From November 2023 to March 2024, PJI partnered with the International Truth and Justice Project (ITJP) on a project addressing issues of cooperation and information sharing between United Nations Human Rights Council-mandated investigative bodies (IBs) and civil society groups (CSOs).
The aim of this project was to help ensure that CSOs and IBs have the tools they need to successfully uphold their common commitment to ensuring justice, accountability, and redress for victims and survivors of violations of international human rights law, international humanitarian law, and international criminal law. Specifically, the project sought to enhance civil society engagement with and contribution to the work and mandates of new and existing IBs by developing a cooperation and information sharing protocol. PJI took the lead on the drafting of the protocol and in providing expert guidance to the ITJP team throughout the project.
The draft protocol outlines a set of overarching principles and recommendations to guide IBs, including guidance on collection, analysis, preservation, and sharing of information provided by CSOs and victims and witnesses of violations. These principles and recommendations might also inform the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to the extent that it serves as a repository for information collected by the IBs. ITJP conducted a number of interviews and sent out surveys to a variety of relevant actors to help identify the most salient issues in this field. These include privacy rights, witness protection, confidentiality, and informed consent, as well as the need for greater transparency regarding how the information that CSOs submit to OHCHR will ultimately be used.
The High Commissioner for Human Rights, his legal team, and staff, several current and former IB commissioners, IB members and their staff, CSOs, and a broad range of international experts and practitioners all participated in the process.
On February 7, 2024, PJI and ITJP brought together a range of international experts and practitioners for the first high-level roundtable discussion in New York. This roundtable was hosted by UN Women and facilitated by Ambassador Beth Van Schaack, United States Ambassador-at-Large for Global Criminal Justice. During the roundtable, PJI Co-Director Maxine Marcus presented on the draft protocol framework to spark a robust discussion on the issues and principles that the draft protocol must include and build on. PJI then incorporated the feedback from the roundtable discussion into a second draft of the protocol.
On March 15, 2024, PJI participated in a second high-level roundtable in Geneva attended by a broad range of practitioners and high level UN representatives. This roundtable, once again facilitated by Ambassador Van Schaack, consisted of three sessions chaired by: (1) Priya Gopalan, Chair Rapporteur and Member, Working Group on Arbitrary Detention; (2) Barney Afako, Commissioner, UN Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan; and (3) Beth Van Schaack. PJI presented the second draft of the protocol for additional input and discussion at this roundtable. The protocol was further updated, and the project concluded at the end of March 2024.
PJI anticipates following policy and practice developments on the issue of evidence sharing closely, as this matter is critical to ensuring effective and safe access to justice for survivors and victims.