COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS
Fifty-fourth session
Item 8 of the provisional
agenda
QUESTION OF THE HUMAN RIGHTS OF ALL PERSONS SUBJECTED TO
ANY FORM OF DETENTION OR IMPRISONMENT
Human rights
and forensic science
Report of the
Secretary-General
CONTENTS
Introduction
I. CONSULTATIONS CONDUCTED BY THE
SECRETARY-GENERAL
A. Comments received from Governments
B. Comments received from the International Criminal Tribunal for
the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY)
C. Information received from the Victoria Institute of Forensic
Medicine (Australia)
D. Fact-finding situations as reported by mechanisms of the
Commission on Human Rights and other relevant United Nations bodies in
connection with medico-legal investigations related to alleged human rights
violations
II. ESTABLISHMENT OF A LIST OF FORENSIC EXPERTS AND EXPERTS IN
RELATED FIELDS
III. COOPERATION SERVICE AGREEMENT
IV. FUTURE ACTIVITIES
Annexes
I. Recommended experts and institutions
II. Cooperation service agreement
III. Special Service Agreement
Introduction
1. At its forty-eighth
session, the Commission on Human Rights adopted resolution 1992/24 in response
to the perceived need to create, under United Nations auspices, a standing
team of forensic experts and experts in other related disciplines to assist in
the identification of probable victims of human rights violations or in the
training of local teams for the same purpose. In compliance with resolution
1992/24, the Secretary-General submitted a report (E/CN.4/1993/20) to the
Commission on Human Rights at its forty-ninth session in which he noted the
increasing references by experts of the Commission on Human Rights to the need
for forensic expertise in the determination of alleged violations brought to
their attention and the prevailing difficulties in obtaining such assistance.
2. At its forty-ninth session, the Commission on Human Rights adopted
resolution 1993/33 in which the Commission, welcoming the report of the
Secretary-General, requested him "to consult with Governments, relevant
United Nations bodies, professional organizations of forensic experts, the
organizations mentioned in his report and other interested institutions with a
view to identifying individual experts who might be asked to join forensic teams
or to provide advice or assistance to thematic or country mechanisms, advisory
services and technical assistance programmes". The Commission also requested the
Secretary-General to establish "a list of forensic experts and experts in
related fields who could be requested to help international mechanisms in the
field of human rights, Governments and the Centre for Human Rights in providing
technical and advisory services, advice in regard to the monitoring of human
rights violations and training of local teams and/or assistance in the
reunification of families of the disappeared". The Secretary-General was further
requested to make the aforementioned list available to the special rapporteurs
and experts of United Nations human rights mechanisms so that they might
draw upon the list in carrying out their mandates. Finally, the
Secretary-General was requested to report to the Commission at its fiftieth
session on progress made in this area and to make such recommendations as he
considered appropriate.
3. In compliance with resolution 1993/33, the
Secretary-General submitted a report (E/CN.4/1994/24) to the Commission on Human
Rights at its fiftieth session in which he presented a list of forensic
experts and institutions recommended by Governments and non-governmental
organizations. He also underlined the need to articulate a standard arrangement
such as a cooperative service agreement regulating the status of experts, their
methods of work, and other relevant matters including issues of finance and
confidentiality. To this end, he noted that the agreement between the
United Nations and Physicians for Human Rights (E/CN.4/1993/20, annex)
might serve as a useful basis for future arrangements in the field. Further, he
emphasized the need to elaborate a comprehensive set of principles and
guidelines to be observed in investigations conducted under United Nations
auspices. He concluded the report by noting that in order to respond to the need
for appropriate financing of consultations and eventual specific investigations
conducted under United Nations auspices, as well as the voiced desire to
obtain training of forensic experts for investigations conducted under the
auspices of governmental bodies, the establishment of a voluntary fund might be
considered.
4. In compliance with resolution 1994/31, the
Secretary-General submitted a report (E/CN.4/1996/41) to the
Commission on Human Rights at its fifty-first session in which he presented
the list of organizations and individual experts in forensic science put forth
by Governments and non-governmental organizations. A cooperation service
agreement and a standard Special Service Agreement had been prepared, as
requested, and included in the report.
