The Iraq History Project (IHP) gathers and analyzes personal narratives regarding past human rights violations from victims, their families, perpetrators, and others. The qualitative methodology is based on the collection of a large number of interviews from Iraqis living throughout the country and representing different ethnic/religious groups and diverse personal experiences. The interviews are carefully recorded by hand and then transmitted to a central office where they are entered into a secure and searchable database that uses Martus software.

The IHP methodology is similar to what has been used in truth commissions around the world and is designed to present a victim-centered approach to documenting and analyzing systematic human rights violations committed under the government of Saddam Hussein and the Iraqi Ba’ath Party.

The IHP and transitional justice
Over the last several decades, many countries have created large scale human rights documentation and analysis projects at the end of a conflict or during periods of political transition.

These initiatives are generally managed by truth commissions which are formal investigative bodies created by governments or the United Nations and sometimes established as part of a peace process. Similar research projects have been developed by independent bodies, such as non-governmental organizations and civil society groups. These programs -whether formal truth commissions or independent research projects- seek to establish an accurate historical record of past violations, determine responsibility, provide a forum where victims’ stories can be heard and acknowledged, and make policy recommendations.

Documentation projects of this type are a key element of what is known as “post-conflict justice” or “transitional justice”, terms that refer to a variety of strategies that seek justice and accountability following conflict and repressive authoritarian rule. Along with truth-telling initiatives, transitional justice initiatives include prosecutions, reparations, and basic governmental reforms. The IHP’s commitment to a victim-centered documentation of past violations is designed to support transitional justice initiatives in Iraq and throughout the region.

Interviews
The quality of the material gathered relies to a large degree on the skills and training of the IHP interviewers. Interviewers are selected to represent diversity of gender and religious/ethnic background. They range in age and professional background and include physicians, professors, and journalists. Before beginning fieldwork, interviewers receive training in the IHP methodology, including exercises, mock interviews, and observed interviews with victims. Interviewers are assigned supervisors who closely review their work and provide ongoing assistance and support.

Interviewers use social networks, victims’ organizations, and local non-governmental organizations to identify and contact potential interviewees. Interviewers are paired with interview subjects in a manner that maximizes their comfort and encourages the collection of detailed testimonies. For example, women are interviewed by other women, Kurds by other Kurds, Assyrians by other Assyrians, Marsh Arabs by Marsh Arabs, etc. In addition, interviewees generally work in the governorate or region where they live.

Interviews are conducted where the individuals feel most comfortable, usually in private homes or organization offices. Interviewers carefully explain the project and provide interviewees with contact information that allows them to stay in touch with IHP staff.

The interview process is designed to allow victims, their families and others to talk openly about their experiences in a manner that is both personally meaningful and useful for gathering material on both specific violations and broad patterns of abuse. Interviewers ask interviewees to speak about their experiences in an open, unstructured manner. They work in a focused, yet informal manner, listening closely to the stories presented, prompting interviewees for clarity when appropriate, and carefully recording the testimonies by hand.

Since it is difficult for many victims to discuss their experiences of past repression, interviewers devote special attention to approaching interviewees with kindness, respect, and patience. Interviews typically last many hours and, in some cases, interviews take place over several meetings.

Database
The IHP database was developed cooperatively by IHRLI and the Human Rights Program of Benetech (www.benetech.org), an organization that works with advocates to document and analyze past and present violations and support social justice and individual and community empowerment. The IHP database operates in Arabic, English and Kurdish and uses Martus software, developed by Benetech and used by truth commissions and human rights organizations around the world.

IHP staff transfer the interviews to the main office for review and entry into the project database. The material is entered into the database by specialists working under the supervision of the database manager. The database encrypts the identifying information and narratives which are stored on a server located outside of the country to protect material from tampering, theft, or accidental damage. All paper records are destroyed after being entered into the database, which is password protected and can only be accessed by authorized staff.

The IHP database allows testimonies to be retrieved individually and in groups based on a search by violation, perpetrator, location, keywords, and relevant terms, words, names, or phrases.

Analysis and presentation of findings
The IHP is currently analyzing the interviews entered into the database. The analysis focuses on a review of specific violations, patterns of repression, individual and institutional responsibility, key historical events, and case studies.

The analysis of specific violations reviews major violations such as massacres, torture, rape, and chemical weapons attacks. In addition, the analysis focuses on violations of special significance for understanding the nature of past repression such as actions taken against religious leaders and amputations. The IHP reviews the how these violations were enacted to determine broad patterns of repression, while also revealing individual and institutional responsibility.

IHP staff are also preparing a review of key historical events such as the Anfal campaign and the repression of Shi’a following the uprising as well as selected case studies. Beginning in mid-2007, IHP staff began publicly presenting its findings on Iraqi radio and through publications. The final report will be issued in mid-2008.