PRACTICE NOTE 5 27 EVIDENCE STRATEGIC LITIGATION OF ENFORCED DISAPPEARANCES IN AFRICA Courts and human rights bodies have accepted the following type of evidence in cases of enforced disappearance • Victim’s testimony • Testimony of witnesses • Forensic evidence, i.e. DNA evidence, telephone data analysis, satellite imagery, etc. • Testimony of experts to provide evidence on patterns of enforced disappearance in a particular country • Government documents and reports • Various forms of media, including newspaper articles, videos, press releases • Secondary reports, i.e. NGO reports, UN reports and States' human rights reports, reports of Truth and Reconciliation Commissions The evidence presented should be reviewed as a whole and not in isolation. The evidence that is useful to prove enforced disappearance can be divided into three categories: a) evidence used to support a finding of a context, State pattern or practice of enforced disappearances; b) evidence used to support a finding of an individual enforced disappearance linked to a State pattern or practice; and c) evidence used to support a finding of an individual enforced disappearance when no State pattern of disappearances has been established. The evidence should prove that there was: (a) a deprivation of liberty; (b) the deprivation of liberty was carried out by the State or others acting on behalf of the State, or with its acquiescence or tolerance, and; (c) the refusal of the government to provide information on the whereabouts of the victim.