5. At its fifty-second session,
the Commission on Human Rights adopted resolution 1996/31 in which the
Commission, welcoming the report of the Secretary-General and the provisional
list of organizations and individual experts in forensic science compiled by the
Secretary-General in his reports, requested him again to consult with
Governments, relevant United Nations bodies, professional organizations of
forensic experts, the organizations mentioned in his reports of 1993, and 1994
and 1996, as well as and other interested institutions with a view to:
(a) Identifying individual experts who might be asked to join forensic
teams or to provide advice or assistance to thematic or country mechanisms,
advisory services and technical assistance programmes;
(b) Submitting
biographical data on the experts, including professional qualifications, current
employment, contact address, gender (the nomination of female experts is
encouraged) and the kinds of assistance they could provide; and
(c)
Seeking their further advice as to the elaboration of principles, guidance,
procedures, mechanisms, practical experience and training, in addition to the
Manual on the Effective Prevention and Investigation of Extra-legal,
Arbitrary and Summary Executions.
1. The Commission also requested
the Secretary-General to continue efforts to establish, on the basis of these
consultations and on the basis of continuing efforts on the part of the Working
Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances, to render active assistance, a
list of forensic experts and experts in related fields who could be requested to
help international mechanisms in the field of human rights, Governments and the
Centre for Human Rights in providing technical and advisory services,
advice in regard to the monitoring of human rights violations and training of
local teams and/or assistance in the reunification of families of persons who
have disappeared. It further requested him to update this list and to make
annually available to the working groups, special rapporteurs and experts of the
United Nations human rights mechanisms so that they might request these
forensic experts to assist them in evaluating documents and other evidence and
to accompany them on country visits. The Commission also requested the
Secretary-General to report to the Commission at its fifty-fourth session on
progress made in this matter, including:
(a) The availability of a
comprehensive and up-to-date list of experts containing biographical data and
indications of availability;
(b) A revised standard arrangement or
cooperation service agreement regulating the use of forensic experts, including
provisions for the protection of forensic experts who so serve; as well as to
make such recommendations as he may consider appropriate.[Back to the contents]
I. CONSULTATIONS CONDUCTED BY THE SECRETARY-GENERAL
A. Comments received from Governments
1. In
addition to the responses of interested Governments in recommending experts to
be included in the list of forensic experts and experts in related fields
established by the Secretary-General, the Governments of the Republic of
Croatia, the Federal Republic of Germany and the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Northern Ireland contributed the following remarks
relating to training and employment of experts in the field of forensic science.
2. The Government of Croatia pointed out that all the experts mentioned
on the list attached to its reply possess outstanding knowledge and experience
in the field of forensic science, while all of them participated in the
identification process of the mortal remains exhumed from the mass and
individual graves found on the territory of the Republic of Croatia, under the
auspices of the Croatian Government Commission on Missing and Detained Persons.
Moreover, in the framework of the identification process of the mortal remains
from the mass graves, the experts maintained close cooperation with the on-site
investigators of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia
since 1991 in respect of the exhumations from the Ovcara mass grave.
3.
The Federal Republic of Germany submitted a statement that reads as follows:
"Forensic medicine is an official post-graduate specialization in
Germany. The duration is five years. During this post-graduate specialization
the forensic expert has to rotate through a department of clinical pathology
(1 year), a department of clinical psychiatry (1/2 year) and a
department of legal medicine (3 1/2 years). At the end of this course
there is an oral examination by a committee at the medical board.
"During this specialization, the medico-legal expert has to investigate,
among other considerable numbers of various case groups:
Performance of
autopsies according to the law. These are full autopsies including the skeletal
system and the soft tissues. Performance of several thousand histopathologies;
Investigation of injured people;
Investigation of the scenes of
crime;
Identification of unknown persons and bodies and skeletal
remains;
Ascertainment of causes of death.
