The International Humanitarian Fact-Finding Commission (IHFFC) is an international body that is available to perform investigations of possible breaches of

international humanitarian law International humanitarian law (IHL), also referred to as the laws of armed conflict or the laws of war, is the law that regulates the conduct of war (''wikt:jus in bello, jus in bello''). It is a branch of international law that seeks to limit ...

. The Commission may investigate matters to determine what has happened, but does not pass judgment on issues it raises.

History

IHFFC was established in 1991 and has its basis in the First Optional Protocol to the

Geneva Conventions upright=1.15, The original document in single pages, 1864 The Geneva Conventions are international humanitarian laws consisting of four treaties and three additional protocols that establish international legal standards for humanitarian t ...

, agreed in 1977.

Operation

The

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

Ministry of Foreign Affairs carries out the secretariat functions. IHFFC is headquartered in

Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...

. 76 states have joined the body. The organization has the status of a permanent observer in the

UN General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; , AGNU or AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as its main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ. Currently in its 79th session, its powers, ...

Activations

On 7 October 2015,

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF; pronounced ), known in some English-speaking settings as Doctors Without Borders, is a charity that provides humanitarian medical care. It is a non-governmental organisation (NGO) of French origin known for its projects in conflict zo ...

called for activating the commission, to investigate the deadly U.S. bombing of MSF's hospital in

Kunduz Kunduz (; ; ) is a city in northern Afghanistan and the capital of Kunduz Province. The city has an estimated population of about 268,893 as of 2015, making it about the List of cities in Afghanistan, seventh largest city of Afghanistan, and the ...

, Afghanistan. MSF says it does not trust internal military inquiries into the bombing that killed 42 people, which it considers a

war crime A war crime is a violation of the laws of war that gives rise to individual criminal responsibility for actions by combatants in action, such as intentionally killing civilians or intentionally killing prisoners of war, torture, taking hostage ...

. USA and Afghanistan are not among the 76 signatories of the IHFFC. In 2016,

again called for the Commission activation, after the bombing of an MSF hospital in Yemen. The commission received its first mission in 2017, from the OSCE, to investigate the death of an OSCE ambulance driver in Ukraine. It concluded that it was caused by an anti-tank mine and “ ven 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”.https://guide-humanitarian-law.org/content/article/3/international-humanitarian-fact-finding-commission/ Russia withdrew from the commission's remit in 2019.https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/en/ihl-treaties/api-1977/state-parties/ru

Members of the Commission

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

References

Bibliography

* 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, * 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, * 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, * 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,

External links

* {{Humanitarian Aid International human rights organizations Organizations established in 1991 Geneva Conventions International organisations based in Switzerland