Read this in Arabic.
In 2015, WITNESS and PILnet co-hosted a Video as Evidence training in Casablanca, Morocco, designed to train lawyers from across the MENA region in how to use video footage as evidence in a trial. While the participants were interested in the concept, many of them did not know how video would fit the legal context of their respective countries. How do you use video as evidence, when video has never been used as evidence before?
Over the following months, WITNESS and PILnet collaborated to fill this gap—traveling to Tunisia, Morocco, Egypt, Lebanon, and Jordan, collaborating with local partners to research each jurisdiction. The result is a 70-page report that examines legal contexts, precedents, and challenges facing each of the surveyed countries; you can read it in English and in Arabic.
Below, Tara Vassefi (VAE Legal Fellow) joins Raja Althaibani (WITNESS MENA Program Manager) and Maysa Zorob (PILnet Senior Legal Officer for MENA) to discuss the creation of the Video As Evidence report.
For more information visit vae.witness.org.
About the author: Anna Lekas Miller is WITNESS’ MENA Communications Consultant based in London. She has reported from the Middle East on the Syrian refugee crisis, the Israel-Palestine conflict, and other issues for a variety of publications, including The Intercept, Vanity Fair, The Daily Beast, The Nation, The Guardian, Al Jazeera America, and VICE.