About the IICI

INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIONS

The IICI is a non-profit, non-governmental organisation dedicated to the capacity-building and support of international criminal and human rights investigators and related professionals in the investigation of war crimes, genocide crimes against humanity and serious human rights violations, and to strengthening international investigation best practices and standards.

IICI was founded at the time of the establishment of the International Criminal Court, in recognition that, despite the more widespread application of international criminal law, there was no comprehensive training programme for investigators of international crimes.

Since its inception, IICI has trained and mentored hundreds of investigators across the world in the hard skills and techniques necessary to acquire evidence of a standard which will stand up to scrutiny in criminal courts, human rights commissions and elsewhere, and allow perpetrators of mass atrocities to be brought to justice.  We conduct our regular courses in The Netherlands.  Our bespoke capacity-building and technical advisory projects are delivered globally, from Asia, the Middle East and Europe to Africa and Latin America.

Course participants and project beneficiaries include national war crimes units, the International Criminal Court, the OHCHR and other UN agencies, UN and other peacekeeping missions and forces, national human rights bodies, and local and international NGOs.  IICI is the training provider for Justice Rapid Response (JRR) in relation to its rapid-deployment roster of experts and for JRR-UN Women in relation to their sub-roster of SGBV experts.

IICI teaches core skills, but also seeks to develop new ones amongst the international criminal investigation community, including most recently:

  • investigating conflict-related sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV)
  • international crimes affecting children
  • collection and evaluation of open-source evidence of international crimes
  • investigating financial dimensions of international crimes

IICI contributes to the development, clarification and strengthening of international investigations standards and best practices through our capacity-building and experts’ advisory work, including written guidelines to plug gaps, such as the IICI guidelines for investigating conflict-related sexual violence against men and the forthcoming IICI guidelines for investigating international crimes affecting children.

IICI has also supported the development and implementation of the International Protocol on the Documentation and Investigation of Sexual Violence in Conflict (1st and 2nd editions), including through training and mentoring projects and by developing training materials accompanying the protocol and developing supplements to the protocol for Myanmar, Iraq and Sri Lanka.

IICI’s most recent contribution to the policy field is in leading the collaborative global initiative to develop the Global Code of Conduct for Gathering and Using Information about Systematic and Conflict-Related Sexual Violence (the “Murad Code”).

Legal status and governance

The organisation is comprised of the Institute for International Criminal Investigations (IICI) and the Institute for International Criminal Investigations Foundation (IICIF). IICI is an American 501c(3) tax-exempt corporation incorporated in the State of California.  IICIF is a Dutch charitable foundation based in The Hague, The Netherlands.

The People page explains IICI’s day-to-day management and governance structures.

Financing and Support

The IICI is grateful for the continued support of the ICC, ICTY, the MICT and other UN and international organisations in making their staff members available as pro bono trainers on IICI courses.  We also want to thank Civitas Maxima and other partner organisations for making their staff available to assist as trainers, mentors and moderators.

The Institute is funded by grants from foundations, government agencies and partner organisations, and donations from individuals. The IICI depends on these grants and donations to continue its work and is grateful for the support provided to date, particularly by the Oak Foundation, the Sigrid Rausing Trust and, for the Murad Code Project during 2023-26, the Government of Canada through its Global Affairs Canada, but also by the following since IICI’s foundation:

The Government of Austria, Austrian Development Aide – Uganda Justice Law and Order Sector
The Government of Denmark, Ministry for Foreign Affairs
The Government of Finland, Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs
The Government of Canada, Human Security Program
The Government of Ireland, Irish Aid
The Government of Ireland, Irish Department of Foreign Affairs, Development Cooperation Directorate
The Government of France, The French Embassy in The Hague
The Kingdom of Lesotho
The Government of The Netherlands, The Mayor’s Office, The City of The Hague
The Government of New Zealand, The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of New Zealand
The Government of Sweden, Ministry of Foreign Affairs
The Government of the United Kingdom, The British Foreign & Commonwealth Office (including the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative)
The United States Institute of Peace
The Agence Intergouvernementale de la Francophonie
The Bodyshop Foundation
Clarence & Snell LLP
The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
The John Merck Foundation /
The Lisbet Rausing Trust
The Open Society Institute
The Potrero Nuevo Fund / The Reebok Foundation
Philanthropic Ventures Foundation
Polar Lights FoundationWilliam Chrisman
Morrison & Foerster
Beth Van Schaack and Dennis Lang
M. Quinn Delaney & Wayne D. Jordan
Robert & Sheila Berner
Nancy Pemberton & Jeff Parker
Gerald Gray & Coleen Higa
Cris Arguedas
Karen Snell & Raymond McGrath
Jeffrey L. Bornstein & Veronica Sanchez
Nanci Clarence & Lidia Szajko
Seamus & Debra Kennedy
William Goodman & Victoria Belco
Elizabeth Van Schaack & Brent Dennis Lang
James M. Byrne
Thomas Eastridge
Paul Meltzer
David Miller & Cynthia Moore
Jeffrey S. Ross & Jan Platt
Richard Snell & Alice W. “Dinky” Snell
Jabari Gray
Richard Grosboll
Sarah McGrath
David Kadish
Robert Luskin & Charlotte Fallon
Ed Swanson & Mary McNamara
Geri Webb
Tony Tamburello
Monique & Cesar Alonso
Michael & Cathy Doogan
Gilbert Eisenberg
Stuart Hanlon
Jonathan V. Holtzman
Lisa Honig
Richard B. & Maria Mazer
Naomi Rustomjee
Marilyn Berlin Snell & Gregory Williams
Jacqueline Tully & Beth Aboulafia
Douglas R. & Terry F. Young
Elizabeth Zitrin & The Zitrin Foundation
Denise M. Alter
Ronald P. & Madeleine M. Gallagher
Bruce B. Henderson
Anne Lackey & Kevin Rayhill
James Larson & Susan Illston
Matthew McGrath & Randi Field
Jose M. Cisneros & Mark Kelleher
Tom Drain & Roy Loesser
Patricia Koren & Robert Siegel
Janet M. & Barry J. Portman
Rachel Sommerville & Tom Athanasiou
Russell Stetler
Gideon Weil & Jacquelyn Weil
Gloria White
Cheri Bryant
Zoe Christopher
Megan Dane Colling
Omar M. Dajani & Jean-Marie Stratigos
Melody Ermachild
Deborah Regina
Carol Pemberton

IICI would also like to thank AKD International for making Winfried van den Muijsenbergh available to do his generous pro bono work on behalf of the Institute.

Annual Reports