Exhuming norms: Examining the influence of international norms on the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims’ Remains in Northern Ireland
Abstract
Forced disappearances are crimes against humanity that occur when individuals disappear, often occurring during a period of political conflict. During the Troubles in Northern Ireland, the conflict among Irish nationalists and British unionists between 1968 and 1998, 16 people were disappeared by Irish nationalist paramilitary forces. In 1999, the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims’ Remains (ICLVR) was established to investigate the disappearances, locate the remains and return the victims to their families.
The ICLVR is not the first institution to conduct forensic human rights investigations into forced disappearances, these investigations have become the standard approach internationally. However, little literature considers how this approach has been disseminated around the world. This dissertation considers the influence of the international norms related to forced disappearances on the success of the ICLVR. It interrogates two research questions: 1) Do international norms exist regarding forced disappearances and if so, what is their specific content? 2) To what extent have the international norms related to forced disappearances contributed to the success of the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims’ Remains (ICLVR)?
This dissertation uses process tracing based on interview and archival data, first, to demonstrate that three international norms related to forced disappearances have developed and diffused, and; second, to trace the development and operations of the ICLVR. The dissertation concludes that the key to the institution’s success is its humanitarian mandate. The ICLVR’s humanitarian mandate represents an intentional rejection of a judicial approach, which is one aspect of the norms related to forced disappearances. However, this conscious rejection of the judicial norm in favour of a humanitarian approach highlights the predominance of the international norms related to forced disappearances.