Western University Scholarship@Western Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository 7-28-2020 9:00 AM Exhuming norms: Examining the influence of international norms on the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims’ Remains in Northern Ireland Tamara Kathleen Hinan, The University of Western Ontario Supervisor: Quinn, Joanna R., The University of Western Ontario A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the equirr ements for the Doctor of Philosophy degree in Political Science © Tamara Kathleen Hinan 2020 Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd Part of the International Relations Commons Recommended Citation Hinan, Tamara Kathleen, "Exhuming norms: Examining the influence of international norms on the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims’ Remains in Northern Ireland" (2020). Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository. 7241. https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd/7241 This Dissertation/Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by Scholarship@Western. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository by an authorized administrator of Scholarship@Western. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. 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.