Oxford Research Group's (ORG) Every Casualty programme launched the Charter for the Recognition of Every Casualty of Armed Violence on 15 September 2011 at the British Academy in London. The launch event was chaired by British Academy President, Sir Adam Roberts. Over 80 representatives from media organisations, states and civil society organisations attended.
The Charter is open to organisational endorsement and will be used in the Every Casualty programme's future campaign whose aim is to implement casualty recording in situations of armed violence.
If your organisation wishes to support the Charter, please contact Jacob Beswick at everycasualty@oxfordresearchgroup.org.uk.
The presenters at the launch included Hamit Dardagan of Oxford Research Group and Iraq Body Count, Wissam Tarif of INSAN, as well as Sandra Orlovic and Bekim Blakaj of the Humanitarian Law Centre-Serbia and the Humanitarian Law Centre-Kovoso, respectively. All four organisations are among the founding members of the ORG-facilitated International Practitioner Network (IPN).
Dan Smith, Secretary General of International Alert, also spoke to endorse the Charter. The President of the British Academy, Sir Adam Roberts, chaired the launch. In his opening remarks he said:
Governments increasingly recognise the salience of civilian casualties. If so, why not a willingness to record the civilian casualties we claim to care about so much?
Each of the presenters elaborated how the Charter's core demands are important to their work, but also how they are necessary standards for the world community.
The Charter's core demands include that every casualty of armed violence is:
Promptly recorded;
Correctly identified; and
Publicly acknowledged.
Video of the launch event of the Charter for the Recognition of Every Casualty of Armed Violence from Daniel Ridicki on Vimeo.
The Charter is the outcome of extensive consultations by ORG’s Every Casualty programme and the shared interest amongst the practitioners who are members of the newly formed International Practitioner Network (IPN) of casualty recorders.
The IPN is dedicated to developing the practice of casualty recording by researching existing practice, as well as by working together on joint projects. The public launch of the Charter followed the IPN’s first-ever conference, held in London in September this year. It brought together representatives from over 20 IPN member organisations, as well as expert representatives of other organisations not formally affiliated with the Network.
The Charter's public launch marks the beginning of Every Casualty’s campaigning activities, which seek to realise a dedication, as well as a recognised obligation, amongst states and parties to armed violence to record the casualties caused in such environments.
For strategic reasons elaborated in the Explanatory Notes, the Charter directs its call to states, but maintains that all parties to armed conflict and violence ought to fulfil its core demands.
If you wish to learn more about the Every Casualty campaign, or if your organisation wishes to join the campaign, please contact us at everycasualty@oxfordresearchgroup.org.uk.
Additionally, if you wish to endorse the Charter, please contact everycasualty@oxfordresearchgroup.org.uk. Please know that an endorsement does not obligate you and your organisation to participation in the campaign, and we welcome your support in whatever way you see fit.
View an up-to-date list of the Charter signatories here.
To read the press release for the Charter launch, click here.
To read news coverage of the Charter and launch event, click here
Watch an interview with participants from the Recording Every Casualty Conference.
More Videos
1. Wissam Tarif of INSAN on the launch of the Charter for the Recognition of Every Casualty of Armed Violence:
2. About the Kosovo Memory Book:
3. Casualty Recording Practicioners, Sandra Orlovic and Bekim Blakaj, of the Humanitarian Law Centres Serbia and Kovoso:
Further Reading
To read the Charter in full: A Charter for the Recognition of Every Casualty of Armed Violence.
Read the Working Explanatory Notes on the Charter for the Recognition of Every Casualty of Armed Violence.
Read more about our Every Casualty programme.
To learn more about the legal underpinning for casualty recording, visit our Making Casualty Recording a Legal Requirement project.
Click here to get information about the ORG facilitated International Practitioner Network (IPN).