They aim to strengthen the capacities of FEMED member associations.
And, by the same token, relatives of the disappeared, human rights activists, lawyers, journalists, employees of associations and members of parliament, these training courses enable participants to acquire relevant knowledge and tools to combat enforced disappearances. Topics covered include: international human rights protection mechanisms, fund-raising and project development and communication, as well as victim identification and forensic processes.
FORMATION SUR LA DOCUMENTATION DES CAS DE DISPARITIONS FORCEES (3 AU 5 JUIN 2022)
L’Irak compte le plus grand nombre de victimes de disparition forcée dans la région, générées par de nombreux conflits ainsi que des épisodes violents au cours des cinq dernières décennies. Conscient.es de la nécessité d’accroitre les connaissances des associations de familles de victimes sur leurs droits et les mécanismes de protection de ces derniers, la FEMED a réuni du 3 au 5 juin 2022 plusieurs associations membres libanaises et irakiennes à Bagdad afin de leur apporter les outils nécessaires pour documenter les cas de disparitions forcées. Introduit.es aux techniques d’entretien, les participant.es ont bénéficié d’un véritable éclaircissement quant aux difficultés rencontrées pour recueillir toutes les données nécessaires
respectant les critères de recevabilité figurants dans les différents formulaires présentés par les mécanismes internationaux de protection des droits humains à l’instar du Groupe de Travail contre les Disparitions Forcées et Involontaires et du Comité des disparitions forcées (CED).
Cette même formation a été reproduite en Tunisie. Bien que la Tunisie ne connaisse que très peu de cas de disparition forcée sur son sol, elle se trouve être un endroit propice à la rencontre d’associations de protection des droits humains notamment libyennes. Dès lors, différents participants issus essentiellement d’associations membres de la FEMED ont fait le voyage depuis le Maroc, l’Algérie, la Libye, le Liban et la Turquie. Réelle plateforme d'échange, cette formation a, en plus d'apporter des connaissances supplémentaires aux participants, facilité un partage d'expérience et de véritables discussions notamment sur le travail que la FEMED pouvait effectuer au sein de chacun des pays.
formation SUR LA DOCUMENTATION DES CAS DE VIOLATION DES DROITS HUMAINS (14-16 OCTOBRE 2022)
From October 14 to 16, 2022, FEMED held a training session in Zarzis, Tunisia. The course was attended by 13 participants from human rights associations in France, Algeria, Morocco and Libya (OMDH, AMDH, APADM, CFDA, Djazairouna, AMRVT, Human Rights Solidarity), Turkish and Lebanese researchers and a delegation from FEMED.
This three-day training course, provided by Ewoud Plate, focused on documenting cases of human rights violations, and specifically enforced disappearances. The aim was to gain a better understanding of enforced disappearance, the responses provided by international and national law, and to learn how to distinguish between the essential humanitarian need to know the truth, the need for justice, reparation and the preservation of the memory of the disappeared and the acts of violence that led to their disappearance.
During the 12 workshops organized, participants were able to learn more about the characteristics of enforced disappearance, as well as its humanitarian and penal dimensions. They were also able to deepen their knowledge of international protection mechanisms against enforced disappearance. They were introduced to interview techniques and the documentation of cases with international mechanisms, notably through an exercise in filling in the questionnaire of the Working Group on Enforced Disappearances (WGEID).
The aim of the training was to encourage families and human rights associations to document their cases of the disappeared, but also to encourage them to reproduce the training in order to pass on these lessons to as many people as possible. The exercises given by the trainer encouraged the beneficiaries to participate and engage in dialogue, making this training a genuine platform for exchange, where each person was able to contribute his or her knowledge, expertise and questions to the others, thus enabling real collective reflection.
A follow-up to the training will be set up by FEMED. In addition, a WhatsApp group will be set up to enable ongoing exchanges between the various participants, mainly from member and partner associations.
TRAINING ON HUMAN RIGHTS MECHANISMS FOR LIBYAN CIVIL SOCIETY IN TUNISIA (april 20 & 21, 2015)
Training on enforced disappearances and human rights protection mechanisms was held on April 20 and 21, 2015. Initially scheduled to take place in Libya, given the current Libyan context and the exile of many Libyan civil society representatives in Tunisia, it was decided to hold it in Tunisia.
