BU Research Blog

The AHRC funded ‘Mass Grave Protection for Truth and Justice’ project webpage has gone live as part of the International Commission on Missing Persons’ website. For the duration of the project we will expand the page to include a ‘resource hub’ where we collate documents relevant for the investigation and protection of mass graves, such as standard operating procedures, best practice handbooks, court judgements, United Nations’ reports etc.

To ensure survivors’ rights can be more adequately protected, Dr Melanie Klinkner, AHRC Research Leadership Fellow and the ICMP have entered a partnership to develop much needed mass grave protection guidelines. The project adopts a collaborative approach and will bring together 20 expert participants from different disciplines and across the world. Over the course of the project, they will help shape, progress and finalise the mass grave protection guidelines to be published in autumn 2020. The first roundtable meeting is scheduled for 23-24 October 2019 to be held at Bournemouth University with expert-participants from Interpol, the International Criminal Court, NGOs, Physicians for Human Rights, United Nations investigations etc. taking part.

The final mass grave protection guideline will be available to download in English and in nine translated versions through the project page. This will help further the effective protection regime for the maintenance and investigation of mass graves to ultimately support survivors’ rights to truth and justice.