Iraq Special Tribunal Training Programme – June 2005
In the summer of 2005 and partly based on the successful delivery of the first Iraq Training Project (see PH06), Inforce co-delivered another capacity building project. During a 14-day intense seminar programme in Bournemouth, UK, 39 criminal investigators were trained in many aspects of the investigation of atrocity crimes. The project was delivered by Inforce in collaboration with the Halo Partnership llc and DIILS (Defense Institute of International Legal Studies, Boston, USA) who covered the legal and investigative aspects. The Inforce Foundation was responsible for teaching forensic sciences and on-site investigations of mass graves as well as humanitarian issues such as victim identification. For this project Inforce designed and lead a full-scale mass grave exhumation and mortuary simulation exercise.
Whiles Halo and DIILS’s contribution was entirely seminar room based, Inforce provided a range of teaching vehicles including lectures, seminars and site visits. Inforce simulated a large-scale mass grave excavation and a mass fatality mortuary. During two visits to the excavation site, and one visit to the mortuary, the delegates were given detailed explanations of the different sciences involved in the forensic examination, and what their limitations and potential are. These site visits generated long and fruitful question-and-answer sessions and discussions amongst the delegates.
This was strengthened with a series of lectures by highly experienced practitioners on key aspects of large-scale forensic atrocity crime investigations. Not only were the benefits of using forensic evidence in criminal investigations emphasised, but practical issues such as logistics and timescale were discussed, which are crucial to any such operation.
From recent contact with these investigators, we know that this short but very intense programme has greatly benefited them and that forensic evidence is now an integral part of their daily work. The relationship between criminal investigation and forensic science is one of the fundamental principles of any successful prosecution of atrocity crimes. It was a great honour for Inforce to be part of building this capacity for the people of Iraq.
In the summer of 2005 and partly based on the successful delivery of the first Iraq Training Project (see PH06), Inforce co-delivered another capacity building project. During a 14-day intense seminar programme in Bournemouth, UK, 39 criminal investigators were trained in many aspects of the investigation of atrocity crimes. The project was delivered by Inforce in collaboration with the Halo Partnership llc and DIILS (Defense Institute of International Legal Studies, Boston, USA) who covered the legal and investigative aspects. The Inforce Foundation was responsible for teaching forensic sciences and on-site investigations of mass graves as well as humanitarian issues such as victim identification. For this project Inforce designed and lead a full-scale mass grave exhumation and mortuary simulation exercise.
Whiles Halo and DIILS’s contribution was entirely seminar room based, Inforce provided a range of teaching vehicles including lectures, seminars and site visits. Inforce simulated a large-scale mass grave excavation and a mass fatality mortuary. During two visits to the excavation site, and one visit to the mortuary, the delegates were given detailed explanations of the different sciences involved in the forensic examination, and what their limitations and potential are. These site visits generated long and fruitful question-and-answer sessions and discussions amongst the delegates.
This was strengthened with a series of lectures by highly experienced practitioners on key aspects of large-scale forensic atrocity crime investigations. Not only were the benefits of using forensic evidence in criminal investigations emphasised, but practical issues such as logistics and timescale were discussed, which are crucial to any such operation.
From recent contact with these investigators, we know that this short but very intense programme has greatly benefited them and that forensic evidence is now an integral part of their daily work. The relationship between criminal investigation and forensic science is one of the fundamental principles of any successful prosecution of atrocity crimes. It was a great honour for Inforce to be part of building this capacity for the people of Iraq.