Fact-finding Mission Research Articles

Factfinding Jurisdiction: A Review of the Determination from the First USMCA Rapid Response Labor Mechanism Panel

The first panel constituted under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement Facility-Specific Rapid Response Labor Mechanism (RRM) determined that it did not have jurisdiction over the situation presented to it by the United States. This Essay argues that the panel reached this conclusion based on a misperception of its mandate. Whereas the panel saw itself as a traditional adjudicatory body, the framing of an RRM panel’s mandate – to determine whether there has been a denial of labour rights at a worksite – is more similar to a factfinding mission’s mandate in international human rights law than it is to a state-to-state dispute settlement tasking as found in other areas of international economic law. Seeing the panel’s mandate this way makes it easier to understand how the procedural, methodological, and jurisprudential analyses of the panel and the parties converged in a murky hybrid.

Settlement of the "Cleaning Operation" Case of the Rohingya Ethnic in Myanmar Based on International Law

The Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar (IIFFMM) released a report on August 27, 2018, documenting over 10,000 deaths and the displacement of more than 725,000 Rohingyas to Bangladesh due to "clearance operations" conducted by the Myanmar Military. These actions constitute severe violations of international human rights law, potentially amounting to crimes against humanity, for which perpetrators could face prosecution at the International Criminal Court (ICC). However, Myanmar's non-ratification of the Rome Statute presents a significant obstacle to effective enforcement. Therefore, a more robust approach is necessary to address the plight of the Rohingya ethnic group affected by these operations. This study adopts a normative research methodology employing both statutory analysis and case study approaches. The Tatmadaw's culpability in committing acts of genocide against the Rohingya ethnic group has been established. To address this, three key mechanisms are proposed: the application of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) principle, the involvement of international governmental organizations (IGOs), and the pursuit of justice through ICC proceedings. Urgent action is required to ensure accountability for those responsible for genocide, particularly high-ranking Tatmadaw officials, thereby preventing impunity from perpetuating.

American Defender of One Nigeria: James Meredith, the Nigerian Civil War and the Politics of American Intervention in the Global South

Following the Biafran allegations of genocide against the Nigerian government during the Civil War, pro-Biafran groups emerged in the United States to pressure the American government into political intervention in the form of recognizing the Biafran republic. In response, African-American Civil Rights hero James Meredith counter-balanced the pro-Biafran groups, and advocated for one Nigeria in the United States. By analyzing public speech, correspondences, fact-finding mission reports, congressional hearing testimonies, and oral interviews, this paper examines Meredith’s pro-One Nigeria (Pan-African) activism during the Nigerian Civil War, and promotes a nuanced understanding of the international dimension of the Nigerian Civil War. This study proposes an episode of transnational history of the global black liberation movement of the long sixties, and demonstrates that Meredith’s pro-one Nigeria activism during the Nigerian Civil War was influenced by his background as a Civil Rights leader and his pan-African ideology.

‘Peacefully’ at ‘War’: An Analysis of the Southern African Development Community’s Institutional Framework’s Failure to Respond Adequately to the Ongoing Conflict in Swaziland

The Kingdom of Swaziland is well known for being a peaceful nation. This historical claim is supported by the fact that the little kingdom is situated between two nations that at some point engaged in armed conflict, the Republic of South Africa and the Republic of Mozambique. When tensions in the two states mentioned above were at their worst, Swaziland served as a haven for those fleeing the violence. However, the little kingdom has recently been embroiled in internal conflict as demands for democratic reforms grow, and the King rebuffs attempts to overthrow his absolute authority. The Southern African Development Community (SADC) framework for resolving regional conflicts is analysed in this article, together with the ongoing conflict in the Kingdom of Swaziland. The many fact-finding missions and SADC organs’ visits to Swaziland are discussed in this article, along with how their inaction is sustaining a protracted, intense internal conflict. The study also looks at the role that state-sponsored terrorism has played in the response to the conflict by His Majesty King Mswati III's administration. The tiny kingdom is at a turning point because SADC has failed to impose its authority and because the King, despite his undertaking, has actively avoided political engagement. Furthermore, the study argues that the protracted violence in Swaziland will have detrimental effects on South Africa, which already has a fragile economy and is trying to manage the refugee surge. It concludes by positing that it would be ideal to prevent a dangerous scenario for the region if SADC intervened by asserting its authority and demanding a proper dialogue in Swaziland among all stakeholders with clear terms of reference.

States and Other International Entities: Recognition, Fact-Finding Missions and Humanitarian Aid in Afghanistan

States and Other International Entities: Recognition, Fact-Finding Missions and Humanitarian Aid in Afghanistan

A prospective study on skin and soft tissue infections: a fact-finding mission from a tertiary centre in north India.

