Features

January 21, 2009

Documenting Truth

Starting with a groundbreaking precedent during the Nuremberg Trials of 1945, the human rights movement has relied on documentary evidence as a central component in protecting and promoting human rights worldwide. Documentary materials -- whether governmental records and papers, court transcripts, newspaper articles and pamphlets, personal diaries and letters, or audio, video and oral testimony -- enhance our understanding of the past in our effort to build a more just future.

Documentation lies at the heart of transitional justice efforts. Legal measures based on documentary evidence support victims of human rights abuse and promote their right to truth, justice and reparations. Documentary evidence can help build cases to prosecute perpetrators. It serves as concrete proof of state responsibility for mass atrocities, building an accurate historical record of events, assigning responsibility and deterring future human rights violations. Documentation can also provide the basis for reconciliation, recovery and the creation of a more open and just society.

The Documentation Affinity Group (DAG) was established in 2005 by the ICTJ and five partner organizations as a peer-to-peer network with a primary focus on human rights documentation. Documenting Truth collects the best practices derived from the work of six organizations in Cambodia, Guatemala, Burma, Iraq, Serbia and the United States. Its goal is to provide useful lessons for groups documenting abuses around the world, working towards the protection and promotion of truth, and establishing just and democratic societies.

Documenting Truth can be downloaded here (PDF).