  We analyze the notion of weak elimination of hyperimaginaries (WEHI) in
simple theories. A key observation in the analysis is a characterization of
WEHI in terms of forking dependence -- a condition we dub
dependence-witnessed-by-imaginaries (DWIP). Generalizing results of [1] and
[3], we show that in a simple theory with WEHI, forking and thorn-forking
coincide. We also show that, conversely, the equivalence of independence and
thorn-independence is (almost) sufficient for WEHI. Thus, the WEHI and the
statement independence = thorn-independence are morally equivalent. As a
further application of our technology, we demonstrate stable forking for
1-based theories of finite SU-rank that have WEHI.