"Such investigations
are performed at an extremely high level. The institutes of legal medicine in
Germany are also equipped to perform investigations relative to relationships
(childhood, fatherhood, motherhood, etc.). They are also equipped to perform
toxicology investigations.
"There is the necessary level of expertise to
investigate stains and traces in sexual offences and in all other violent
crimes. In other words: medico-legal experts in Germany have a broad spectrum of
knowledge and facilities to investigate all violent crime in deceased and in
living persons. This would of course include remnants of the deceased such as
bones and skeletal remains.
"While in some countries the elucidation of
the cause of death is separated from the identification, related investigations
in Germany are performed by one expert team.
"Germany has by tradition a
high number of exhumations in the country. In some countries such investigations
are nearly never or never performed. Ascertainment of the cause of death and
identification are in Germany performed by one expert (team). If necessary,
odontologists belong to this team.
"The German experts in legal medicine
are very familiar with the principles, the guidelines and the procedures of such
investigations. It is accepted in the international community that their level
in such investigations is outstanding."
1. The United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Northern Ireland submitted a two-page reply in which it described
activity of the Forensic Science Service (FSS). This is a corporate organization
operating nationally. It assists the police and other law enforcement agencies
in the investigation of crime and provides impartial evidence to the courts. Its
services are also available to private companies and individuals, and to
overseas customers.
2. It provides non-medical forensic science
services, consultancy and training in a wide range of activities, including:
scene of crime investigation; fire investigation; accident investigation;
fingerprint enhancement; explosives analysis; drugs analysis; toxicology;
handwriting and document examination; firearms and ballistics; serology, DNA
profiling and paternity testing; general contact trace examinations (glass,
paint, fibres, toolmarks, footwear impression, etc).
3. The FSS employs
some 1,000 professional forensic scientists working out of its six
operational laboratories at Birmingham, Chepstow, Chorley, Huntingdon, London
and Wetherby, and has research facilities at Birmingham and London.
4. A
part of the agency's core work is evaluating documents or other evidence. It can
examine handwriting for authorship; identify the processes used to produce
documents; establish whether documents are originals/genuine; link documents;
connect documents with the machines used to prepare them; detect alterations to
documents and the original entries; analyse paper and inks; visualize and
enhance fingerprints on documents; restore deleted computer files; enhance
analog and digital images; etc.
1. The FSS is involved in searching for
and identifying children of persons who have disappeared or who themselves have
been subjected to enforced disappearance. There seems to be potential here for
the use of DNA analysis and paternity testing to help identify children with
their parents or geographical origin. A booklet containing information on the
development of forensic DNA analysis undertaken by the FSS was enclosed and
could be used by pertinent experts.
2. Examination of marks on bodies
and establishing their likely cause is part of many murder investigations with
which the FSS assists. The FSS toxicology resource specializes in the detection
of drugs and poisons in body fluids and organs. It is often used to help
determine the cause of death for both police and coroners alike, and ultimately
to present findings in various court proceedings. Techniques have been developed
to identify bodies and skeletal remains using DNA analysis. Confirmation of
bodies found in a grave in Russia as those of the Tsar and his family and
identification of the bodies in the Waco mass suicide are examples of what can
be done using leading-edge scientific techniques.
3. The FSS is
available in the United Kingdom or can visit any location to provide training in
evidence recovery/evidence handling, any of the forensic science techniques used
in the FSS and the setting up of local facilities. Expert advice and consultancy
can also be provided in all areas of the forensic process.
1. Most FSS
experts hold professional qualifications and all have been trained by
the FSS in the discipline of their expertise. Their competency
is routinely checked. The Service runs a comprehensive quality assurance
programme as well as inter-laboratory proficiency testing trials. The experts
have to meet exacting standards before they are allowed to take responsibility
for cases and provide evidence to be used in the courts. The FSS is also
accredited to the NAMAS M10 standard (International Organization for
Standardization Guide 25 national equivalent) and registered to the
ISO 9001 standard.