The training was organized with the support of the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network (EMHRN) and the Tunis-based Cairo Institute for Human Rights, which provided contacts of Libyan civil society figures who had taken refuge in Tunisia. The project was funded by the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) and the European Endowment for Democracy (EED). Due to the events in Libya on the weekend prior to the training, the group suffered from some cancellations. Nevertheless, 11 participants were present. A heterogeneous group made up of members of civil society, lawyers and former judges, some of them refugees in Tunisia.
The overall aim of the training was to educate Libyan civil society on the issue of enforced disappearances and human rights protection mechanisms. The training took place in three phases: a first theoretical phase covering the mechanisms and principles of human rights and enforced disappearances, a second involving practical case studies in the form of role-playing, and a final reflection phase in the form of discussion and debate.
Thanks to this training, FEMED's contacts with Libyan civil society have been diversified and strengthened, providing new contacts for the documentation of cases of enforced disappearance in Libya.
TRAINING ON INTERNATIONAL MECHANISMS FOR PROTECTING HUMAN RIGHTS AND COMBATING ENFORCED DISAPPEARANCES (JANUARY 25 & 26, 2014)
On January 25 and 26, 2014, the Euro-Mediterranean Federation against Enforced Disappearances (FEMED) organized a training session on international mechanisms for protecting human rights and combating enforced disappearances. More than twenty Tunisian, Libyan, Moroccan and Lebanese participants attended the training, which took place at the Hotel Africa in Tunis.
Throughout the course, practical exercises were carried out on the various topics covered. This created a real group dynamic. In addition, participants were encouraged to think for themselves about the "why" and "how" of enforced disappearance and how it is dealt with (particularly by the authorities). The training then moved on to a more practical aspect. Three dimensions were explored: the humanitarian or "suffering" dimension; the criminal dimension; and the "human rights" dimension.
Through these three topics of study, participants considered how to avoid the suffering of relatives and the disappeared, how to punish the guilty parties, and the duties of the state in the context of enforced disappearances. These workshops provided participants with relevant and effective tools and reflexes to combat enforced disappearances and human rights violations in Tunisia, the Maghreb and the entire Euro-Mediterranean region. The training ended with a practical exercise: documenting a case of enforced disappearance.
Formation sur L’identification des victimes de violations graves des droits de l’homme (6 & 7 février 2016)
Three trainers presented to the participants their different experiences in identifying victims of serious human rights violations, as well as the various techniques used throughout this process by their respective organizations (International Committee of the Red Cross and ICMP): database, DNA testing, anthropological and archaeological research. The fifteen participants in this training course were activists from human rights NGOs, relatives of missing persons, as well as other people interested in victim identification, such as doctors or representatives of the authorities.
As part of the activities of the Euro-Mediterranean Federation against Enforced Disappearances, a training seminar was held in Rabat on February 6 and 7, 2016.
The theme was "Information gathering in the search for and identification of missing persons". It was organized and moderated by Analia Simonetto Gonzalez of the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team.
The training course was attended by more than 15 people, including several forensic doctors, numerous representatives of civil society and, above all, many families of the missing, who are the first to be affected. It was divided into two main parts: the first dealt with the planning of the identification procedure for a missing person during the exhumation of a body; the second with the importance of compiling ante-mortem and post-mortem information, and the fundamental role of DNA.
Training ON HUMAN RIGHTS PROTECTION MECHANISMS (MARCH 15 & 16, 2009)
On March 15 and 16, 2009, FEMED organized a training seminar on human rights protection mechanisms, in particular the Convention against Enforced Disappearances. This activity took place in Rabat and brought together some twenty activists from the families of the disappeared, the AMDH, the OMDH and the FMVJ (Family Coordination Committee, a founding member of FEMED). It was organized in partnership with Aim for Human Rights.
The activists present acquired a solid knowledge base of the international mechanisms relevant to the handling of cases of enforced disappearance not resolved by the Equity and Reconciliation Commission (IER). Participants were offered a number of practical exercises concerning the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances, enabling them to submit cases of enforced disappearance to the Working Group themselves.
The second part of the course was devoted to setting up projects and seeking funding, with the help of the Sodepau association. Sodepau supports development and human rights projects in Morocco. This second part enabled the associations to assimilate the various stages involved in setting up a project and to identify potential backers for their project.
