Why do we document atrocities? To enable criminal proceedings, would be the obvious answer. But why is that process so important for victims and their loved ones? What significance do the truth and the investigation of facts have for them? And how do they contribute to individual and communal healing?
This event will focus on the search for and protection of mass graves. Beyond the actual human remains and evidence for unimaginable atrocities they contain, mass graves also hold the long-searched truth and closure for the victims’ loved ones. They are as much sites of loss and suffering as they are sites of potential truth and justice. Joining our panel discussion will be Dr. Ellie Smith from Bournemouth University and TortureID as well as Ali Simoqy who has worked on site for the International Commission on Missing Persons with Iraqi and Yezidi communities to discuss the role this truth and justice play in the bereaved families’ healing.
Our speakers bring extensive experience in field work as well as academic reflection on this field work to the table to reflect the relationship between (transitional) justice, trauma, and healing.
