WHO DOES WHAT? LAWYERS SUPPORTING ACTIVISTS, ACTIVISTS SUPPORTING LAWYERS It is always beneficial for human rights activists to work alongside human rights lawyers, because lawyers can advise which footage can best support the monitoring and advocacy efforts. However, there are several situations wherein it is mandatory that human rights activists and frontline defenders work with lawyers — for example, when you: • • • are working to build a case that you plan to take to court; accidentally find yourself involved in a legal proceeding because you were a witness to a crime or are falsely accused of a crime; or have captured footage of a wrongdoing that a lawyer would like to use in an investigation and possibly in court. In other words, citizens, activists, filmmakers, journalists, NGOs, and others do not need a lawyer to share video with the UN bodies, commissions of inquiry, human rights commissions, war crimes offices, parliaments, truth commissions, village councils, financial institutions, media outlets, etc. But if you want your video to be used inside the courtroom, you will have to work with investigators, analysts, and lawyers. Below we will review who does what. Job Descriptions Frontline Documenter (e.g. bystanders, media activists, human rights documenters): Collects evidence (either accidentally or intentionally) at the location while the violation is in progress or in the aftermath of the violation. Protects the evidence until it can be shared with the appropriate parties. Since frontline documenters are most often the first on the scene, they are critical because: • Investigators are rarely on location when a human rights violation is in the process of being committed and therefore are not able to capture evidence, including video; • When investigators do arrive at the location of the violation — sometimes hours, days, or even years later — the evidence is likely to have deteriorated or be gone; and • Sometimes crimes are not thoroughly investigated by police. Even if a crime is investigated and there is sufficient evidence to bring an alleged perpetrator to trial, a lawyer may not bring the case for political reasons. In these situations, while accountability will never be secured, video captured by frontline documenters ensures the truth is exposed. Human Rights Non-Governmental Organization (NGO): NGOs play a variety of roles. In this context, they often facilitate the transfer of information from frontline documenters to decisionmakers and media outlets. Specifically, NGOs monitor, investigate, and document human rights situations. They can also compile information, provide analysis, and make broad calls for action. NGOs also support frontline documenters by receiving the information collected in the field, preserving it, and analyzing it in the context of all the other information collected, and then taking it to a broader audience, often as part of a larger advocacy strategy or campaign. 14 VIDEO AS EVIDENCE: VIDEO BEYOND THE COURTROOM V 1.0 LAW PART II