Kabul 2007 Training/Kandahar 2008 Field Training

In June 2007, the Crimes of War Project and the Killid Group entered into a one year partnership to raise awareness of international human rights and humanitarian laws and to investigate violations.  The project entitled, “Building Public Pressure for Action on Human Rights through Media Reporting of Rights Violations and Advocacy” is supported by the Open Society Institute and Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC).

The specific objective of the training was to improve understanding of human rights and international humanitarian law and to teach journalists how to investigate and document war crimes.  The overall goal was to help journalists produce and disseminate nationally and internationally in-depth content on incidents of violations in order to build public pressure for accountability and to end the current culture of impunity. 

Materials Developed

The Book: The Killid Group translated and reprinted Crimes of War 2.0. into Dari and Pashto for distribution to Afghan journalists/editors, key decision makers and government officials, academics, human rights defenders and libraries and universities.

Training Manual: In preparation for the training workshops, the Crimes of War Project produced a training manual on human rights and international humanitarian law with a special emphasis on gender-based violations and investigating and documenting war crimes.   The manual followed the Crimes of War presentation given at previous workshops but included more detailed information, examples, and exercises that could be used by the participants in the future as a reference point for their reporting.

Highlights from the November 2007 Training Workshop

In November 2007, the Crimes of War Project and the Killid Group held a three day nation-wide media training workshop on investigating war crimes and other violations at the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul for 30 selected journalists.   The training began with an opening ceremony attended by the media, workshop participants, trainers, and select government representatives.  Speakers at the opening ceremony included the Deputy Minister of Information and the Deputy Minister of the Interior, in addition to representatives from the Crimes of War Project and the Killid Group.

Trainers for this workshop included: Anthony Dworkin, Executive Director of the Crimes of War Project; James Rupert, Bureau Chief in Islamabad for Newsday; Patricia Gossman, Director of the Afghanistan Justice Project; and Niamatullah Ibrahimi, former director of Afghan Professionals for the International Criminal Court and former researcher at the International Crisis Group. 

All 30 participants gained a comprehensive insight into the theoretical and practical application of human rights law, international humanitarian law, and transitional justice mechanisms in addition to strengthening their investigative reporting techniques.  Prior to the training, most of the participants readily admitted they did not know that there was a legal framework that governed both internal and international conflict and what legal rules apply in both.

Kandahar Training

Following the initial training workshop, the Crimes of War Project continued to consult with and advise the most promising journalist trainees on their investigative reporting.  In April 2008, the Crimes of War Project and the Killid Group held a 10 day field training in Kandahar with these journalists to provide them practical knowledge and assist them in their investigative reporting on specific cases of alleged violations.

More trainings to follow.

If you are interested in finding out further information about the training offered by the Crimes of War Project, please contact Marika Theros at [email protected] or call our Washington DC office on +1 202 638 0230.

Related Links

Open Society Institute

International Development Research Centre

ICRC

Afghanistan Justice Project

UNAMA

Internews

International Crisis Group

Open Media Fund for Afghanistan

Oxfam Novib