EPAF is currently accepting applications for its Somaliland Field School next year. The Field School will be held from March 16th to April 12th, 2015. I’ve already written a great deal about the Peru Field School and I’d like to use this blog post to highlight the Somaliland Field School and the work we have there.

Historically, Somaliland was a part of the former Republic of Somalia. For 21 years until his fall, the former leader of the Republic of Somalia, Mohammed Siad Barre, carried out massacres against the people of Somaliland. Around 60,000 civilians were killed and thousands were victims of forced disappearance before a declaration of independence by Somaliland, 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. As a result of this, EPAF engages with the local government of Somaliland and the WCIC to assist in the investigation of these crimes.

The Somaliland Field School focuses on integrating EPAF’s rights based model with the technical work of forensic anthropology. Hands on transitional justice and the combination of memory with prosecution make up the context of this school. In this field school, students experience a more scientific approach with ante mortem data collection, analysis of remains and interaction with state officials during the course of performing exhumations. By working in tandem with EPAF staff, students witness how EPAF conducts exhumations with that could lead to evidence being used in prosecutions. The field school in Somaliland also includes other transitional measures based on EPAF’s model including dignifying the dead, symbolic reparations and memorialization work that includes the planning of monuments to the victims. EPAF’s work in Somaliland also provides students the unique opportunity to assist in EPAF’s ongoing program of South-South cooperation and to see how transitional justice work is performed with in a context where the government has chosen to deal with the past and address the post-conflict scars in its society.

The excursion into the field in Somaliland will help to determine the amount of missing people through a systematic approach, ante mortem data collection and research of mass graves. Also, the Field School will assist in training the staff of the WCIC in the forensic investigation of human rights violations and war crimes. At the completion of the course, the participants will have a deeper understanding of the application of forensic sciences in the investigation of human rights violations, as well as the process involved in the examination, recovery and analysis of mass graves.

EPAF is continuing to share its expertise around the world and the Somaliland Field School is another example of this. EPAF’s current work in Brazil, Ecuador, and Mexico, among other countries, is assisting the development of new forensic teams and further advancing the vision of South-South cooperation that EPAF carries in its work. The field schools in Peru and Somaliland represent the cutting edge of EPAF’s work and the great work it continues to do here and around the world.
[content-builder]{“id”:1,”version”:”1.0.4″,”nextId”:”1″,”block”:”root”,”layout”:”12″,”childs”:[{“id”:”2″,”block”:”rte”,”content”:” EPAF is currently accepting applications for its Somaliland Field School next year. The Field School will be held from March 16th to April 12th, 2015. I\u2019ve already written a great deal about the Peru Field School and I\u2019d like to use this blog post to highlight the Somaliland Field School and the work we have there.\r\n\r\n Historically, Somaliland was a part of the former Republic of Somalia. For 21 years until his fall, the former leader of the Republic of Somalia, Mohammed Siad Barre, carried out massacres against the people of Somaliland. Around 60,000 civilians were killed and thousands were victims of forced disappearance before a declaration of independence by Somaliland, 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. As a result of this, EPAF engages with the local government of Somaliland and the WCIC to assist in the investigation of these crimes. \r\n\r\n The Somaliland Field School focuses on integrating EPAF\u2019s rights based model with the technical work of forensic anthropology. Hands on transitional justice and the combination of memory with prosecution make up the context of this school. In this field school, students experience a more scientific approach with ante mortem data collection, analysis of remains and interaction with state officials during the course of performing exhumations. By working in tandem with EPAF staff, students witness how EPAF conducts exhumations with that could lead to evidence being used in prosecutions. The field school in Somaliland also includes other transitional measures based on EPAF\u2019s model including dignifying the dead, symbolic reparations and memorialization work that includes the planning of monuments to the victims. EPAF\u2019s work in Somaliland also provides students the unique opportunity to assist in EPAF\u2019s ongoing program of South-South cooperation and to see how transitional justice work is performed with in a context where the government has chosen to deal with the past and address the post-conflict scars in its society. \r\n\r\n The excursion into the field in Somaliland will help to determine the amount of missing people through a systematic approach, ante mortem data collection and research of mass graves. Also, the Field School will assist in training the staff of the WCIC in the forensic investigation of human rights violations and war crimes. At the completion of the course, the participants will have a deeper understanding of the application of forensic sciences in the investigation of human rights violations, as well as the process involved in the examination, recovery and analysis of mass graves. \r\n\r\n EPAF is continuing to share its expertise around the world and the Somaliland Field School is another example of this. EPAF\u2019s current work in Brazil, Ecuador, and Mexico, among other countries, is assisting the development of new forensic teams and further advancing the vision of South-South cooperation that EPAF carries in its work. The field schools in Peru and Somaliland represent the cutting edge of EPAF\u2019s work and the great work it continues to do here and around the world. \r\n”}]}[/content-builder]