Aid agencies back call for investigation into 'horrific' US attack on MSF hospital

http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2015/oct/12/aid-agencies-investigation-horrific-us-attack-msf-hospital-kunduz

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A group of the world’s leading aid agencies has backed Médecins Sans Frontières’ call for an unprecedented international investigation into the “horrific” US attack on an MSF hospital in Afghanistan that killed at least 22 people.

The US has accepted responsibility for airstrikes that hit a trauma centre in the northern city of Kunduz on 3 October, killing at least 12 MSF staff and 10 patients.

MSF, which is also known as Doctors Without Borders, is calling for an investigation into the incident by the International Humanitarian Fact-Finding Commission (IHFFC), which was established in 1991 under the Geneva conventions but has never been used before.

MSF’s US director, Jason Cone, has said that a fully impartial independent investigation is required as the charity “cannot rely on only internal military investigations by the US, Nato, and Afghan forces”.

On Monday, a group of 24 charities, including Oxfam, Save the Children and Christian Aid, threw its weight behind MSF’s call and urged the UN and member states to commit to an investigation without delay.

Related: MSF hospital bombing 'violates international law'

The group, known as the Start Network, added: “The world is a safer place for all peoples when humanitarian action is respected. An IHFFC investigation, regardless of its outcome, will confirm that governments and people around the world value the Geneva conventions and the protection of humanitarian workers. Even war has limits in a civilised world.”

The IHFFC, which is based in Switzerland, said it was in contact with MSF and “stands ready to undertake an investigation”, but added that it could only open an inquiry with the consent of the international community.

MSF said it had shared the GPS coordinates of the hospital with US and Afghan military and civilian officials as recently as five days before the bombing. It also said it had notified US and Afghan officials at the start of the bombing, but the aerial raid continued for up to half an hour after they raised the alarm.

The NGOs said the incident showed “the growing lack of respect for the Geneva conventions and other international norms in conflicts around the world”, adding: “This is having a catastrophic effect on civilian populations and on humanitarian workers.”

The Geneva conventions are a set of four treaties signed in 1949 that outline humanitarian treatment during wartime.

Washington has promised to investigate the incident and US President Barack Obama called MSF’s international president, Dr Joanne Liu, “to apologise and express his condolences” about the incident.

Related: Kunduz hospital bombing latest in a long line of attacks on MSF staff

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) was the first international NGO to condemn the bombing. “Such attacks against health workers and facilities undermine the capacity of humanitarian organisations to assist the Afghan people at a time when they most urgently need it,” said Jean-Nicolas Marti, head of the ICRC’s Afghanistan office.

On Sunday, the Pentagon said it would pay compensation to the families of those killed in the airstrikes on Kunduz. The Pentagon’s press secretary, Peter Cook, said: “One step the department can take is to make condolence payments to civilian non-combatants injured and the families of civilian non-combatants killed as a result of US military operations.”

Mike Noyes, head of humanitarian response at the international NGO ActionAid, said: “This terrible bombing in Afghanistan needs independent investigation now. It was a clearly indicated hospital and protected under international law. But sadly this is not an isolated incident – civilians and aid workers are killed and injured in conflicts almost every day.

“Since this attack, airborne attacks have killed many civilians in Yemen and other bombs have hit hospitals in Syria. The growing lack of respect for the Geneva conventions must be challenged. People have a right to protection and safety under international law and the world must do more to see this respected.”