Collecting Evidence from Witness in Allegations of Crimes Against Humanity

Northern Justice Watch aims to help the victims of crimes against humanity by supporting their legal cases. A part of this support is a thorough investigation of the case by collecting evidence.

Collection of evidence must be conducted fairly, accurately and without impartially to maintain the is to the integrity of an investigation.

Evidence of direct witnesses can be collected by written statement, audio or video recordings.

Statement, audio, video and other evidence including physical evidence, documentation or photographs including injuries or scar should be noted by investigators of who provided the evidence to who, when was the evidence provided and where is the evidence stored in order to maintain the chain of evidence.

If witness evidence is obtained orally and cannot be audio or video recorded, it should be documented in the words of the complainant or as close to the actual words, as possible, to limit the possibility of any distortion or omission. Whenever possible, the content of this document should be reviewed and confirmed by the witness. This should be done expeditiously to ensure that the information remains “fresh”, relevant, and uncompromised.

1. Investigators should endeavor to ensure that the following principles are applied:

• • An opening statement may form part of the interview process outlining the investigative process, confidentiality requirements, rights, and where applicable, obligations of the interviewee.
  • To the extent possible, interviews conducted by the Investigative Office (NJW) should be conducted by at least two people.
  • Where practicable, only one witness at a time should be interviewed.
  • Interviewers should build rapport with the victims at the beginning of the interview before starting to ask questions This can be done by having a short talk and asking about their basic needs such as water, food, and washroom. This rapport should be maintained throughout the interview to ensure extensive and reliable information that will be gathered from the victim.
  • Where possible, investigators should simple initiate the interview with, “In as much detail as possible, tell me what happened….”
  • While using audio and video recording, interviews may be conducted in the language of the person being interviewed, where appropriate using interpreters. If interpreters are being used, clear instructions will be given to them in advance such as repeating, word-for-word (to the best extent possible) what the investigators say and what the interviewee states.
  • interviewers should adopt a trauma-informed approach when interviewing the victims. This means that they should understand the traumatic experiences that the victims went through and ask appropriate questions so that they will not retraumatize the victims.
  • Interviews must be conducted without threat, coercion, or inducement to the witness.
  • The questions that will be asked to the victims should be non-leading and mostly open-ended questions (e.g.., tell me, explain to me, describe to me).
  • Once the open-ended questions are asked, the account of the victim shouldn’t be interrupted. Probing (closed) questions such as what, when, where, who, and how can be asked to allow the victim to elaborate on what they told in their free account
  • Once all the information is gathered from the victim, the interviewer should summarize what they understood and ask the victim if they want to change or add any detail.
  • The Investigative Office (NJW) will not pay a witness for information or cooperation.
  • Interviewers must ensure that they do not misrepresent themselves, use any form of deception or oppressive tactics, and that the interview is conducted in an ethical manner whilst respecting the due process for all the participants
  • The investigator should inform the interviewee of the identity and role of the individuals present, the purpose of interviews, authorities and legal framework, the investigative process, and confidentiality requirements.
  • Prior to commencing an interview, interviewers should assess any risks related to the interviewee regarding security, retaliation, psychological and social support, re-victimization, age of consent and any cognitive impairments.

2. To be reliable, investigators should make every reasonable effort to verify and corroborate the credibility and reliability of the information obtained to be able to withstand further scrutiny and meet the threshold of the standards of proof.
3. Witnesses must be truthful and provide the facts as they know them, without hearsay, speculation, minimizing or exaggerating.
4. Prior to commencing an interview, interviewers should assess any risks related to the witness regarding security, retaliation, psychological and social support, re-victimization, age of consent and any cognitive impairments. Mitigating these circumstances may require the presence of a support person or legal guardian during the interview.
5. Special measures should be considered when interviewing vulnerable witnesses, including but not limited to, victims or witnesses of sexual exploitation and abuse, members of the affected population, incidents involving a minor and/or requests for anonymity. In addition, and in assessing that there is risk to any of the witnesses above, special measures or considerations that do not affect it credibility or reliability of the evidence may be adopted.