About SCM:
The Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression (SCM), is an independent, non-governmental, and non-profit civil society organization founded in 2004. It works to achieve justice, defend human rights, promote media freedom, support civil society, and encourage active citizenship. SCM has gained extensive experience in combating impunity and strengthening the rule of law.
Since 2011, SCM has held Special Consultative Status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). Its work focuses on documenting human rights violations and submitting legal files to hold perpetrators accountable, while strengthening the role of victims and their families, and supporting journalists and human rights defenders, as well as independent media as a tool for building democracy.
1. Background
In the context of Syria’s ongoing transition and the new challenges it presents for the protection of human rights and the rule of law, the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression (SCM) seeks to strengthen its capacity to monitor, document, and analyse human rights violations occurring during this period. To this end, SCM aims to develop an updated and comprehensive documentation and verification methodology grounded in relevant international standards and responsive to the nature of violations and the actors involved in the current context.
While continuing to document violations related to deprivation of liberty, including arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, torture and ill-treatment, as well as other serious human rights violations and international crimes committed during the conflict, SCM will place particular emphasis during the transitional period on monitoring and documenting violations of legal and procedural safeguards relating to deprivation of liberty; violations of the right to a fair trial; abuses in the exercise of administrative and executive powers that constitute human rights violations; discrimination on prohibited grounds, including violations based on religious or ethnic affiliation; and violations of the right to equality and non-discrimination in the enjoyment of rights, access to services, and participation in public life. Particular attention will also be given to violations of fundamental rights and freedoms, including the rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, and association, as well as violations targeting human rights defenders, lawyers, and civil society actors.
Documenting this diverse range of violations requires the development of a clear and consistent methodology establishing the principles, standards, and procedures governing documentation and verification processes. It also requires the development of a legal and methodological framework for selected priority violations, setting out the legal definition of each violation, its applicable legal basis, constituent elements and legal requirements, and the information, facts, and evidence necessary for its documentation and verification. This will enhance the quality and consistency of documentation and its suitability for analysis and use in reporting, advocacy, transitional justice, and accountability processes.
Accordingly, the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression (SCM) seeks to engage a service provider (Human Rights Documentation Methodology Development Specialist) to undertake the following tasks:
2. Scope of Work
The selected service provider will be responsible for the following tasks:
- Review SCM’s existing documentation and verification methodologies, tools, and procedures, and assess the needs and challenges associated with documenting human rights violations during the transitional period.
- Work in coordination with SCM’s team to identify documentation priorities for the current phase, including the violations and issues that the updated methodology should address as a matter of priority.
- Develop an updated and comprehensive methodology for documenting and verifying human rights violations, grounded in relevant international standards and established practices. The methodology should define the core principles, standards, and procedures governing the various stages of documentation and verification, in line with the priorities and needs identified in consultation with SCM’s team.
- Develop legal and methodological frameworks for priority violations, including definitions, legal bases, constituent elements, and classification criteria, as well as the facts, indicators, and information required for their documentation and classification, with due consideration given to international human rights law, international humanitarian law, and international criminal law, as applicable.
- Develop a clear framework for classifying violations, incidents, victims, actors, sources, and related information, including the relationships between them, in order to promote consistency in documentation and facilitate information analysis and the identification of patterns and trends.
- Establish clear standards and procedures for information collection and verification, and for assessing source reliability. This should cover testimonies, direct and indirect sources, documents, open-source information, and digital content; the corroboration of information across multiple sources; and the handling of conflicting or incomplete information.
3. Expected Deliverables
The service provider will be expected to deliver the following:
- An updated and comprehensive human rights documentation and verification methodology that responds to the documentation priorities and needs identified through consultations with SCM’s team and includes the principles, standards, and practical procedures required for documentation and verification.
- Legal and methodological frameworks for priority violations, including a definition of each violation, its legal basis, constituent elements, and classification criteria, together with the facts, indicators, and information required for its documentation and classification.
