As part of the international initiative to develop a Justice Rapid Response (JRR) mechanism, No Peace Without Justice as the Interim JRR Secretariat, in close cooperation with the Argentine Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Worship; CAECOPAZ (the Argentine Joint Peacekeeping Training Centre); the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team (EAAF); and the Institute for International Criminal Investigations (IICI), is conducting a JRR Training Course for experts until the 16 May 2010. The Course is conducted with financial support from the governments of Canada and Australia and the European Union, and the support of the JRR Coordinating Group. The Course is being held at the training campus of CAECOPAZ, the Argentine Joint Peacekeeping Training Centre.
The purpose of the meeting is to certify criminal and related justice experts for inclusion on the JRR Roster. The experts will learn how to apply their expertise to JRR situations and international criminal justice-related deployment, after which they can be added to the JRR roster, helping to expand the pool of expertise represented on the roster.
The course will be attended by twenty-four experts in various aspects of international criminal investigations from 16 countries (Argentina, Cambodia, Canada, China, Colombia, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Italy, Peru, Sierra Leone , Switzerland, Timor-Leste, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay, USA). The training sessions will be led by a range of presenters including from NPWJ, , the Government of Canada, University of Galway (Ireland), the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team (EAAF) and the Institute for International Criminal Investigations (IICI). Observers from the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the International Crisis Group (ICG) will also attend the workshop.
Training sessions will provide an overview of crimes within the jurisdiction of the ICC, with a special focus on gender-based crimes and crimes against children. Other sessions will look at methods and approaches to investigating mass crimes, forensic investigations, forensic financial investigations, and challenges in working in conflict and post conflict environments. The course will also include a field simulation and presentation by the ICC Prosecutor’s office.
JRR is an international cooperative mechanism for the supply of voluntary assistance at the request of a State or international institution, where the identification, collection and preservation of information would assist a wide range of international and transitional justice options. The JRR is a stand-by facility developed to enhance the international community’s ability to assist in the provision of accountability processes for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity and to ensure that international justice plays an integral role in post-conflict peace building.
No Peace Without Justice acts as the Interim JRR Secretariat in order to facilitate cooperation of partners in the JRR mechanism and the coordination and implementation of the JRR mechanism.
For further information, contact Alison Smith on asmith@npwj.org or +32-2-548 39 12 or Nicola Giovannini on ngiovannini@npwj.org or +32-2-548-3913.
The course will be hosted at the training campus of CAECOPAZ (the Argentine Joint Peacekeeping Training Centre), Ruta Nº 8 Puerta 4 – Campo de Mayo
Draft Program of the Course
Please visit the dedicated section of the website.