2. The United Kingdom prefers to nominate
specific individuals for specific tasks, rather than offer a fixed list, and to
deal with all requests for assistance through the Expert Scientific Services
Enquiry Desk at the Forensic Science Service, Priory House, Gooch Street North,
Birmingham B5 6QQ (tel.: 0121 607 6948,
fax: 0121 622 3536). It is able to provide biographical
data on request and also is able in most areas to put forward either male or
female experts.[Back to the contents]
B. Comments received from the International Criminal Tribunal
for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY)
1. Mrs. Louise Arbour, the
Prosecutor of the Tribunal, reported that, in 1997, the ICTY managed
the exhumation programme on its own. The Tribunal hired a number of experts in
archaeology, anthropology and pathology. They were notified of the relevant
request in accordance with Commission on Human Rights resolution 1996/31
and were requested to contact the Office of the High Commissioner for Human
Rights directly if they were interested in assisting with the human rights and
forensic science projects. By 18 November 1997, only one ICTY
expert, Mr. Ian Hanson, informed the Office that he was available for
such projects from April 1998 onwards.[Back to the contents]
C. Information received from the Victoria Institute of Forensic
Medicine (Australia)
1. The Victoria Institute of Forensic Medicine
is very interested in being added to the list referred to in
resolution 1996/31. There are also pathologists here who would like to be
added as individuals. The Victoria Institute of Forensic Medicine plays an
important role in training pathologists from overseas, including developing
countries. The Royal Australian College of Pathologists is the Forensic
Pathology Secretariat for the World Association of Societies of
Pathology.[Back to the contents]
D. Fact-finding situations as reported by mechanisms of the
Commission on Human Rights and other relevant United Nations bodies in
connection with medico-legal investigations related to alleged human
rights violations
1. In his report to the fifty-first session of the
Commission (E/CN.4/1996/41, chap. I C), the Secretary-General
described the activity of a number of special rapporteurs which used or
referred to the need for the assistance of specialists in various forensic
disciplines in the context of the implementation of their mandates. Several
special rapporteurs welcomed efforts towards the establishment of a standing
team of forensic experts to assist them in carrying out their human rights
mandates.
2. In addition to the information referred to above, the
Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances reported that the expert
member of the Working Group in charge of the special process on missing persons
in the territory of the former Yugoslavia established pursuant to
Commission resolutions 1994/72, 1995/35 and 1996/71,
Mr. Manfred Nowak, continued his activities aimed at determining the
fate and whereabouts of many thousands of missing persons in Croatia and in
Bosnia and Herzegovina until his resignation in early 1997. After the entry
into force of the Dayton Peace Agreement, the expert concentrated his field
activities on the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
3. The Working
Group further pointed out that with the support of the human rights field
operation of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and in
close cooperation with other institutions in the field, such as the Office
of the High Representative (OHR), the International Criminal Tribunal for
the Former Yugoslavia, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human
rights in the territory of the former Yugoslavia and the International
Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the expert facilitated, in particular, a
programme of excavation of mass graves and exhumation of mortal remains for the
purpose of identifying deceased missing persons, returning the remains to the
families concerned and, thereby, responding to the right of the families to know
the truth about the fate of their loved ones. The pertinent activities of
Mr. Nowak in 1996 are summarized in his report to the Commission at
its fifty-third session (E/CN.4/1997/55, paras. 6, 8, 10, 32, 37, 38, 40,
43, 44, 53 and 111).
4. In particular, in paragraph 111 of his
report the expert made the following observations:
"In the post-Dayton
period, the search for the missing in Bosnia and Herzegovina became a joint
effort of the parties to the Dayton Peace Agreement, the families of missing
persons, and a number of international institutions, above all the ICRC,
OHR and the United Nations special process. Various implementation and
coordination bodies have been established, such as the ICRC-chaired Working
Group on Missing Persons, the Expert Group on Exhumations and Missing Persons,
the Joint Forensic Expert Commission on Exhumation, and the International
Commission on Missing Persons in the Former Yugoslavia. The actual results
of this multitude of mechanisms are, however, far from encouraging. Only very
few missing persons have been found alive, and some hundreds of bodies were
identified after inter-party exhumations or exhumations carried out by the
parties on territory under their control. The reasons for these shortcomings are
manifold: a lack of political will by all the parties to disclose information; a
continuing policy of reciprocity which characterizes the negotiations between
the parties (from an exchange of prisoners of war to an exchange of mortal
remains); a lack of political, logistical, financial and military support by the
international community to the humanitarian efforts of searching for the missing
by all means, including the exhumation of mortal remains; and a lack of
efficient coordination and division of labour among the various international
institutions involved."
