The International Human Rights Law Institute (IHRLI) at DePaul University College of Law in Chicago has been awarded a $1.8 million grant from the U.S. State Department for two new human rights projects in Iraq. One project will document and analyze human rights violations committed by Saddam Hussein’s regime, and the other will provide comprehensive human rights training for officials and staff in the new Iraqi government.

“This grant is part of IHRLI’s continuing commitment to help rebuild legal institutions and promote human rights in Iraq,” said M. Cherif Bassiouni, president of the IHRLI and an internationally recognized expert on human rights law.

The first project, “Testimonies of Political Violence,” will gather and analyze narratives of human rights violations committed against citizens of Iraq during Hussein’s rule. The institute will train and supervise a staff of more than 50 Iraqi interviewers, data entry specialists and analysts who will gather personal narratives from victims and relatives of victims, record and transcribe oral histories from selected victims and prepare a series of case studies.

Information collected in interviews will be recorded in a database that will allow for complex analysis of specific violations, the identification of perpetrators and the determination of broad patterns of repression. The information entered in the database will automatically be encrypted and stored on a server located outside of the country. At the end of the year-long project, staff will prepare a series of reports to be published in English, Arabic and Kurdish.

“The overall goal of this project is to assist Iraqis in creating an accurate, victim-based historical record of past atrocities,” said Daniel Rothenberg, an IHRLI research director who will help oversee the two new initiatives. “We will be flexible in our approach to collecting information in order to respect victims’ needs and to ensure safety and confidentiality.”

The second project, “Educating for Democracy,” will build on the institute’s 20 years of experience managing human rights and rule of law research advocacy in the Arab world, as well as on its contacts and relations with officials in the Iraqi administration. The initiative will provide human rights training to representatives of key government sectors including the Ministries of the Interior, Defense, Education, Higher Education, Information, and Human Rights, as well as the Council of Judges. The project also will serve civil society organizations, including human rights groups and media organizations.

Training materials will be created in Arabic and Kurdish on a variety of human rights issues including: international treaties, United Nations systems, the structure and operation of international civil society organizations and agencies, and the importance of integrating human rights principles into domestic laws and policies. These materials will link key human rights ideas with Shari’a (existing Iraqi law), post-conflict justice and issues related to the current democratic transition.

The new grant allows IHRLI to further its work to help rebuild legal institutions and promote human rights in Iraq. IHRLI has a series of projects in Iraq which have been supported through grants and sub-grants from the United States Agency for International Development, the American Bar Association and other funders.

Established in 1990 within DePaul’s College of Law, the institute has worked in areas throughout the world that have suffered the ravages of conflict, including the former Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, El Salvador, Guatemala and Iraq.