Red Cross supportive of activation of IHFFC in Kunduz hospital attack investigation

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on Wednesday said it welcomes greater efforts to respect international humanitarian law in the investigation of the air strikes on a hospital in Kunduz of Afghanistan.

The remarks was made in reaction to a call by charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) for the activation of the International Humanitarian Fact-Finding Commission (IHFFC), a body set up under an as yet unused additional protocol to the Geneva Conventions.

ICRC said it would welcome all impartial investigations which could help to determine the facts behind the bombing of a hospital run by MSF in Kunduz, Afghanistan and to try to make sure such tragedies are not repeated.

"We have always been supportive of the IHFFC. If it can help to clarify the facts surrounding this tragic incident which led to the deaths of medical staff and patients in a health care facility, which should be protected under the laws of armed conflict, that would be a positive development," said Dr. Helen Durham, ICRC's director of International Law and Policy.

According to ICRC, an IHFFC investigation could be complementary to those being conducted by the United States, NATO and potentially Afghanistan.

In the early hours of last Saturday, air raids struck the MSF hospital in the Afghan city of Kunduz, capital of the northern Kunduz province, killing at least 22 people, including three children.

The UN office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) earlier on Tuesday said that humanitarian needs in the Afghan city of Kunduz are largely unknown at the moment due to lack of access and there are presently no humanitarian agencies left inside the city. Endit