1. It will be recalled that the Commission, in
its resolution 1997/57 of 15 April 1997, requested the
Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the territory of the
former Yugoslavia to act on behalf of the United Nations in dealing
with the question of the missing and to contribute to a smooth transition
between the mandate of the expert and the organization to which his functions
were to be transferred (paragraph 41 (d)).[Back to the contents]
II. ESTABLISHMENT OF A LIST OF FORENSIC EXPERTS AND EXPERTS IN
RELATED FIELDS
1. In response to the requests made by the
Secretary-General, a number of additional names of experts or specialized
organizations were put forth by Governments, one United Nations organ and
one institute. The names of the recommended experts and an institute have been
added to the existing list and are contained in annex I. As requested
in paragraphs 4 and 7 (a) of Commission resolution 1996/31,
the updated and supplemented list is available to the pertinent working groups,
special rapporteurs and experts of the United Nations human rights
mechanisms so that they may request these forensic experts to assist them in
evaluating documents and other evidence and to accompany them on country
visits.[Back to the contents]
III. COOPERATION SERVICE AGREEMENT
1. In
paragraph 7 (b) of its resolution 1996/31, the Commission on
Human Rights requested the Secretary-General to report to the Commission at its
fifty-fourth session on progress made in this matter, including a revised
standard arrangement or cooperation service agreement regulating the use of
forensic experts.
2. Annex II to document E/CN.4/1996/41
contains the cooperation service agreement regulating the use of forensic
experts. It can be used in the event that a Member State or non-governmental
organization provides the services of (a) forensic scientist(s). In accordance
with article I, paragraph 2, of the agreement, the Member State or NGO
undertakes to pay all expenses in connection with the services of the forensic
expert(s). Article II, paragraph 1, provides that "the
United Nations shall provide the forensic expert(s) with a special contract
without remuneration and a United Nations identity card, as well as with
office space, equipment and other resources necessary to carry out the tasks
assigned to him or her."
3. Recent developments have, however,
demonstrated that the United Nations may undertake to pay all expenses in
connection with the services of the forensic experts, including honorariums and
subsistence allowances and other benefits to which he or she is entitled, in
particular pursuant to the mandate laid down by Commission on Human Rights
resolution 1997/58 entitled "Situation of human rights in Zaire".
4. Paragraph 7 (b) of resolution 1996/31 also referred to
provisions in a revised standard arrangement or cooperation service
agreement for the protection of forensic experts who so serve. Practical
implementation of resolution 1997/58 confirmed the necessity of requesting
that the Government, in this case of the Democratic Republic of the Congo,
undertake concrete measures to ensure the protection of the members of the
mission as a whole and of experts accompanying the mission in particular. Those
measures included assignment of a liaison officer to the mission and providing
the mission with a travel authorization and official documentation introducing
the members of the mission to local authorities.
5. Taking into account
these and other relevant considerations, a revised version of a cooperation
service agreement was drafted and is submitted for the consideration of the
Commission on Human Rights in annex II to the present report. At the same
time, developments mentioned above do not require revision of the Special
Service Agreement, which is reproduced in annex III.
6. The
Secretary-General did not receive any comments or suggestions concerning the
possibility of revising the Manual on the Effective Prevention and
Investigation of Extra-Legal, Arbitrary and Summary Executions.[Back to the contents]
IV. FUTURE ACTIVITIES
1. The developments since the last
report demonstrate that the use of forensic experts remains high on the agenda
of investigative procedures. The International Criminal Tribunals, the
commissions of experts appointed by the Security Council and the special
rapporteurs and working groups of the Commission on Human Rights have all
reiterated the view that forensic science is a necessary component of the
investigations in situations such as those encountered in the
former Yugoslavia, Rwanda and Burundi. Moreover, forensic experts were
included in the joint mission to investigate allegations of massacres affecting
human rights in eastern Zaire. They were also used in Yugoslavia.
