The Inforce Foundation was established in 2001. A registered UK charity, our roots lie in the collective experience and response of a group of forensic specialists and lawyers active in the investigation of crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide (atrocity crimes) since the mid 1990s. Inforce’s Scientific Advisors and core staff also have extensive experience of mass fatality response initiatives, particularly the location, recovery and identity of the deceased following natural disasters (e.g the Asian Tsunami), transportation accidents (e.g. air crashes) and terrorist attacks (e.g. the London Bombings, July 2005).

The context for our atrocity crimes work is that approximately 203 million citizens were unlawfully slaughtered by governments in the twentieth century; a number that is, unfortunately, likely to be matched in the first century of the new millennium. This century also looks likely to bear witness to an unprecedented number of people being adversely affected by mass disasters. Inforce personnel have worked for and with a multiplicity of national and international organisations (government, UN and NGOs) initiating and undertaking such work. We are committed to providing an effective response, to establishing and disseminating protocols and standard operating procedures for such work, and to providing training for other professionals.

Inforce also aims to build forensic science and crime scene management capacity in other parts of the world, where such expertise is less well developed, to empower people to take control of their own investigations and recovery processes. Such initiatives can be part of truth and reconciliation processes which we believe to be essential for world peace in future years. It is our belief that by increasing forensic science capacity world-wide we will provide a deterrence to potential perpetrators of atrocity crimes.

The Foundation is committed to strengthening the emerging field of transitional justice, to the prevention of genocide and other atrocity crimes, and to ensuring that the victims of mass disasters are recovered and identified in a dignified, reliable and respectful manner. We work closely with other organizations and experts around the world to achieve our aims which are fundamentally concerned with improving human rights and contributing to the prevention of future atrocity crimes.

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