • Attempts to secure financial gains for families of victims or witnesses that may take priority over justice for victims or witnesses. • Rejection by family members or the community, resulting for instance in isolation or, as occurs often in the case of sexual and gender-based violence, abandonment of children. • Loss of livelihood. • Loss of access to schools and vocational opportunities; and • Arrest and punishment – for example where certain acts are criminalized. 2. Unofficial investigators should ask themselves: • Is there a nearby medical facility, and, if so, is it accessible? Will the facility be able to assist all the victims and witnesses? If not, who can provide the needed care? • Will the documentation occur in an area of ongoing fighting, where offenders may still be in the area? May victims and witnesses be at risk of intimidation, further attacks (including retaliation for providing information) or displacement? If so, what strategies can be put in place to overcome these obstacles? • Has the information originated from a victim or witness that is at risk of exposure if that information is traced back to them? If so, what mechanisms can be employed to protect the victim, witness or source from risk? • Will going to particular locations/crime scenes place the individuals that provided information on those locations in danger? If so, are there other ways (such as via an intermediary) to gather information about these locations? 39