Justice Rapid Response trains experts on international criminal investigation
Press release 187/2016
10 October 2016
Justice Rapid Response (JRR), in collaboration with the Finnish Defence Forces International Centre (FINCENT) and the Institute for International Criminal Investigations (IICI), is organising a training course for experts on the investigation of international crimes, held 10–20 October 2016 at the FINCENT premises in Santahamina. The Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland is financing the training course.. This is the first time that a JRR training course is held in the Nordic countries.
Founded in 2009, Justice Rapid Response (JRR) is an international cooperation network that provides international organisations and States with expert assistance in investigating the most serious international crimes and in collecting and preserving evidence.
Finland has played an active role in JRR’s activities since the network was established, and has held the Chair of JRR since September 2014.
“The network’s activity is ideally suited to Finland’s foreign and development policy objectives,” says Ambassador Marja Lehto, Chair of the Executive Board of JRR.
“In its foreign policy, Finland emphasises accountability for human rights violations, also in conflicts, as well as for international crimes.. The elimination of impunity contributes to the foundation for a peaceful and stable post-conflict society, thus creating the preconditions for sustainable development and poverty reduction.”
The most serious crimes must be investigated effectively
JRR’s objective is to assist the international community to investigate the core international crimes (genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity) as well as serious human rights violations effectively and competently and to hold the perpetrators accountable for their acts. The UN independent commissions of inquiry, among others, make use of JRR’s expertise on a regular basis.
It is of crucial importance that criminal investigations are initiated and carried out swiftly and professionally, and that evidence is collected in a comprehensive manner. In earlier court proceedings concerning serious international crimes, the lack of sufficient evidence may, at worst, have resulted in the release of the accused known for their brutality .
Training courses ensure quality in international criminal investigation
One of the ways through which JRR strives to ensure quality in international criminal investigation is organising training courses where participants from various fields of expertise are trained to investigate international crimes. Thus far, JRR has arranged more than thirty training courses in different parts of the world. The current course has about 25 participants from all over the world. Apart from legal advisors, the group consists of persons with specialised expertise for instance in the following fields: the use of gender-based violence in crimes, psycho-social support for witnesses, special protection for asylum seekers, women and children, forensic medicine, and intelligence research.
An expert who has successfully completed the training course may be added to the JRR roster of high-quality experts with a diverse range of investigative expertise, who are ready for rapid deployment to situations where serious human rights and international criminal violations have been reported.. JRR’s roster now has about 560 experts representing a total of 104 nationalities. More than half of the experts are women. During its existence, at the request of national governments, international criminal courts and UN agencies, JRR has deployed experts to assist in 90 investigation missions .
For more information on JRR’s activities: http://www.justicerapidresponse.org/(Link to another website.)
Inquiries: Riikka Kinnunen, Unit for Public International Law, tel. +358 295 351 550.
E-mail addresses at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs take the form: [email protected]