Institute For International Criminal Investigation

Causes: Law & Jurisprudence

Mission: The Institute for International Criminal Investigations (IICI) is an independent international organization constituted for the purpose of educating professional criminal investigators in the techniques and knowledge necessary to impartially investigate war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide, and for the purpose of quickly deploying multi-disciplinary teams to investigate such crimes. The Institute will pursue these twin aims as an apolitical, non-profit, non-governmental organization in close cooperation with duly constituted judicial bodies, including the Ad Hoc Criminal Tribunals, the United Nations, and the International Criminal Court, with a view to gathering evidence for use in judicial proceedings in internationally recognized forum. The Institute will also assist truth commissions and other truth and justice mechanisms as appropriate.

Programs: Our major operating program is the International Investigator Course (IIC), which we offer twice a year in The Hague, Netherlands. The course is designed to provide experienced criminal investigators the additional skills necessary to the successful investigation of serious violations of international humanitarian law, including war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity. The course is distinguished by, but not divided into, three phases: the modules of ?theoretical discussion;? field trips or exercises; and a practicum with exercises. We place the words ?theoretical discussion? in inverted commas because the discussion is directed to an exposition of the various topics with a view to improving practical investigation techniques. The modules involve a great deal of directed interaction as the students, who are in the main veteran investigators, share their relevant experiences with the class. The modules deal with different areas of expertise relevant to the criminal investigator in the international arena. These "modules" are as follows: International Humanitarian Law, Military Organizations and Weapons (including how armies work, and a module on irregular forces), Intelligence and Information Gathering, Sensitive Sources, Sexual Violence in Armed Conflict, Evidence, Witness Management and Protection, Witness Statements, Working with Interpreters, Investigation Case Management, Forensic Science and War Crimes Investigation, Report Writing, Ethics, Oral Briefing, Gathering Evidence, Military Weapons and Vehicles Identification, Crater Analysis (of craters produced by artillery and mortar rounds), Checkpoint Behavior, Mine Awareness, Child Soldiers, and Srebrenica?A Case Study. We typically train up to 25 investigators per session. In addition, we plan to send Mobile Training Teams worldwide as required.