Protection of Victims and Witnesses

                  This post is a summary of two articles. The first with the incomplete title above was published at   https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Publications/Chapter14-56pp.pdf                                The second was published athttps://www.newtactics.org/conversation/protecting-survivors-and-witnesses

                  The primary responsibility for protecting victims, witnesses, sources of information and other persons cooperating with human rights fields presences rests with the state. The protection of victims, witnesses and other cooperating persons is an integral aspect of all phases of the monitoring cycle. Prevention is key in protecting victims, witnesses and other cooperating persons. Where there is a risk, it must be carefully assessed and weighed against the expected benefits of the activity in question. There is no single correct approach to protection. The appropriate protection strategy will depend on the political and security environments, the commitment of the national authorities, and the capacity and resources of the field presence, among other contextual factors. The UN Human Rights Council has urged states to prevent and refrain from all acts of intimidation or reprisals against those who have provided testimony or other information about human rights violations to the UN. The safety of victims, witnesses and other cooperating persons must be a paramount concern for human rights organizations (HRO). Accordingly, confidentiality as a measure to protect their safety, with the requirement of not disclosing their identity, should take precedence over other interests, including the prosecution of perpetrators of human rights violations. The principle of confidentiality also applies in the case of requests for information from national authorities or an international tribunal. In all circumstances and at all times, HROs have an obligation not to jeopardize the life, safety, freedom and well-being of victims, and witnesses. The best protection HROs can provide is to be aware of the potential risks of harm and to exercise good judgement, caution and sensitivity in all their interactions. Human rights offices's lack of care or negligent behaviour, along with a failure to understand the operational context, can put persons who come into contact with the field presence at risk of harm. One of the challenges of relocation programmes is ensuring that a person at risk can be effectively and safety resettled and integrated into a new community either within the country of origin or abroad. 

                  Protecting survivors and witnesses of human rights violations is crucial to effective human rights work. Protection is important because when survivors and witnesses fear further persecution, they are unlikely to report their experiences,  making redress and accountability much more difficult. The state is formally responsible for providing protection, but it is the state that is often the greatest source of perceived risk amongst witnesses and survivors. Under Article 13 of the UN Convention Against Torture, states have an obligation to ensure that victims and witnesses are protected against "all ill-treatment and intimidation as a consequence of his complaint or any evidence given." However this may not be appropriate in cases of torture when human rights violations were perpetrated by agents of the state. Countries should be encouraged to have victim and witness protection schemes that are independent. At times, NGOs who work directly with the victims of human rights violations and need protection. One way of protecting witnesses and victims is by recognizing the suffering of these victims and educating civil society to understand the value of their efforts on society. The international community can play a vital role in applying pressure on governments to provide adequate protection when civil society groups fall short. Broader alliances need to be built between different sectors of civil society to adequate protection of different layers of society. Sometimes Networks are crucial in terms of providing victims and survivors an ad hoc safe house or to flee to another location within the country or to a neighboring country. Communication between human rights defenders and victims/survivors is equally important to give an assurance of protection. The importance of support from international NGOs to human rights defenders, victims of human rights violations and witnesses is essential. The types of risk can be categorized broadly into three types of risk: physical risk, psychological risk and digital risk. Economic risk could be added. It is important to ensure that victims and witnesses hhave as much information as possible, so that they are in the best position to assess their own work. Hope, honor and human dignity was put forward as a way to manage risk and to empower victims and survivors. The risk of vicarious trauma and the importance of self care are highlighted. Protective measures by human rights organizations can include: 1) Strengthening the person's capacity for self-protection; 2) Supporting or establishing community-level protection networks. 3) Using visibility strategies with a deterrent effect. 4) Seeking the support of relevant partners and international mechanisms such as NGOs, diplomatic missions, UN agencies or special procedures. 5) Mobilizing efforts to directly or indirectly provide physical protection to the person at risk, including through relocation. 6) Limiting the capacity of the source of the threat to carry out an attack by reducing the vulnerability factors of the person at risk.  7)Intervening to influence or affect the baheviour or attitude of the source of the threat.  8) Increasing the political and social costs to the source carrying out the threat through, for instance, public advocacy in partnership with national and international networks. The cost of carrying out the threat should outweigh the benefits.  9) Advocacy and engagement with national authorities, stressing their human rights obligations, including their duty to protect those at risk and to prosecute offenders.