The Commission presents this report to the States Parties in order to enable them to assess the work of the Commission.
The International Humanitarian Fact-Finding Commission (IHFFC, hereinafter "the Commission"), constituted in 1991 pursuant to article 90 of Protocol I Additional of 1977 to the Geneva Conventions of 1949, has now been in existence for twenty years. Its services, however, have not been used to date. In this situation, the Commission feels a need to evaluate its situation, to draw a balance sheet and to submit it to the High Contracting Parties having recognised the competence of the Commission (hereinafter "the States Parties").
The Commission presents this report to the States Parties in order to enable them to assess the work of the Commission. In presenting this Report, the Commission wishes to highlight the services which it may provide as a means of ensuring the better implementation of international humanitarian law. On the other hand, the Commission has been aware of, and wishes to draw attention to, the particular constraints to which it is subject in accordance with the international legal framework which forms the basis of its very existence, and which constitutes its mandate.