2. In this regard, the list of forensic experts and the revised
cooperation service agreement will be helpful to the United Nations human
rights bodies that require the assistance of such experts. However, these
activities require the appropriate resources. As mentioned above, in his reports
to the Commission at its fiftieth and fifty-first sessions the Secretary-General
noted that the Commission might wish to consider the establishment of a
voluntary fund to respond to the need for appropriate financing of consultations
and eventual specific investigations conducted under United Nations
auspices. No Government has pronounced itself on the establishment of such a
fund. Accordingly, the Commission may wish to consider whether the establishment
of a voluntary fund should be further pursued or whether pertinent expenditure
incurred by relevant resolutions of the General Assembly and the Commission
on Human Rights, such as Commission resolution 1997/58, should be borne by
the United Nations from its regular budget.
3. It may be noted that
special funding could be uncertain and payment difficult to ensure, and that the
use of forensic experts would be best guaranteed by regular budget funding.
However, it would be costly and could well consume substantial resources that
would otherwise be devoted to other high priority areas in human rights
programmes.[Back to the contents]
Annex I
RECOMMENDED EXPERTS AND INSTITUTIONS
A. Experts and institutions recommended by Governments
Austria
Eduard P. Leinzinger, Richard Scheithauer, Hans
Unterdorfer, Walter Rabl, Georg Bauer, Wolfgang Denk, Christian Reiter,
Carl Stellwag-Carion, Walter Vycudilik
Chile
Marcia
Barrientos, Wiliam Arturo Cortés Rodríguez, Carlos Villavicencio
Croatia
Davor Strinovic, Hrvoje Brkic, Milovan Kubat,
Drinko Balicevic, Vedrana Petrovecki, Mario Slaus
Cuba
Jorge Caridad González Pérez, Alicia Marlenne Vasanta Montesinos,
Gliceria Lleo Jiménez, Ernesto Pérez González, Alfredo Tamane Camargo, Margarita
Colina Méndez, Ladisberto Moya Alarcón
Ecuador
Edison
Marcelo Jacome Segovia, Hector Anibal Mejía Araque
France
Dominique Bonnet, Philippe Werson
Germany
Hans-Joachim Wagner, Richard Helmer, Manfred Kleiber, Rudolf Wegnener,
Eberhard Lignitz, Wolfgang Eisenmenger, Wolfgang Keil, Edith Tutsch-Bauer,
Randolph Penning, Thomas Gilg, Erich Müller, Reinhard Vock, Günter Weiler,
Hansjürgen Bratzke, Ulrich Lutz, Peter Nels, Joachim Gerchow, Jochen
Wilske, Dieter Buhmann, Hans Dieter Troeger, Klaus-Steffen Saternus
Malta
A. Abela Medici
Philippines
Nicanor M. Cruz Jr., Maximo L. Reyes, Bienvenido Muñoz,
Roberto V. Garcia, Idabel Pagulayan, Elvira del Rosario
Spain
Rafael Munoz-Garrido, José M. Abenza Rojo, Emilio
Pérez Pujol, Guillermo Portero Lezcano, Rafael Alcaraz Manzano,
Joaqui Mansilla Legorduro, José Luis Prieto Carrero,
Esperanza Nuñez Pena
United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Northern Ireland
Forensic Science Service
Uruguay
Guido Berro Rovira, Beatriz Balbela Ballebella
B. Experts and
institutions recommended by non-governmental organizations
1.
