Undertaking Effective Investigations A Guide for National Human Rights Institutions For example, the following three-stage approach helps introduce the new investigator to investigative interviewing: Help plan and participate as the second interviewer Have the new investigator help plan an interview of a less significant witness and then let them sit in as a second interviewer (see Chapter 15 on investigative interviewing). Plan and lead the interview of a less important witness Have the new investigator plan and lead the interview of another less important witness, this time with the experienced investigator acting as the second interviewer. Plan and lead a major interview Use the same process with a more important witness. Before long, the new investigator will have developed or refined the skills necessary to lead any interview. 4. EXPERIENCE Investigating is not for amateurs. Investigators should have experience in conducting investigations. How much experience depends on the seriousness of the issue or event under investigation. Obviously, investigations of serious human rights violations require investigators with more experience. The good news is that this experience can be developed reasonably quickly. New investigators in NHRIs that do a lot of investigations will generally be exposed to a broad range of cases in a short amount of time and will gain the experience necessary to graduate to more serious cases. 5. NHRI STAFF SHOULD REFLECT THE DIVERSITY OF THEIR SOCIETY As far as possible, the NHRI’s investigations team should reflect the diversity of the community within which it operates. This would involve ensuring a gender balance, but could also include diverse cultures, ethnicities, ages, abilities and backgrounds. Diversity helps make the investigations team more effective by promoting access to and acceptance by different groups; by broadening the team’s skill base; and by increasing its ability to engage constructively with all parties to complaints. 6. WHAT QUALITIES DO GOOD INVESTIGATORS USUALLY HAVE? Patience Investigators need to be patient. They need patience to locate, collect and review large amounts of evidence and they need patience to deal with the inevitable obstacles and challenges they will encounter during an investigation. Curiosity Good investigators tend to be curious. They want to know what happened, when, where, how and why. They want to know the truth. Follow the evidence Investigators must begin every investigation with an open mind. Good investigators do not assume anything. They are prepared for anything to emerge as they begin to investigate. They do not accept or reject any possible explanation until they have the evidence to do so. 20