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• Understand that it takes time to develop a relationship of trust. Do not expect victims or witnesses to go into detail about their experience immediately or at all. It might take more than one interview for a person to feel comfortable enough to share details about the events. It takes time and trust to develop the establishment of facts of the situation. • Leave interviewing the victim or witness to professionals if the risk of re-traumatization is high.24 • Acknowledge the victim’s or witness’ pain or trauma. Demonstrate empathy and concern so that the person involved feels (psychologically and physically) safe. • Do not take strong reactions personally. Manage one’s own emotional responses throughout the process.25 Effects of Trauma on Behavior The effects of trauma can influence a victim’s or witness’ behavior during an information-gathering exercise such as an interview. Signs of trauma are: • Depression • (Linear) memory loss • Lack of focus and concentration problems • Emotional reactivity • Multiple versions of a story26 • Symptoms of acute stress, such as: o Hyperventilation o Being jumpy and on edge o Feeling shocked or numb o Recurring nightmares, flashbacks or intrusive memories of the events o Sleeping problems o Deliberate avoidance of thoughts or activities that remind of the events that have occurred 24 Office for Victims of Crime Training and Technical Assistance Center, Human Trafficking Task Force E-Guide, 5.3. 25 Trauma Center, Project REACH, Utilizing, Trauma-Informed Approaches to Trafficking-related Work, 2014, available at http://www.traumacenter.org/resources/H-O%20TraumaInformed%20Case%20Study_final_2.pdf. 26 Office for Victims of Crime Training and Technical Assistance Center, Human Trafficking Task Force E-Guide, 5.3. 33

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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.

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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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