University Institute for Forensic Medicine (Odense, Denmark)
Jorgen L. Thomsen, Peter Knudsen
2. Equipo Argentino de
Antropologia Forense (Buenos Aires, Argentina)
Mercedes Doretti,
Patricia Bernardi, Anahi Ginarte, Luis Fondebrider, Alejandro Inchaurregui,
Anahi Girard, Silvana Turner, Maco Somigliana
3. Guatemala Forensic
Team
Mariana Valdizon
4. Physicians for Social
Responsibility (Boston, United States of America)
Robert Kirschner
5. Victoria Institute of Forensic Medicine (Australia)
6.
Other experts
Isabel Rebeco (Chile), Rebecca Saunders (United
States of America), Clyde Snow (United States of America), Ian West (United
Kingdom), Bernard Knight (United Kingdom), Morris Tidball (Amnesty
International), Derrick J. Pounder (United Kingdom), Lindsey Thomas (United
States of America), Garry Peterson (United States
of America), Ian Henson (United Kingdom)[Back to the contents]
Annex II
COOPERATION SERVICE AGREEMENT
[Preambular paragraphs as required by the particular situation]
Article I
Obligations of the team of forensic
experts
1. The team of the forensic experts agrees to make available
for the duration and purpose of this agreement the services of ...............
(names) as forensic experts. Changes and modifications may be made with the
agreement of the parties.
2. The team of forensic experts shall ensure
that a certificate of good health is issued by a certified doctor, stating that
the expert is fit to travel and has the required inoculations for the country or
countries to which he/she travels.
3. The team of forensic experts
undertakes to ensure that during the entire period of service under this
Agreement, adequate medical and life insurance as well as insurance coverage for
service-incurred illness, injury, disability or death is provided to the expert.
Article II
Obligations of the United Nations
1. The United Nations shall provide the forensic expert(s) with a
Special Service Agreement and undertakes to pay all expenses in connection with
the services of the forensic experts, including honorariums and subsistence
allowances and other benefits to which he or she is entitled, and travel costs
to and from any site of investigation. The United Nations shall provide the
forensic experts with a United Nations Certificate, as well as with office space
and other resources necessary to carry out the tasks assigned to him or her.
2. The United Nations does not accept any liability for claims for
compensation in respect of illness, injury or death arising out of or related to
the provision of services under this Agreement, except where they result from
the gross negligence of the officials or staff of the United Nations.
Article III
Obligations of the forensic expert(s)
1. The forensic expert(s) agree(s) to the terms and obligations
specified below, and shall ensure that the forensic expert(s) performing
services under this Agreement comply with these obligations.
(a) The
expert shall perform his or her functions under the authority and in full
compliance with the instructions of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, a
special rapporteur or representative, or United Nations officers acting on
his/her behalf. Such instructions will be given following close consultation
with the members of a mission.
(b) The expert shall:
(i)
Undertake a mission, from the period ......... to .........;
(ii) To
extent possible, in the framework of the investigations to be carried out by the
mission and in conformity with applicable international norms and principles,
conduct a forensic survey in areas or at sites determined by a mission. In
particular, his or her work will concentrate on the excavation of test pits on
mass graves thought to contain human remains. A small number of bodies will be
examined in a preliminary way while in the field, in order to establish the case
of death. In addition, he or she will prepare a plan for a future and
longer forensic investigation if necessary;
(iii) Take all necessary
measures to maintain the confidentiality of all information received or obtained
with respect to his/her mandate, including the systematic and careful logging,
safekeeping and preservation of its records and files;
(iv) Submit
his/her main findings and conclusions in a preliminary confidential report to
the High Commissioner, a special rapporteur or representative, together
with recommendations as to further measures that should be considered, no later
than .........; and
(v) Be terminated upon the completion of his/her
final report, to be submitted to the High Commissioner, a special rapporteur or
representative, together with all files and records including a complete
inventory of sites and/or bodies examined together with photographic
documentation, not later than .........
(c) The expert shall undertake
to respect the impartiality and independence of the High Commissioner, a special
rapporteur or representative and shall neither seek nor accept instructions
regarding the services performed under this Agreement from any Government,
authority or any other entity external to the United Nations.
(d)
The expert shall refrain from any conduct which would adversely reflect on the
High Commissioner, a special rapporteur or representative or which is
incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations.
