ELAC report
Anchoring accountability for mass atrocities
UN investigations of serious violations of humanitarian law and human rights law play a crucial role in upholding internationally recognised standards and fighting impunity for the worst breaches of international norms. Over the past ten years, the Human Rights Council, the General Assembly, and the Security Council have directed and, increasingly, established entities to investigate such violations and make findings that directly support accountability, including of the criminal nature, in situations of mass atrocity. The consecutive establishment and high performance of three independent UN investigative mechanisms (IIIM, IIMM and UNITAD), in particular, have demonstrated the crucial role that UN mandates can play in support of accountability. These important developments have prompted reflections on how to best and effectively support UN investigative mandates once established, and how to maximise benefits and cooperation among various justice actors moving forward, while achieving efficiencies against a background of scarce resources and competing priorities.
Over the course of the past two years, a research team at the University of Oxford – in partnership with the International Bar Association and the Simon Skjodt Center for the Prevention of Genocide of the US Holocaust Memorial Museum – has carried out an in-depth study to better understand the challenges arising for UN accountability mandates and how they can be best supported moving forward.
Our study reveals that a lot can be learned from the three UN independent investigative mechanisms, and that effectively and efficiently supporting accountability moving forward requires seizing on the lessons learned and investment made to this day to build permanent investigative support capacity. Based on our findings, we advance two concrete models for building standing investigative capacity:
In addition, we advance a series of recommendations that should be implemented by states irrespective of which model might prevail to ensure the proper and efficient functioning of any standing investigative support entity within the UN.