This chapter of a major forthcoming AI report examines the duty of the state to investigate cases of extrajudicial executions and “disappearances”. It looks at when such investigations should take place, the objectives of an official investigation and characteristics of the investigation body and the investigation itself. It goes on to examine investigation techniques, including autopsies and the role of forensic anthropology. It gives recommendations to commissions of inquiry and national human rights commissions and investigations by relatives and human rights defenders. Finally it describes the piecing together of a pattern which may indicate government responsibility, including information about the victims, the methods and the circumstances.
