Principles

Our commitment

The following principles guide our efforts to ensure that our actions are ethical, impactful, and aligned with our purpose.

Commitment to Justice and Human Dignity

At the core of the SRC’s action is a commitment to justice and the upholding of human dignity. This principle ensures that all individuals, especially victims of human rights violations, are treated with respect and fairness, and that their rights are protected.

It involves advocating for justice in all its forms, including legal, restorative, and social justice, while ensuring that the inherent dignity of every person is acknowledged and preserved throughout the process.

In the context of war crimes and conflict, this means pursuing accountability for perpetrators and creating conditions where victims’ rights and needs are prioritized and addressed. This principle also encourages fostering a society where fairness, equality, and non-discrimination are fundamental values. Ensuring that any action taken does not inadvertently cause physical, emotional, or psychological harm.

Do No Harm

The "Do no harm" principle is vital for ensuring that the actions of the SRC team do not inadvertently exacerbate the suffering of individuals or communities.

This principle calls for careful consideration of the potential risks of any intervention. It emphasizes minimizing negative consequences and protecting victims and witnesses from any further harm.

In practice, this implies ensuring that data collection, advocacy, and any other activities are done in ways that avoid stigmatizing, re-traumatizing, worsening social divides, or further endangering those who have already been victims of violence or abuse.

Accountability

Accountability is central to both the SRC’s internal operations and its external advocacy. Internally, SRC holds itself accountable to its mission, values, stakeholders, and the communities it serves, ensuring transparency and ethical conduct in all its activities.

Externally, accountability means holding perpetrators of war crimes and human rights violations accountable through legal, political, and social means.

SRC works to ensure that perpetrators face consequences for their actions, while simultaneously supporting mechanisms for justice that are fair, transparent, and responsive to the needs of victims. Accountability is also about ensuring that the voices of survivors are heard, respected, and prioritized in both the documentation and legal processes, which can help prevent future violations.

Confidentiality

Confidentiality is a critical principle for safeguarding the privacy and safety of individuals involved in human rights work, particularly victims and survivors of war crimes or human rights violations. In many cases, victims or witnesses may face risks, including retaliation, if their identities are revealed or if sensitive information is disclosed without consent. Therefore, SRC takes measures to ensure that information gathered through surveys, interviews, or other means is handled with the utmost confidentiality and that those involved are fully informed about how their data will be used. By maintaining confidentiality, SRC helps build trust within the communities it serves, allowing for more honest and safe participation, particularly from vulnerable or at-risk individuals.

Victim-Centred Approach

A victim-centred approach ensures that the needs, experiences, and voices of those who have suffered from human rights violations are at the heart of every intervention. This principle emphasizes the importance of respecting victims’ autonomy, agency, and rights to participate in decisions that affect them. It also recognizes that victims may have different needs at different stages of recovery, and it advocates for providing comprehensive support that is tailored to those needs—whether it be psychological support, legal assistance, or social reintegration.

A victimcentred approach also ensures that victims are not seen merely as passive subjects but as active agents in their healing and in efforts to seek justice and accountability.

Safeguarding Local Voice and Leadership

Safeguarding local voice and leadership is an essential principle for ensuring that the interventions of SRC are relevant and sustainable. This principle recognizes that local communities often have the best understanding of their own needs, challenges, and solutions.

As such, SRC supports local leadership by prioritizing the perspectives and expertise of community members, leaders, and organizations. By safeguarding local voices, SRC ensures that the interventions are not imposed from outside, but are developed in partnership with the people they aim to support. This approach enhances the long-term effectiveness of peace-building, justice, and recovery efforts, as local ownership of these processes is crucial for sustained change.

Additionally, strengthening local capacities ensures that initiatives are more adaptable to the evolving dynamics of each region and that there is greater resilience within the community moving forward.

Our Approach

At SRC, we take an intersectional and local expertise and leadership approach to human rights, justice, recovery and sustainable development, recognizing that individuals and communities are affected by multiple, overlapping factors that influence their experiences of inequality, discrimination, and marginalization. Central to our approach is placing victims and survivors at the heart of our work while considering the full complexity of people's lives and the diverse ways in which different forms of oppression collide, depending on their identity, circumstances, and position in society. For example, a woman from an ethnic minority group may face multiple layers of discrimination in accessing healthcare, education, and employment, exacerbated by the effects of conflict or displacement.

When we talk about justice, our intersectional approach recognizes that access to justice is not equal for everyone. Factors such as social status, location, and access to resources can affect whether a person can seek redress for human rights violations. We seek to address the root causes of these violations and advocate for a justice system that is inclusive and responsive to the needs of all individuals, particularly those who have been historically marginalized or excluded. We work to ensure that legal frameworks are equitable, restorative, and that victims' voices are heard-particularly those from vulnerable communities. Multi-sectoral perspective helps us understand that true restorative and recovery measures must address systemic inequalities to be effective and sustainable. For example, efforts to promote economic revival must also consider gender equity and social inclusion, while addressing environmental issues must take into account the disproportionate impacts that climate change has on vulnerable groups, including displaced individuals, women, and children. We believe that development initiatives must create opportunities for all, ensuring that the most marginalized and disadvantaged are included in the process and that their specific needs are met.

This approach allows us to design more comprehensive, inclusive, and effective interventions in the areas of human rights, justice, and meaningful recovery. It ensures that we address the specific realities faced by diverse communities, recognizing that true progress can only be achieved when no one is left behind. In conclusion, we place great value on local expertise and leadership, ensuring that those most affected by human rights violations, and who have lived through conflict and displacement, lead the way in shaping the transformative solutions.