- Design and development of specialised documentation forms for each violation, incorporating the fields, questions, and indicators necessary to collect relevant information and evidence. These forms must be aligned with the developed legal and methodological frameworks and ensure data consistency and compatibility with SCM’s existing documentation system.
- A unified classification framework covering violations, incidents, victims, actors, sources, and the relationships between them, to improve documentation consistency and facilitate data analysis and the identification of patterns and trends.
- Standards and procedures for information verification, source reliability assessment, review, quality assurance, and case validation, including procedures for handling information obtained from multiple sources and addressing conflicting or incomplete information.
- Practical recommendations for aligning existing documentation tools, forms, and data management systems with the newly developed methodology and legal and methodological frameworks.
- Testing of the methodology and frameworks using a sample of cases, followed by the necessary revisions in light of the findings and lessons learned from their application.
- Training for SCM’s team on applying the methodology, legal and methodological frameworks, and the developed documentation and verification standards and procedures, together with technical support during the initial implementation phase.
4. Required Qualifications and Experience
Applicants should meet the following requirements:
- A university degree in law, human rights, or a related field. A relevant postgraduate qualification is preferred.
- At least five years of professional experience in monitoring, documenting, and verifying human rights violations, including demonstrable experience in developing or reviewing documentation methodologies and tools.
- Demonstrable experience in developing legal and methodological frameworks for documenting human rights violations, including defining and classifying violations, identifying their constituent elements and criteria, and determining the information required for their documentation.
- Advanced knowledge of international human rights law and the ability to translate legal standards into practical definitions, criteria, and indicators applicable to monitoring and documentation work, together with sound knowledge of international humanitarian law and international criminal law.
- Practical experience in methodologies for collecting and verifying information and testimonies, including conducting interviews with victims, survivors, and witnesses.
- Experience in assessing source reliability, verifying information, and corroborating information from multiple sources. Experience in open-source research and digital content verification is an asset.
- Good knowledge of the principles and standards relating to informed consent, the principle of do no harm, confidentiality, data protection, and the safety and security of victims, witnesses, and sources.
- Experience in developing documentation tools and forms, review procedures, and quality assurance mechanisms, as well as familiarity with human rights documentation data management systems.
- Experience in preparing methodological guides and standard operating procedures (SOPs), and in delivering training and capacity-building for monitoring and documentation teams.
- Previous experience working with human rights organisations or civil society organisations. Experience in transitional contexts is preferred.
- Previous experience in the Syrian context or comparable contexts will be considered an asset.
5. Required Application Documents
Interested service providers must submit the following documents:
- Curriculum vitae (CV).
- A brief technical proposal outlining the applicant’s understanding of the assignment, proposed methodology, work plan, and proposed timeline.
- A financial proposal specifying the total cost of the assignment and including the validity period of the offer, date, and signature.
- Evidence of experience in similar assignments, preferably including examples of methodologies, manuals, or tools for documenting human rights violations that the applicant has previously developed or contributed to developing.
- At least two professional references.
6. Duty Station
The assignment will be carried out remotely. The service provider must reside in a time zone no more than two to three hours ahead of or behind Paris time, to ensure regular coordination and effective collaboration with SCM’s team.
7. Contract Duration and Tentative Start Date
The assignment will have a maximum duration of three months, commencing in November 2026, subject to possible adjustments.
8. Evaluation Criteria
Proposals will be evaluated based on the following criteria:
- Technical expertise, qualifications, and technical proposal – 70%. This includes experience in developing methodologies for documenting and verifying human rights violations; developing legal and methodological frameworks for violations and identifying their constituent elements and documentation criteria; establishing verification standards and source assessment procedures; developing documentation tools and quality assurance procedures; and the overall quality, relevance, and feasibility of the proposed methodology and work plan.
- Financial proposal – 30%.
Workplace overview
The Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression is an independent, non-governmental, and non-profit civil society organization founded in 2004. It works to achieve justice, defend human rights, promote media freedom, support civil society, and encourage active citizenship. The Center has gained experience in combating impunity and promoting the rule of law.
The center has had special consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council since 2011, and its work focuses on documenting human rights violations and submitting legal cases to hold perpetrators accountable, while promoting the role of victims and their families, and supporting journalists, human rights defenders, and independent media as a means of building democracy.
