DPT – Session 4: Collecting Information

The fourth seminar session trains participants on collecting evidence for human rights documentation, focusing on legal standards, evidence types, and sensitive data collection methods to ensure credibility and avoid harm.

Summary

The session focuses on collecting evidence for human rights documentation, emphasizing legal standards for NGOs. Key points include:

• Evidence Standards: Evidence must be relevant, probative, credible, accurate, reliable, authentic, and corroborated. Judges assess these factors, considering trauma’s impact on memory, which may cause inconsistencies.
• Evidence Types: Physical (e.g., weapons, DNA), documentary (e.g., letters, photos), and testimonial (e.g., survivor accounts). Chain of custody ensures reliability; tampering risks admissibility.
• Data Collection: Use direct observation, interviews, focus groups, surveys, and desk research. Avoid leading questions and over-interviewing vulnerable individuals to prevent retraumatization or interference with justice processes.
• Practical Tips: Use gloves for physical evidence, secure apps for recordings, and neutral questions to avoid bias. Verify social media content to ensure validity.
• Vulnerability: Conduct assessments to identify vulnerable individuals, ensuring sensitivity and support (e.g., psychosocial assistance) during interviews.
• Exercise: Participants prepare to interview a Uganda school attack survivor, framing five neutral questions and considering vulnerability and consent.

The session stresses aiming for high standards to support justice while preserving community stories, using safe tools and neutral methods.