Further considerations In addition to the above, when deciding whether to collect perpetrator information proactively and, if collected, whether to share it and with whom, a number of additional points warrant consideration. Many are common to all human rights investigations, but are amplified when the focus is on particular individuals: • The security conditions for the various sources, including the circumstances prevailing in the country where a source resides, considered in light of the “do no harm” principle; • The intention of the mandating body; • Victim expectations, often demanding the allocation of institutional and individual responsibility; • The resources available to the investigative body, including the expertise of its staff, the time available, and its access to and cooperation of key sources; • The ability to secure information of sufficient quality to have the requisite level of confidence in the findings; • Whether any other entity is collecting information on responsible individuals, and the impartiality, methodology and scope of that entity; • Whether failing to collect such information represents a missed opportunity to further individual accountability; • The extent to which there is a coherent strategy on how the information will be used; • Whether the eventual recipient of the information will adhere sufficiently to international human rights standards; whether the assurances with respect to confidentiality (and the investigation’s undertakings to sources) can be appropriately upheld by the recipient;41 • Whether sharing information will adversely impact the cooperation of sources such as low- and mid-level defectors with insider knowledge; • The possibility that the public may mobilize to press for accountability once the responsible individuals are known; and 41 26 See “Assessing the recipient”, below. ATTRIBUTING INDIVIDUAL RESPONSIBILITY