Centring Survivors’ Voices: Key Insights from REDRESS’s Global Webinar on Survivor-Centred Documentation
How do we document torture and mass atrocities without harming the people whose stories we rely on? This question shaped REDRESS’ recent webinar on “Centring Survivors’ Voices in Accountability Processes: Survivor-Centred Approaches to Documentation.” The event held on the 10th of December 2025, brought together leading experts from Sudan, Syria, and a documentation technology organisation to discuss how to collect evidence safely, ethically, and effectively, while ensuring as much as possible, survivors’ agency and safety at every stage.
The conversation forms part of the REDRESS Solidarity Programme, which strengthens collaboration among human rights organisations worldwide and promotes high-quality, trauma-sensitive documentation practices.
Opening the discussion, the moderator, Katya Ravinskaya (REDRESS), highlighted REDRESS’s Practice Note on Survivor-Centred Documentation, developed with the International Accountability Platform for Belarus.
The guide draws on years of frontline work to outline principles such as: Do no harm; Informed and voluntary participation; Non-discrimination; Managing expectations; Confidentiality; Long-term sustainability and follow-up. Katya stressed that documentation is not just about evidence, it is about relationships and trust. Accountability processes can take years; survivors must be informed and supported throughout.
Sudan: Documentation in a Landscape of Displacement and Danger
Mohamed Badawi (African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies) described working in Sudan’s highly volatile and displacement-affected context.
His key lessons included:
- Build community-embedded networks. Local paralegals, medical workers, and human rights defenders often have access where international actors do not.
- Prioritise safety for documenters.Internet shutdowns, surveillance, and armed conflict require strict communication protocols and contingency plans.
- Digital evidence can transform accountability.Social media and citizen recording played a crucial role in documenting atrocities during Sudan’s revolution —demonstrating the power of community-generated evidence.
- Persistence leads to justice.Years of documentation contributed to the recent ICC conviction of Ali Kushayb, illustrating why long-term, survivor-centred evidence collection matters.
EyeWitness to Atrocities: Technology Designed Around Survivors
Emma DiNapoli (EyeWitness to Atrocities) explained how digital tools can empower survivors when designed ethically.
The EyeWitness app includes: Automatic metadata capture (time, date, GPS); Encrypted upload to secure servers; Immediate deletion from users’ phones; Anonymous user profiles; Emergency “quick purge” option; Two-tier informed consent (documenter + survivor)
This design ensures that technology adapts to survivors’ contexts and not the other way around.
Emma shared examples from Nigeria’s Middle Belt, where community documenters have captured over 7,000 verified photos and videos used in submissions to UN Special Procedures, as well as a case in the DRC, where EyeWitness footage contributed to domestic convictions for crimes against humanity as their information collected was accepted by domestic courts.
Syria: Documenting the Past While Preparing for the Future
Roger Phillips (Syria Justice and Accountability Centre) described a rapidly shifting Syrian context following the unexpected collapse of the Assad government.
His central message: Preparation is everything.
SJAC had already mapped intelligence branches and trained documenters long before the transition. When facilities were abandoned, their teams secured over 2 million pages of official documents — including detainee lists and command orders essential for future prosecutions.
Roger emphasised three survivor-centred pillars:
- Trauma-sensitive interviewing. Survivors of torture must not be re-interviewed repeatedly. SJAC refuses second interviews to prevent re-traumatisation.
- Survivors must retain agency. Informed consent is renewed before sharing testimony with courts or UN bodies.
- Psychological support matters.SJAC and the Centre for Victims of Torture created a dual-referral pathway: survivors seeking therapy can opt into accountability pathways, and vice versa.
The core Takeaways Across All Contexts are:
The webinar reaffirmed that survivor-centred documentation must be grounded in clear, non-negotiable principles: the safety of survivors and documenters must always come first; survivors’ consent must be informed, ongoing, and meaningful; and documentation efforts are strongest and most sustainable when they are community-led. While technology can play a critical role in strengthening accountability, it must be deployed responsibly and in ways that adapt to survivors’ realities rather than exposing them to further risk. Participants consistently stressed the imperative to avoid re-traumatisation, to minimise repeated interviews, and to ensure that survivors are kept informed about how their information is used over time. Taken together, these insights underscore that survivor-centred documentation is not merely a technical methodology, but a long-term commitment to dignity, agency, trust, and justice in accountability processes.
Photo by Conflict Victim Women National Network (CVWN)