As part of its goal to build a Virtual Site of Conscience, Ensaaf is creating a searchable, tagged video archive of 200 oral histories, exploring key human rights themes and survivor perspectives. We need your help to fully produce each video and get them ready for the Virtual Site of Conscience. Please help us complete the first set of videos!

Each family has trusted us with their story to make their voices reach the international community. The Virtual Site of Conscience will include an immersive sensory experience, data visualizations, documentary films and video testimonials, a portrait gallery, an advocacy interface, a human rights archive, and a resource center. The video testimonials present the unique oral history of each survivor’s story.

The two videos featured in this project focus on the torture of family members of those disappeared or unlawfully killed by security forces. Here’s how your donation makes an impact: it costs $2500 to produce each video. Pre-production costs include field data collection, translation of free text, and writing the case summary. Production costs include travel and filming in Punjab. Post-production costs include transcription of the video, organizing the transcript and material, creating story point documents, editing, adding subtitles, reviewing the video, and incorporating feedback.

VIDEO ONE: CHARNJIT KAUR

Indian security officials abducted Charnjit Kaur from her home at 4:30 in the morning, covering her face with her own scarf. They tortured her for five days in illegal detention, stretching her legs apart more than 180 degrees, and waterboarding her. They were looking for her son, Jagjit Singh. Later, Punjab Police officials “disappeared” her son. He was 16 years old.

VIDEO TWO: DILJIT SINGH

After security officials of the CIA Staff tortured Diljit Singh for 10 days, he lost the ability to walk. “They hung me upside down, ripped apart my buttocks, and used rollers on me,” Singh told Ensaaf. “When they did not learn anything from me, they put peppers in the water, stripped me naked, and placed me inside the peppered water. The peppered water irritated my private parts. It would have been better if they had killed me instead. Then, after police officials beat me, they poured cold water on me. Since then, my legs do not work. Now, because of the beatings, I cannot walk and just stay in bed.” CIA Staff officials unlawfully killed his brother, Gurdeep Singh, and also tortured several other members of Singh’s family.