Somaliland was a part of the former Republic of Somalia. For 21 years until his fall, the regime of Mohammed Siad Barre carried out massacres against the people of Somaliland. About 60.000 civilians were killed and thousands were victims of enforced disappearance before the declaration of independence, in 1991. Since its independence, Somaliland has managed to secure the political stability, economic and social development needed to investigate the atrocities committed in the past, through a War Crimes Investigation Commission (WCIC) of 6 members.
The Field Schools in Hargeisa will help to determine the universe of missing people through a systematic approach, ante mortem data collection and research of mass graves. Also, the Field Schools will assist in training the staff of the WCIC in forensic investigation of human rights violations. At the completion of the course, the participants will have an understanding of the application of forensic sciences to the investigation of Human Rights violations, as well as the process involved in the examination, recovery and analysis of mass graves and their contents.
As a norm, students will spend two weeks working in the exhumation process and two weeks in the laboratory. To reserve a place, you should ask for the application form submitting an e-mail to fieldschool@epafperu.org (the deadline is January 31st, 2015).
Places are limited. The Field School will be held from March 16th to April 12th, 2015.