Background
In light of the transitional context that Syria is going through, and the new challenges it presents in the field of human rights protection and the rule of law, the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression is working to enhance its ability to monitor, document and analyze human rights violations occurring during this stage, through the development of an updated and integrated methodology for documentation and verification based on relevant international standards and responsive to the nature of the violations and the actors in the current context.
As the center continues to document violations related to deprivation of liberty, including arbitrary arrest, enforced disappearance, torture and ill-treatment, and other serious human rights violations and international crimes committed during the conflict, the center will focus particularly during the transitional phase on monitoring and documenting violations of legal and procedural safeguards related to deprivation of liberty, violations of the right to a fair trial, abuses in the exercise of administrative and executive powers that involve human rights violations, discrimination on prohibited grounds, including violations based on religious or ethnic affiliation, violations of the right to equality and non-discrimination in the enjoyment of rights, access to services and participation in public life, as well as violations of fundamental rights and freedoms, including the right to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association, in addition to violations targeting human rights defenders, lawyers and civil society workers.
Documenting this diverse range of violations requires the development of a clear and consistent methodology that defines the principles, standards, and procedures governing the documentation and verification process, along with the development of a legal and methodological framework for a number of priority violations, which defines the legal definition of each violation, its legal basis, its pillars and legal elements, and the information, facts, and evidence necessary to document and verify it, thereby enhancing the quality and consistency of the documentation and its amenability to analysis and use in reporting, advocacy, and transitional justice and accountability processes.
Accordingly, the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression announces its desire to contract with a service provider (Human Rights Documentation Methodology Development Specialist) to carry out the following tasks:
- Required tasks
- Reviewing the current documentation and verification methodologies, tools and procedures adopted by the center, and assessing the needs and challenges associated with documenting human rights violations during the transitional phase.
- Working in coordination with the center’s team to identify documentation priorities for the current phase, including priority violations and issues that the updated methodology should address.
- Developing an updated and integrated methodology for documenting and verifying human rights violations, based on relevant international standards and practices, and identifying the basic principles, standards and procedures that govern the various stages of the documentation and verification process, in line with the priorities and needs identified in coordination with the center’s team.
- Developing a legal and methodological framework for priority violations, including defining violations, their legal basis, elements, and criteria for characterizing them, and identifying the facts, indicators, and information necessary for documenting and classifying them, taking into account international human rights law, international humanitarian law, and international criminal law as applicable.
- Developing a clear framework for classifying violations, incidents, victims, actors, sources, relevant information, and the relationships between them, thereby enhancing the consistency of the documentation process and the ability to analyze information and monitor patterns and trends.
- Developing clear standards and procedures for collecting, verifying, and assessing the reliability of sources, including testimonies, direct and indirect sources, documents, open sources, digital content, cross-referencing information from multiple sources, and dealing with conflicting or incomplete information.
- Expected outputs
The service provider is expected to deliver the following outputs:
- An updated and integrated methodology for documenting and verifying human rights violations, responding to documentation priorities and needs identified in coordination with the center’s team, and including the principles, standards and practical procedures necessary for documentation and verification.
- A legal and methodological framework for priority violations, including the definition of each violation, its legal basis, elements, criteria for characterization, facts, indicators, and information necessary for its documentation and classification.
- Design and develop specialized documentation forms for each violation, including the fields, questions, and indicators necessary to collect relevant information and evidence, in accordance with the developed legal and methodological framework, and ensure data consistency and integration with the documentation system adopted by the center.
- A unified classification framework that includes violations, incidents, victims, actors, sources and the relationships between them, which enhances the consistency of documentation and the ability to analyze information and monitor patterns and trends.
- Standards and procedures for verifying information, assessing the reliability of sources, reviewing, ensuring quality, and approving cases, including dealing with information from multiple, conflicting, or incomplete sources.
- Practical recommendations for aligning current documentation and data management tools and models with the developed methodology, legal framework and methodological framework.
