Documentation

For over 10 years, SJAC has collected and documented violations of human rights and international humanitarian law in Syria with the aim of facilitating current and future transitional justice and accountability efforts. Our team of documenters is non-partisan, ethnically diverse, and includes both men and women inside Syria and neighboring countries working to preserve evidence of violations regardless of the affiliation or identity of the victim or perpetrators.

SJAC’s documenters collect interviews with survivors of serious violations, including detention, torture, and sexual violence, as well as physical documents, photos, and videos.

We adhere to documentation best practices including the principle of Do No Harm, obtaining informed consent and maintaining chain of custody. This field documentation is analyzed and linked to related evidence within SJAC’s database, ultimately informing SJAC’s public reports as well as criminal trials in Syria and globally. 

You can read our quarterly reports on ongoing human rights violations in Syria here, and find additional analysis here.