Geneva, 9-12 December 2019
The IHFFC assured a significant presence during the 33rd International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, which took place in Geneva from 9 to 12 December 2019. A meaningful reference to the Commission could be maintained in the Conference's resolution on international humanitarian law. A group of 16 States submitted a substantial pledge of support to the Commission which was subsequently signed by a number of other participants. In a side-event, the Commission discussed its mandate of Good Offices.
President Thilo Marauhn, First Vice-President Mikos-Skuza and Commission Member Shuichi Furuya represented the Commission which participated as an observer in the 33rd International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent.
After intensive deliberations, the 33rd International Conference adopted the resolution "Bringing IHL home: A road map for better national implementation of international humanitarian law”. The Commission notes that the resolution "recalls that States may declare that they recognize the competence of the International Fact-Finding Commission as established under Article 90 of Protocol I additional to the Geneva Conventions and that this may contribute to an attitude of respect for IHL” (Operative Paragraph 4, Resolution 33IC/19/R1)
On the occasion of the Conference, a group of 16 States submitted a substantial Joint Open Pledge to support the IHFFC (Pledge Number OP330249). Participants of the Conference can sign up to this Pledge until 31 December 2020. The Commission is grateful for the submission of this pledge and for the additional signatures and encourages all States to sign up to the Pledge and thereby send a strong signal to reinforce respect for international humanitarian law.
On 10 December, the Commission organised a side event on "Good offices and respect for International Humanitarian Law”. Moderated by President Marauhn, Ambassador Helmut Tichy (Austria), Juvenal Francisco Moreno (Colombian Red Cross) and Ezequiel Heffes (Geneva Call), reviewed the successful 2017 mission of the Commission mandated by the OSCE, and discussed prospects for further uses of good offices. The side-event was co-hosted by the Governments of Argentina, Germany, Poland, Slovenia, and Switzerland, and the National Societies of Germany and Poland.
