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International Humanitarian Fact-Finding Commission

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The International Humanitarian Fact-Finding Commission (IHFFC) is an international body that is available to perform investigations of possible breaches of international humanitarian law. The Commission may investigate matters to determine what has happened, but does not pass judgment on issues it raises.[1][2]

History

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Geneva Conventions

IHFFC was established in 1991[2] and has its basis in the First Optional Protocol to the Geneva Conventions, agreed in 1977.

Operation

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The Swiss Ministry of Foreign Affairs carries out the secretariat functions. IHFFC is headquartered in Bern. 76 states have joined the body.[2]

The organization has the status of a permanent observer in the UN General Assembly.[3]

Activations

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On 7 October 2015, Médecins Sans Frontières called for activating the commission, to investigate the deadly U.S. bombing of MSF's hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan. MSF says it does not trust internal military inquiries into the bombing that killed 42 people,[4] which it considers a war crime.[2] USA and Afghanistan are not among the 76 signatories of the IHFFC.[2]

In 2016, Médecins Sans Frontières again called for the Commission activation, after the bombing of an MSF hospital in Yemen.[5]

The commission received its first mission in 2017, from the OSCE,[6] to investigate the death of an OSCE ambulance driver in Ukraine. It concluded that it was caused by an anti-tank mine and “[g]iven the fact that - as was commonly known - the road was frequently used by civilian traffic, any recent laying of anti-vehicle mines constitutes a violation of IHL because of the predictable indiscriminate effect”.[7]

Russia withdrew from the commission's remit in 2019.[8]

Members of the Commission

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The Commission consists of fifteen experts. On 20 February 2017 they were:

Name Position Country Member since
Prof. Thilo MARAUHN President Germany 2012
Dr. Elzbieta MIKOS-SKUZA First Vice-president Poland 2001
Dr. Mohamed Mahmoud AL KAMALI Vice-president United Arab Emirates 2012
Ambassador Alfredo LABBÉ Vice-president Chile 2017
Dr Robin McNEILL LOVE Vice-president United Kingdom 2017
Mr Abdulla Rashid S.A. AL-NAIMI Member Qatar 2017
Prof. Rachid BELHADJ Member Algeria 2017
Ms Laurence BOILLAT Member Switzerland 2017
Prof. Shuichi FURUYA Member Japan 2012
Dr. Åsa MOLDE Member Sweden 2017
Mr Mario J.A. OYARZÁBAL Member Argentina 2017
Mr Francisco REY MARCOS Member Spain 2017
Prof. Stelios E. PERRAKIS Member Greece 2001
Dr. Réka VARGA Member Hungary 2017
Dr. Justinas ŽILINSKAS Member Lithuania 2012

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "International Humanitarian Fact-Finding Commission", Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Switzerland.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Kunduz bombing: MSF demands Afghan war crimes probe". BBC News. 2015-10-07. Retrieved 2022-01-12.
  3. ^ "Intergovernmental Organizations" Archived 2012-12-01 at the Wayback Machine, the United Nations.
  4. ^ Johnston, Chris (2015-12-12). "MSF Afghanistan hospital airstrike death toll reaches 42". the Guardian. Retrieved 2022-01-12.
  5. ^ Black, Ian (2016-02-01). "Saudi inquiry into war crime claims in Yemen inadequate, say rights groups". the Guardian. Retrieved 2022-01-12.
  6. ^ https://www.ihffc.org/Files/en/pdf/ihffc_englisch.pdf, p. 19
  7. ^ https://guide-humanitarian-law.org/content/article/3/international-humanitarian-fact-finding-commission/ [bare URL]
  8. ^ https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/en/ihl-treaties/api-1977/state-parties/ru [bare URL]

Bibliography

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  • Frits Kalshoven: "The International Humanitarian Fact-Finding Commission: A Sleeping Beauty?" In: Humanitäres Völkerrecht - Informationsschriften. 4/2002. DRK-Generalsekretariat und Institut für Friedenssicherungsrecht und Humanitäres Völkerrecht, pp. 213–216, ISSN 0937-5414
  • Erich Kussbach: The International Humanitarian Fact-Finding Commission. In: International and Comparative Law Quarterly. 43(1)/1994. British Institute of International and Comparative Law, pp. 174–185, ISSN 0020-5893
  • Luigi Condorelli: The International Humanitarian Fact-Finding Commission. An Obsolete Tool or a Useful Measure to Implement International Humanitarian Law? In: International Review of the Red Cross. 842/2001. Internationales Komitee vom Roten Kreuz, pp. 393–406, ISSN 1560-7755
  • Charles Garrawaya: The International Humanitarian Fact‐Finding Commission. In: Commonwealth Law Bulletin. 34(4)/2008. Routledge on behalf of the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Division of the Commonwealth Secretariat, pp. 813–816, ISSN 0305-0718
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