Ref: 39/2011

On Friday, 17 June 2011, the Palestinian Center
for Human Rights (PCHR) and International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH)
concluded a training course on the monitoring and documentation and
establishing legal files on war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The 27-hour training course was held in Cairo
over 15-17 June 2011. There were 32 participants,
working in 18 institutions and representing three Arab countries: Syria, Libya,
and Yemen.

This course was the first of its kind in the
Arab world, which coincided with the latest developments taking place in the
Arab world, specifically crimes committed against civilians. It was held to qualify the participants to
document crimes and ensure the prosecution of the perpetrators.

The course program included several issues, the
most significant of which are:

1. Monitoring human rights: The concept and practice;

2. Documentation of human rights violations: The concept and practice;

3. Establishment of legal files;

4. Universal jurisdiction and prosecution of war criminals;

5. UN inquiry missions: Their importance and necessity and dealing
with them;

6. Human rights standards and their incorporation into national laws;

7. International Criminal Court (ICC): Establishment and procedures;

8. Categorization of a number of crimes;

9. ICC: Review of PCHR’s experience;

10. Providing information; and

11. Management of trauma caused to workers in the field of human
rights.

The training
was conducted by a number of specialized trainers: Mr. Raji Sourani, Director
of PCHR; Iyad al-Alami, Director of PCHR’s Legal Unit; Ibtisam al-‘Aydi,
Director of PCHR’s Field Research Unit; Bassam al-Aqra’, Director of PCHR’s
Training Unit; Dr. Mariana Pena and Dr. Tariq Abdul Shafi.

At the
conclusion of the course, Mr. Raji Sourani, Director of PCHR, thanked the
participants for enduring the travel exhaustion in order to attend the
course. He asked them to turn what they
had learned into action. Sourani stressed that the course constituted an
important event at three different levels. First, in terms of venue; second,
participation of distinguished Arab activists from three Arab countries; third,
the course’s content. He considered the
course as a strategic step, explaining that it would be followed by other
courses soon.

Mr. Ezz Eddin
al-Asbahi, Director of the Rehabilitation Center of Human Rights Information in
Yemen, appreciated the role played by FIDH and PCHR to disseminate the culture
of prosecuting war criminals in the Arab world. Due to the great benefit that he and the participants gained in that
course, Al-Asbahi underscored the necessity to hold similar courses in the
future.

At the end of
the course, Mrs. Stephanie David, FIDH Program Officer for Middle East and
North Africa; Mr. Raji Sourani, Director of PCHR and Vice-President of FIDH;
and Bassam al-Aqra’, Director of PCHR’s Training Unit, presented certificates
to the participants.