How DAR Talks documents testimony

DAR Talks documents testimony to a standard that can be used by journalists writing carefully, by lawyers building cases, and by tribunals that may, one day, sit. This statement sets out, in summary, the standards I work to. The full methodology page is published at How I Document.

Consent

No testimony appears on this platform without informed consent from the person who gave it. Informed means: the survivor was told what DAR Talks is, what publishing means, and who is likely to read the testimony; she was told what details can be redacted on request — names, locations, relatives, dates — and she chose what to redact; she was told she can withdraw consent at any future date, and the testimony will be removed from the public archive within fourteen days; and the consent conversation was held in her first language, with no time pressure.

I do not pay for testimony. Where I can offer practical support — travel costs, a meal, a medical referral — I record what was offered.

Verification

A testimony reaches the public archive only after a second account, document, or contemporaneous record corroborates at least one specific, falsifiable detail, and only after the survivor has confirmed the published wording.

Where the testimony names individuals as perpetrators, I either redact the name on publication or follow the higher evidentiary standard used for legal submissions. I do not publish testimony I cannot corroborate to this standard. I keep those accounts in secure storage for future verification.

Redaction

Every published testimony carries a visible redaction log. Where text has been removed, the page shows [redacted — at survivor's request] or [redacted — to protect a person still in Sudan]. The category is shown; the detail is not.

Security

Survivor identities, contact details, and full case files are held in encrypted storage. No file is shared by unencrypted email. This site does not host a testimony-submission form.

Other records

Where another organisation has already documented an incident, I link to their record rather than duplicate it.

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