Preventing Torture An Operational Guide for National Human Rights Institutions The location If you are carrying out the interview in the office of the NHRI, the surroundings should be as comfortable and welcoming as possible, with a glass of water or a cup of tea or coffee to offer the person. If you are not interviewing the person in your own offices, select a location that provides the greatest sense of privacy and minimizes the potential for eavesdropping or retaliation. The room should be as comfortable as possible and should not have negative associations for the interviewee. In places of detention, the interview should be conducted in a location where the person can feel confident that the conversation cannot be overheard. Ask the person if s/he feels comfortable and safe. Selecting an interviewer It is important to select the most appropriate person from the NHRI to conduct the interview. Issues such as gender, knowledge of the issues or the case, language skills and sensitivity to cultural differences are important considerations. In some cases, there may be no choice about who will conduct the interview. However, it is always important to reflect on how the interviewee may perceive the interviewer and whether this could create some barriers to conducting an effective interview. Ask the person if s/he feels comfortable being interviewed by a man or woman. If there is no option, the interviewer should describe his or her experience in dealing with such cases and reassure the person that s/he is sensitive to the difficulty of talking about a traumatic experience. Duration of the interview It is important for victims of torture to have enough time to tell their story at their own pace and in their own words, without being rushed or interrupted. A failure to appreciate this might mean some people are reluctant to talk. At the same time, the session should not be too long, as this could be stressful for the victim. Therefore, a balance needs to be struck between these two competing demands. In addition, it may be necessary to conduct more than one interview in order to have the story told in full. The possibility of subsequent interviews should be considered in this planning stage. However, as it may not always be possible to conduct more than one interview, you should seek to gather as much essential information as possible by asking the right open-ended questions. Learning about the case The interview may relate to an incident about which you already have some knowledge. If so, you should compile and review any available information, such as media reports, reports prepared by nongovernmental organizations or civil society groups or notes from interviews with other witnesses. Preparing questions Sometimes you may not know in advance the topic of the interview or the person you will be interviewing; for instance when a person arrives at the office of the NHRI and wishes to make a complaint. In most cases, however, you will know what the interview is about and can prepare some questions. Questions should be open-ended and non-leading. They should also focus on the key elements of who, what, when, where, how and why. However, you should not rely too heavily on a prepared questionnaire or incident sheet. It can help to memorize the key questions. Eye contact and establishing rapport with the interviewee are more important than working through a set list of questions. You can, however, refer to this list at the end of the interview to make sure that you have asked all the important questions. 46 | Chapter 5: Interviewing