MaGMap: Mass Grave Mapping

Mass graves are sites of tremendous human suffering. The MaGMap project urgently responds to a significant knowledge and practice gap in relation to mass grave documentation and mapping. It asks: would mass grave mapping expose or protect grave sites and the evidence they contain?

The return of loved ones to families for dignified commemoration, together with the realisation of justice for victims, their families and affected communities is vital.Yet, at present, there is no system of global record keeping of the number of mass graves, nor of the victims in them.

Moreover, there is no guidance available to those engaged in ad hoc mapping processes to indicate whether and under what circumstances mass grave sites should be recorded in open source materials.

Addressing the gap in guidance 

The aim of this project is to examine where, when and under what circumstances mapping of mass graves should be avoided or kept secret so that protection is not jeopardised. 

Our outputs, three separate decision-making tools and a guide to their use -  Rights Informed Mass Grave Mapping - a guide to the use of mapping tools - fill this gap.

Led by the authors of the international standard-setting Bournemouth Protocol on Mass Grave Protection and Investigation, this project provides invaluable, fact-based guidance on the benefits and risks of open source mass grave mapping: 

1. an interactive, rights-informed process flowchart (pdf, 127kb) outlining the considerations and steps that arise as part of a mapping exercise (the ‘Flowchart’);
2. a mass grave-mapping decision tree (pdf, 115kb) outlining when and how the location of mass graves should be recorded in an open-source map, and when the publication of a site location might expose the site, witnesses, family members and affected communities to danger (the ‘Decision Tree’); and
3. a Risk Register (pdf, 118kb), as a starting point for the development of structured and effective risk-mitigation strategies.

Through this, the project will enhance protection of mass grave sites, enabling the preservation of evidence crucial for criminal investigation, and/or information that is vital to the effective identification and repatriation of mortal remains.

At a fundamental level, the project critically evaluates the underlying assumptions of mapping in human rights contexts, thereby transcending disciplinary boundaries.