At the same time, FEMED oversaw the campaign for ratification of the Convention in Morocco, which took place in March 2009. On March 17, a delegation made up of Moroccan (AMDH, APADM, FMVJ, OMDH) and international (FEMED, Aim for Human Rights) associations met government authorities (Prime Minister's Office, Ministry of Justice, CCDH) to discuss Morocco's ratification of this fundamental human rights instrument.
TRAINING ON AFRICAN MECHANISMS FOR THE PROTECTION AND PROMOTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS (OCTOBER 21 - 23, 2016)
From October 21 to 23, 2016, the Euro-Mediterranean Federation against Enforced Disappearances (FEMED) organized and took part in two days of training on African mechanisms for the protection and promotion of human rights. These two days of training were held in the "Committee Room 3" of the Hotel Karaiba in Banjul, Gambia.
The aim of the training was to highlight African human rights protection mechanisms and techniques for the effective documentation of enforced disappearances, as well as the production of reports on this issue to the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights. The training was also designed to familiarize participants with political bodies, judicial institutions and other institutions and bodies (e.g. the Peace and Security Council (PSC), the Permanent Representatives Committee and the Economic, Social and Cultural Council).
At the end of the course, participants drew up a declaration calling on all member states of the African Union to release all disappeared persons who are still being arbitrarily detained, to eradicate the phenomenon of enforced disappearance so that this crime can be definitively brought to an end on the African continent, to establish the truth and put an end to impunity, to put in place reliable and effective mechanisms to guarantee the non-repetition of these acts, and to ensure that the safety of human rights defenders is guaranteed throughout their territory.
TRAINING IN HUMAN RIGHTS PROTECTION MECHANISMS (FEBRUARY 23 & 24, 2012)
Training in human rights protection mechanisms took place in a room at the French Institute in Mounira, Cairo over two days, February 23 and 24, 2012. Of the twenty or so registered participants, just under ten took part in the course, mainly due to the opening of the NGO trial. The fairly heterogeneous group included a psychiatrist, lawyers, jurists, a communications officer and an advocacy officer. All participants came from Egyptian human rights associations.
Throughout the course, practical exercises were carried out on the various themes covered, creating a real group dynamic. Participants were encouraged to reflect for themselves on the whys and wherefores of enforced disappearance and its treatment, particularly by state authorities, but also on the suffering of the families of the disappeared and the precarious situation in which they find themselves against their will.
TRAINING 'Using international law against enforced disappearances' (DECEMBER 9 - 11, 2009)
On December 9, 10 and 11 2009, FEMED organized a training course on international human rights protection mechanisms in Istanbul, Turkey, entitled "Using international law against enforced disappearances". It brought together some fifteen activists from various human rights associations such as Mothers for Peace, YAKAY-Der and IHD.
The training was organized in partnership with Aim for Human Rights. Participants were briefed on the various international and regional instruments dealing with enforced disappearance. Ewoud Plate from Aim for Human Rights began by reviewing the legal definition of enforced disappearance and the obligations of States in the face of these practices. The second part of the training was devoted to the possibilities of recourse before international and regional bodies in cases of enforced disappearance, and the tools for documenting cases of enforced disappearance. Finally, the third day was devoted to the International Convention against Enforced Disappearances and the provisions incorporated into the Convention.
TRAINING FOR ASSOCIATIONS OF FAMILIES OF THE MISSING (OCTOBER 16, 2010)
As part of the cycle of seminars on forensic medicine and the identification of victims of human rights violations set up by FEMED, the second training course for associations of families of the disappeared was held in Algiers on October 16, 2010.
The 27 participants from Algerian civil society and the medical world heard from a succession of experts on the various techniques used to identify victims: databases, DNA testing, anthropological and archaeological research.
Dr. Aimen Boudellaa outlined the historical and political context in which enforced disappearances were carried out in Algeria. Silvana Turner, a forensic anthropologist with EAAF (the Argentinean Forensic Anthropology Team) then presented the work carried out by her organization, whose task is to apply forensic anthropology and related sciences, in close collaboration with victims and their relatives, to recover and identify human remains, return them to the families and provide evidence in legal proceedings. She reviewed the different phases of forensic anthropology work: preliminary investigation, archaeological collection of the body and laboratory analysis.
By offering this training course, FEMED has enabled associations of families of the disappeared and human rights activists to enhance their knowledge of the various techniques for identifying victims, and to compare different national experiences (in Algeria, Morocco, the Balkans and South America).