Press Release Trainings in Central African Republic | Columbia Law School

Intensive Trainings Support Investigation of War Crimes In The Central African Republic

The Columbia Law School Human Rights Clinic and Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team train Special Criminal Court of the Central African Republic police officers on accountability efforts using forensic sciences

New York, April 3, 2019 – The Special Criminal Court in the Central African Republic officially launched investigations in October 2018, aiming to try grave international crimes stemming from armed conflicts in the country. To support the collection and analysis of forensic evidence necessary for such investigations and prosecutions, in November 2018 the Columbia Law School Human Rights Clinic and the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team (EAAF) carried out an intensive training for Special Court police on complex crime scene investigations, forensic science, and the recovery of human remains.

The police officers will be responding to crimes perpetrated during a series of crises since 2000, which have led to thousands of deaths. Many of the victims were buried or thrown into mass graves, shallow pits, wells, or latrines. Scientific information about the identity of the victims and cause of death is often lacking, denying families the right to truth and the ability to afford their loved ones a dignified burial. Previous exhumations conducted without expertise, often for health and sanitation reasons, can lead to the potential destruction of vital war crimes evidence, further demonstrating the necessity of forensic training.

Senior international forensic archeologist Jon Sterenberg, and Anjli Parrin of the Human Rights Clinic and EAAF led the training, with support from Caroline Renaux. “The training equips judicial police officers to understand the link between physical evidence and testimonial evidence when investigating international crimes, and provides hands-on experience in carrying out death investigations and exhumations,” says Parrin. “With these skills, officers will be able to uncover and preserve evidence that will both bring a sense of closure to families and aid accountability proceedings.” 

The training, funded by the European Union, was conducted November 13-22, 2018, and built upon a previous introductory session carried out by the team in May 2018. The training focused on the fundamentals of investigation and the use of physical evidence within complex cases of suspected deaths. To conduct such a training, the team drew upon its expertise investigating similar atrocities around the world, including investigating mass graves created by ISIS in Iraq, identifying the remains of Argentine soldiers killed in the Falkland Islands in 1982, assisting Vietnamese officials in identifying soldiers killed during the conflict with the United States, and exhuming a mass grave in the Central African Republic. 

An officer practices sketching a crime scene to scale. Necessary
techniques to conduct successful exhumations include securing a
crime scene; managing an investigation team; documenting,
preserving, and storing evidence; drawing and interpreting crime
scene maps; understanding satellite imagery in relation to crime
scene information; and report writing.

Participants train in excavating a grave site. Four mockup mass
graves and crime scenes were created. Attendees practiced creating
a site code, taking GPS coordinates, searching for artefacts, using a
metal detector, excavating and recovering human remains,
documenting all evidence and information collected, and additional
forensic techniques.

Attendees participate in an interactive training on investigating
mass atrocities. Thirty-one participants, including all judicial police
officers of the Special Criminal Court of the Central African Republic
participated in the four-day training.

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The Columbia Law School Human Rights Clinic works to advance human rights around the world, and to train the next generation of strategic advocates for social justice.  The clinic works in partnership with civil society organizations and communities to carry out human rights investigations, legal and policy analysis, litigation, report-writing, and advocacy. The Clinic works closely with the Human Rights Institute advances international human rights through education, advocacy, fact-finding, research, scholarship, and critical reflection. It works in partnership with advocates, communities, and organizations pushing for social change. These partnerships aim to develop and strengthen the human rights legal framework and mechanisms, promote justice and accountability for human rights violations, and build and amplify collective power.

The Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team (EAAF) is a non-governmental, not-for-profit, scientific organization that applies a multidisciplinary approach to forensic sciences—forensic anthropology, archaeology, medicine, and genetics—in their investigations of human rights violations in Argentina and in more than 50 countries worldwide.

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