International Humanitarian Fact-Finding Commission

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] In its report on the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of the creation of the agency, IHFFC noted that its services have not yet been exercised.[2]

IHFFC was established in 1991 and has its basis in the First Optional Protocol to the Geneva Conventions, agreed in 1977. The Commission consists of fifteen experts. The Swiss Ministry of Foreign Affairs carries out the secretariat functions. IHFFC is headquartered in Bern. 71 states have joined the body.[3]

The organization has the status of a permanent observer in the UN General Assembly.[4]

On 7 October 2015, Médecins Sans Frontières called for activating the Commission, for the first time since its creation, 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 at least 22 people, which it considers a war crime.[5]

Members of the Commission

as per 20 February 2017

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

References
  1. "International Humanitarian Fact-Finding Commission", Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Switzerland.
  2. Report on the work of the IHFFC on the Occasion of its 20th Anniversary ', IHFFC, p. 5.
  3. "State Parties", IHFFC.
  4. "Intergovernmental Organizations" Archived 2012-12-01 at the Wayback Machine, the United Nations.
  5. (Reuters) (BBC)

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, 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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