Vervolginlogging

Vervolginlogging is a term used to describe the systematic recording and archiving of persecution-related events for accountability and historical documentation. The term blends the Dutch word vervolging (persecution or prosecution) with the English logging to describe a practice common in human rights documentation and data governance discussions. It is not a standardized field, and usage varies by context.

Purpose and scope: It aims to create verifiable, time-stamped trails of incidents such as detentions, harassment, legal prosecutions, torture, or discrimination, including metadata like date, location, actors, jurisdiction, sources, and outcomes; often used in transitional justice, investigative reporting, and NGO monitoring.

Process and data model: Data are collected from court records, NGO reports, media, and survivor testimonies; structured into events with fields; use of ontologies and interoperability standards; privacy and ethical safeguards; chain of custody; access controls; risk of harm.

Legal and ethical considerations: consent of victims, protection of sensitive information, safe storage; risk of misinterpretation or manipulation; need for transparency about data provenance.

Impact and challenges: Potential to support accountability and research; requires sustainable funding; standardization challenges; risk of data biases; cross-border data sharing issues.