Swakopmund, Namibia, 14 - 15 June 2017
Dr Robin McNeill Love, Vice-President IHFFC, was privileged to be invited to represent the IHFFC at the Fourth Meeting of Representatives of Commonwealth National Committees on International Humanitarian Law (IHL) which took place in Swakopmund, Namibia from 14 to 15 June 2017. This event was co-hosted by the Government of Namibia, the Namibia Red Cross Society and the ICRC, with the support of the Commonwealth Secretariat and the British Red Cross.
On day 1 of the Meeting, Dr McNeill Love joined a discussion panel concerning ‘Contemporary challenges to IHL’. He gave a presentation on the creation, competencies, membership and jurisdiction of the IHFFC. Acknowledging the 40th Anniversary of the Additional Protocols to the Geneva Conventions, the Chair noted that it was apt that the work of the IHFFC was being discussed.
Extracts from the Meeting Outcome Document, dated 15 June 2017, states as follows:
Representatives of Commonwealth National Committees on International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and Commonwealth Governments meeting in Swakopmund, Namibia from 14 to 15 June 2017, … hereby agree, where appropriate, to: [in Outcome Statement 6] "Encourage States to recognise the competence of the International Humanitarian Fact-Finding Commission (IHFFC), and to make use of its services, where applicable;”...
Receiving mention in the Outcome Document was clearly a very positive and welcome outcome for the IHFFC. The IHFFC’s prominence has been raised within Commonwealth States and it is to be hoped that more Commonwealth States will recognise the competence of the IHFFC and indeed consider using the services of the IHFFC in the future.