- Testing the methodology and the developed framework on a sample of cases, and making the necessary adjustments in light of the application results.
- Training the center’s team on the application of the developed methodology, legal and methodological framework, documentation and verification standards and procedures, and providing technical support during the first phase of implementation.
- Required qualifications and experience
- A university degree in law, human rights, or a related field; a relevant postgraduate degree is preferred.
- At least five years of professional experience in monitoring, documenting and verifying human rights violations, including proven experience in developing or reviewing documentation methodologies and tools.
- Proven experience in developing legal and methodological frameworks for documenting human rights violations, including defining and classifying violations, identifying their elements and standards, and the information necessary for documenting them.
- Advanced knowledge of international human rights law and the ability to translate legal standards into practical definitions, criteria and indicators usable in monitoring and documentation work, along with a good knowledge of international humanitarian law and international criminal law.
- Practical experience in methodologies for collecting and verifying information and testimonies, including conducting interviews with victims, survivors, and witnesses.
- Experience in assessing the reliability of sources, verifying information, and cross-referencing it from multiple sources, preferably with experience in verifying open sources and digital content.
- Good knowledge of the principles and standards relating to informed consent, non-harm, confidentiality, data protection, and the safety of victims, witnesses, and sources.
- Experience in developing documentation tools and templates, review procedures, quality assurance, and knowledge of human rights documentation data management systems.
- Experience in preparing methodological guides and standard operating procedures, and in training and building the capacities of monitoring and documentation teams.
- Previous experience working with human rights or civil society organizations, preferably in transitional contexts.
- Previous experience in the Syrian context or in similar contexts is an added advantage.
- Documents required for application
- the biography.
- A brief technical presentation demonstrating the applicant’s understanding of the task, the proposed methodology for its implementation, and the proposed work plan and timeline.
- A financial offer that shows the total cost of the task, including the offer’s validity, date, and signature.
- Proof of experience in similar work, and preferably attaching examples of methodologies, evidence, or tools for documenting human rights violations that the applicant has previously developed or contributed to developing.
- At least two professional references.
- Work site
Online/remote, provided that the service provider’s place of residence is within a time zone where the time difference does not exceed two to three hours from Paris time, in order to ensure the possibility of coordination and regular work with the center’s team.
- Work history
The maximum duration for completing the tasks is three months, starting from November 2026, with the possibility of modifying the start date.
- Evaluation Standard
- Experience, technical qualifications and technical presentation (70%), including experience in developing methodologies for documenting and verifying human rights violations, developing legal and methodological frameworks for violations, identifying their elements and documentation standards, developing verification standards, evaluating sources and documentation tools and quality assurance procedures, in addition to the quality and suitability of the proposed methodology and work plan for carrying out the task.
- Financial offer (30%).
How to apply
Interested service providers must submit their proposals by email only, attaching all required documents, to the email address specified below. The subject line must read:
“Human Rights Documentation Methodology Development Expert”
Proposals sent to any other email address or submitted without the required attachments will be rejected.
We also encourage interested applicants to submit any questions for clarification prior to proposal submission.
Only shortlisted candidates will be notified within one week of the submission deadline. Shortlisted candidates may be invited to participate in an interview as part of the evaluation process.
Bids Submission Deadline
30.10.2026
Email for Submission of Bids
jobs@scm.org ngo
Email for Inquiries / Questions
Contract Duration
Three Month
Expected Start Date of Implementation
05.11.2026
- How to apply:
Interested service providers should submit their proposals via email only, attaching all required documents, to the email address shown below, with the subject line: “Human Rights Documentation Methodology Development Expert”.
Offers sent to a different email address or without attachments will be rejected.**** We also encourage interested parties to send us their questions regarding any clarifications before submitting an offer.
Only shortlisted applicants will be notified within one week of the application deadline, and selected candidates may be required to attend an interview as part of the evaluation process.
The deadline for submitting bids
30.10.2026
Email address for submitting tenders/offers
jobs@scm.org ngo
Email for questions
Contract duration
three months
Expected start date for implementation (preliminary date)
05.11.2026