Consultant – Human Rights Violations Documentation System in Women's Prisons

The selected expert consultant will undertake the following tasks:

• Conduct a comprehensive review of :
  • existing national legal frameworks, policies, and practices related to prisons, detention, and women's rights in Lebanon.
  • International human rights standards and best practices for documenting violations in detention (e.g., Istanbul Protocol, Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture - OPCAT, Mandela Rules, UN Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non-custodial Measures for Women Offenders - Bangkok Rules, documentation guidelines from OHCHR, HRW, Amnesty International).
  • Ethical guidelines for documenting violations with vulnerable populations, focusing on safety, informed consent, confidentiality, and "do no harm" principles.
• Conduct initial consultations with the project team, legal experts, human rights organizations working on prison issues, and ex- prisoners, to understand the specific context, existing challenges, and information needs.
• Design a comprehensive documentation system (this could be a survey, a database, a set of standardized forms, a methodology, or a combination). This system must:
  • Be tailored to the specific context of women's prisons and detention centers.
  • Be adaptable for various types of violations (physical, psychological, sexual, medical neglect, denial of legal rights, discrimination, inadequate conditions, etc.).
  • Incorporate rigorous ethical considerations, particularly safety protocols for both interviewers and interviewees, ensuring confidentiality, informed consent, and protection from reprisals.
  • Allow for systematic data collection, categorization, and analysis.
  • Be user-friendly for the project team.

• Develop all necessary tools for the documentation system, which may include:
  • Standardized intake forms.
  • Interview guides/questionnaires (trauma-informed).
  • Checklists for physical evidence collection (if applicable and safe).
  • Consent forms (clear, simple language, explaining risks and benefits).
  • Data entry templates (e.g., in Excel, or a simple database structure).
  • Security protocols for data storage and access.
• Guide the project team through a pilot phase of the documentation system to test its functionality, safety features, and ethical adherence.
• Refine the documentation system and tools based on feedback from the pilot phase and the project team.
• Ensure the documentation system includes clear mechanisms for immediate referral of identified violations to relevant project services (legal aid, medical intervention, mental health support, etc.) and advise on establishing efficient internal referral pathways.
• Design a comprehensive and advocacy-oriented report template for compiling documented violations. This template must prioritize:
  • Safety and Anonymity: Ensuring that the report is structured to protect the identity of victims and sources, preventing any potential negative consequences for them. This includes guidance on aggregation, anonymization techniques, and avoiding identifiable details.
  • Impactful Presentation: Structuring the report to effectively convey findings, patterns of violations, and their impact, making a strong case for accountability and reform.
• Provide expert guidance and technical assistance to the project team in compiling and finalizing the detailed report based on the documented violations, ensuring accuracy, ethical considerations, and advocacy impact.
• Provide recommendations on effective strategies for presenting the findings to relevant authorities (prison administrations, governmental bodies, international human rights organizations) to ensure accountability and push for corrective measures, specifically advising on how to balance advocacy impact with the safety of the incarcerated women.

• The expert consultant will be responsible for delivering the following:

• Inception Report: Detailing the work plan, methodology, and timeline for the consultancy within 7 days of contract signing.
• Needs Assessment and System Design Document: Comprehensive report outlining findings from desk review and stakeholder consultations, presenting the detailed design of the human rights violation documentation system.
• Complete Set of Documentation Tools: Including standardized forms, interview guides, consent forms, data entry templates, and data security protocols (digital and/or physical).
• Pilot Implementation Report & Refined System: Documenting the pilot experience, challenges, lessons learned, and the final, refined documentation system and tools.
• Training Curriculum and Materials: Comprehensive set of materials for training the project team on the documentation process.
• Training Delivery Report: Documenting the training conducted, attendance, and feedback from participants.
• Guidance Note on Internal Referral Pathways: A document outlining clear procedures for linking documented violations to project services.
• Report Template for Documenting Human Rights Violations: A finalized template designed for safe and impactful advocacy, with explicit safety and anonymization protocols.
• Final Consultancy Report: Summarizing the entire consultancy process, methodology, key findings, and recommendations for long-term sustainability of the documentation effort and future advocacy.