(e) The expert shall comply with all rules, regulations, instructions,
procedures or directives issued by the United Nations.
(f) The
expert shall treat as confidential all documents, information or data received,
compiled or processed by him or her. He or she shall exercise the utmost
discretion in all matters relating to his or her functions and shall not
communicate, at any time, without the authorization of the Secretary-General to
the media or to any institution, person, Government or authority external to the
United Nations, any information that has not been made public, and which
has become known to him or her by reason of his or her association with the
United Nations. He or she shall not use any such information without the
written authorization of the Secretary-General and, in any event, such
information shall not be used as personal gain. These obligations do not lapse
upon expiration of this Agreement.
Article IV
Legal
status of the forensic expert(s)
1. The forensic expert(s) shall not
be considered in any respect as being an official or staff member of the
United Nations.
2. The forensic expert(s) shall be considered an
"expert on mission" within the meaning of article VI, sections 22
and 23, of the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the
United Nations of 13 February 1946, and shall be entitled to the
privileges, immunities and facilities provided for thereunder, wherever he or
she performs missions.
Article V
Use of the
United Nations name and emblem
The forensic expert(s) shall, in
no manner whatsoever, use the name, emblem or official seal of the United
Nations, or any abbreviation thereof, in connection with his or her
business or otherwise. The forensic expert(s) shall not advertise or otherwise
make public the fact of his/her contractual relationship with the
United Nations.
Article VI
Entry into force,
duration and termination
1. This Agreement may be modified or
amended only by written agreement between the parties.
2. Nothing in
this Agreement shall be deemed a waiver, expressed or implied, of the Convention
on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations
of 13 February 1946.
3. This Agreement shall enter into
force upon signature, and shall remain in force for ------ (duration of
investigation). The Agreement may be terminated by either party, at any time
before its expiry date, by giving the other party written notice of five days
(in the case of contracts for a period of less than two months) or
two weeks (in the case of contracts for a period of two months or
more).
In witness whereof, the respective representatives of the
United Nations and expert have signed this Agreement.
Done in
..................., this ........... day of ............. 199., in two
originals in the English language.
For the United
Nations
Signature
For forensic expert(s)
Signature
(Name and title of authorized official)
Date
Signature
(Name of authorized official of Member State or NGO)
Date
Signature[Back to the contents]
Annex III
SPECIAL SERVICE AGREEMENT
[Preambular paragraphs as required by the particular situation]
Obligation of the individual forensic expert
1. The
expert agrees to make himself/herself available for the duration and the purpose
of the Agreement.
2. The expert agrees to the terms and conditions
specified in the "Special Service Agreement" contract herewith attached (1) and shall comply with the obligations
herein stated.
3. The expert shall perform his or her functions under
the authority and in full compliance with the instructions of the
------ (special rapporteur/independent exppert/working group of the Commission on
Human Rights or the High Commissioner for Human Rights, as applicable).
4. The expert shall undertake to respect the impartiality and
independence of the ------ (special rapporteur/independent expert/working
group/High Commissioner for Human Rights) and shall neither seek nor accept
instructions regarding the services performed under this Agreement from any
Government, authority or any other entity external to the United Nations.
5. The expert shall refrain from any conduct which would adversely
reflect on the ------ (special rapporteur/independent expert/working group/High
Commissioner for Human Rights) or which is incompatible with the aims and
objectives of the United Nations.
6. The expert shall comply with
all rules, regulations, instructions, procedures or directives issued by the
United Nations.
7. The expert shall, in no manner whatsoever, use
the name, emblem or official seal of the United Nations, or any
abbreviation thereof, in connection with his or her business or otherwise. The
expert shall not advertise or otherwise make public the fact of his/her
contractual relationship with the United Nations.
This Agreement
shall enter into force upon signature of the contract herewith attached.[Back to the contents]
1. A Special Service Agreement (P.104) form is the standard form
utilized by the United Nations to obtain the temporary services of individuals
as consultants.[back to the text]
|
