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. 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. Keywords: forced disappearance, Northern Ireland, international norms, international relations, norm theory, The Troubles, transitional justice ii Summary for Lay Audience Forced disappearances are a crime against humanity that occurs when a person literally vanishes; in other words, an individual goes missing and no information is provided to their family. Sometimes they are held captive and tortured, other times they are immediately murdered, and their body is disposed of in secret. Families are left, often for many years, wondering what happened to their loves ones and why they disappeared. Frequently, the group who committed the disappearance refuses to acknowledge that it happened, let alone that they were responsible for it. Forced disappearances have occurred all over the world, and, over time, forensic scientists have conducted investigations using state-of-the-art scientific techniques to locate the victims. As these investigations have become more common, ideas about how to conduct them and best practices in their structure, operations, and forensic techniques have been shared across different cases to make these investigations more effective. In the latter half of the twentieth century, during the civil conflict in Northern Ireland, sixteen individuals were victims of forced disappearances. In 1999, at the end of the conflict, the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims’ Remains (ICLVR) was established to investigate the disappearances. An important difference in the operation of the ICLVR has been its sole goal of returning the remains of the disappeared to their families, instead of also trying to collect evidence for criminal trials as is common in other such investigations. The ICLVR has been very successful, with the remains of 13 of 16 victims having been returned to their families to date. This project considers two aspects of investigations into forced disappearances. First, it examines how forensic investigations into forced disappearances have developed and spread around the world. Second, it assesses how the ICLVR developed and operated in the Irish context specifically, and whether the international ideas and practices about forensic investigations have influenced the ICLVR’s development and operations. This research is important because it provides an in-depth understanding of an institution that successfully investigated forced disappearances. Furthermore, the project outlines key lessons learned for similar institutions elsewhere. iii Acknowledgments Thank you to the many people who have helped to make this dissertation happen. Thank you, first, to the Social Science and Humanities Research Council and to the Ireland Canada University Foundation for supporting my research. I am also grateful to the Transitional Justice Institute at Ulster University for hosting me during my time in Northern Ireland. I owe a great debt of gratitude to every person who made time to speak to me, formally and informally during three trips to Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. You showed me exceptional grace and Irish and Northern Irish hospitality. Without these conversations, this project would not have been possible. In particular, thank you to Dr. Brian Farrell from the Dublin Coroner’s Office, Peter Jones from the Department for Justice and Equality, and Geoff Knupfer from the ICLVR, for the time you invested in speaking with me, and your energy and patience. In July 2013 the Guatemalan Forensic Anthropology Foundation hosted a field school, and I am immensely grateful to have had the opportunity to take part in their work. The families of the victims that I met in Guatemala are close to my heart always, and my conversations with them shaped this research. My fellow field school participants fundamentally changed how I think about research and about life, for which I remain indebted. Thank you to my supervisor Dr. Joanna Quinn for her patience, for creating an exceptional community of transitional justice scholars on campus, and for her guidance throughout the PhD program. I am also extremely grateful to the two other members of my dissertation committee Dr. Alistair Edgar and Dr. Adam Harmes for providing advice and feedback at various key moments that moved this project forward. To the many friends and colleagues who supported me at different points in time and in many ways throughout this project, I am very grateful for your love and encouragement. Thank you especially to Tammy for her wisdom and strength, and to my forever officemate and kindred spirit Ali for her unwavering support and kindness. Thank you to Christina, my partner in crime. Thank you for always listening, for cheering me on, for believing in me. Thank you for being there, I am so grateful to have you in my life. Thank you to Aunt Joanne and Uncle Jim for your support, and to Holly and Juliet for much needed levity. I am eternally grateful to my parents LaVerne and Maureen, thank you for everything, but especially for walking this path with me from beginning to end. Thank you for your support, in all its forms, and for offering good advice, even (especially) when I didn’t want to listen. I have endless appreciation for you, and for your encouragement to push on. This wouldn’t have been possible without you. Finally, this dissertation is dedicated to my grandmother Helen MacDonald, for inspiring, guiding, and supporting me throughout my life. I love you, Grandma. This is for you. iv Table of Contents Abstract ......................................................................................................... ii Summary for Lay Audience ........................................................................ iii Acknowledgments ........................................................................................ iv List of Abbreviations ................................................................................... ix Chapter 1: Introduction ............................................................................... 1 1.1 Forced disappearance and Northern Ireland ....................................................................................... 1 1.2 Research scope ................................................................................................................................... 2 1.3 Research questions ............................................................................................................................