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WITNESS WORKS WITH SYRIAN ACTIVISTS TO USE VIDEO AS A TOOL FOR HUMAN RIGHTS DOCUMENTATION

NEW YORK–May 10, 2012– As we enter 15-months of crisis in Syria, activists and citizens continue to risk their lives to document human rights violations happening in their communities.

“We are facing human rights abuses every day,” said Rami Jarrah, Co-founder of the Activist News Association (ANA). ”We need to record the necessary details to make sure our videos will have a better chance of being used for evidence to bring perpetrators to justice.“

Since the beginning of this year, WITNESS has been working with Syrian activists to develop easy-to-follow video training instructions, like “Top 10 Tips for Filming Protests” that are now being distributed in Arabic on the ground by local groups and those in diaspora. The guides aim to effectively support activists’ efforts to document and share evidence of human rights violations committed by Syrian security forces with the media, human rights organizations, and judicial bodies.

“Activist can now use the tools of social media to turn citizen journalism into citizen investigations,” said Alison Cole of Open Society Justice Initiative. “It is critical that people documenting abuses know what could later prove essential in the courtroom.”

“In Homs we are witnessing massive human rights abuses. Our families, friends and neighbors are being killed,” said Waseem, video activist from Homs Syria. “We are all working to document these violations. The best practices shared by WITNESS are crucial in helping us correctly document abuses like torture, killing and collect testimonies from victims.”

“WITNESS’s materials are extremely important for activists filming in Syria because they address realities in the field,” said Obaida Fares, Syrian new media activist. “We are helping to ensure that these filming tips get into the hands of citizen reporters and are being shared online and via mobile-to-mobile by activists.”

The filming tips, which emphasizes protecting the safety and security of those involved in the filming process, are accessible for quick download off the WITNESS website and Video-for-Change blog, and are available in both Arabic and English. Download here: http://www.witness.org/training/resources

Protests and alleged attacks by Syrian armed forces of citizens have been going on since March 2010. The United Nations reports that close to 10,000 citizens have been killed due to the government’s year- long assault on demonstrators. Assad has supposedly agreed to a cease-fire plan that was proposed by UN Special Envoy Kofi Annan, but reports and video footage of soldiers opening fire on protesters in the cities Homs, Aleppo and Hama continue to emerge even after the cease-fire was declared on April 12, 2012.