Despite the high prevalence and poor outcome of skin and soft tissue infections (SSTIs), very few studies from India have dealt with the subject. We planned a prospective study of inpatients with SSTIs to study the aetiology, clinical presentation (severity) and outcome of patients with SSTIs in our facility. Patients with SSTIs involving >5% body surface area (BSA) and/or systemic signs were admitted to the surgery department of a teaching tertiary level hospital in Delhi, India, and were clinically classified into cellulitis, necrotising soft tissue infections (NSTIs), pyomyositis, and abscess. Demographic and clinical variables such as: age; sex; occupation; history of trauma/insect or animal bites; duration of illness; presenting symptoms and signs; comorbid conditions; predisposing factors such as lymphoedema or venous disease; hospital course; treatment instituted; complications; hospital outcome; presence of crepitus, bullae, gangrene, muscle necrosis and compartment syndrome were recorded. The chief outcome parameters were death and length of hospital stay; others, such as abscess drainage, the need for plastic surgical procedures and amputations were also noted. Out of 250 patients enrolled in the study, 145 (58%) had NSTIs, 64 (26%) had abscesses, 15 (6%) had cellulitis and 26 (10%) had pyomyositis. Mortality was observed with NSTIs (27/145, 19%) and with pyomyositis (3/26, 11.5%). Factors affecting mortality by univariate analysis in the NSTI group were: abnormal pulse; hypotension; tachypnea; bullae; increased blood urea and serum creatinine; inotrope or ventilator support (all with p<0.001); local tenderness, gangrene, dialysis support and BSA (9.33±6.44 versus 5.12±3.62; p<0.05 for the last four). No factor was found to be significant on multivariate analysis. Variables associated with hospital stay >12 days were immunocompromise, pus discharge, ulceration or gangrene, and after interventions such as blood transfusion, drainage or skin grafting. High prevalence of NSTI and pyomyositis with high mortality was observed in our SSTI patients, often in immunocompetent young individuals. Epidemiological studies focused on virulent strains of Staphylococcus aureus may be required to identify the cause, since Staphylococcal toxins have been implicated in other infections.

The “How” and “Why” Behind Clinical Site Visits: A Qualitative Study Exploring Director of Clinical Education Perspectives

Introduction. Several studies have investigated stakeholder perspectives regarding clinical site visits (SVs). An SV is one of the many ways of building strong relationships through collaborative communication. This study explored perceptions of directors of clinical education (DCEs) about why SVs are important, why they prefer certain methods of communication over others, and how they prioritize their decision-making process regarding structure and communication methods used. Literature Review. Barriers to conducting SVs exist, including scheduling challenges, time, and cost. Some studies suggest preferences for using in-person communication. Subjects. Fifteen DCEs from across the United States. Methods. Subjects participated in one-on-one semi-structured interviews. Transcripts were analyzed using a grounded theory approach and thematic analysis. Results. Six themes emerged from the data: (1) communication is vital, (2) SVs are fact-finding missions that serve multiple purposes, (3) flexibility is essential, (4) showing up in person has a strong impact, (5) DCEs strategically schedule in-person SVs, and (6) faculty assistance can be valuable. Some of the purposes of an SV include learning about the clinic's expectations, gathering data to ensure that the student is having a good experience, keeping current with curricular trends and contemporary practice, and building and nurturing relationships. Faculty may be able to assist in conducting SVs when properly trained. In-person SVs show a powerful message of support to students and clinicians. Discussion and conclusion. Similar to other stakeholders, DCEs value SVs for building, maintaining, and strengthening clinical and academic relationships. Site visits also bridge curricular gaps, support stakeholders, and help DCEs do their job. Directors of clinical education are strategic when considering SV structure, communication methods, and prioritizing student and clinician needs. Results were used in conjunction with prior findings of our mixed-methods explanatory sequential study to create recommendations, which will empower DCEs to advocate for resources to continue conducting SVs, particularly in-person SVs, especially under certain circumstances. Future research should explore clinician perspectives, specifically related to preferred communication methods, structure of the SV, and meeting with faculty other than the DCE.

The corrupt politics of chemical weapons

AbstractThe Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) is a significant component of the global governance structure and considered a gold standard international body with 193 member states and scientific divisions expected to adhere rigorously to objectivity and political neutrality. However, OPCW's reputation has recently been tarnished. Dissenting scientists from within the organization have raised serious questions about the integrity of an OPCW fact‐finding mission (FFM) investigating the alleged chemical attack in Douma, Syria on April 7, 2018. The OPCW FFMs are tainted in three ways: (1) they rely upon information provided via intermediaries connected to states that are belligerents in the war in Syria; (2) the organizational structure of an FFM excludes scientific and verification divisions of the OPCW; and (3) control of FFMs is held by a bureaucratic office staffed by career diplomats who are from states involved with the Syrian war. Furthermore, officials involved with the Douma FFM investigation report the following anomalies: (a) an original interim report was secretly altered in order to make an unsubstantiated suggestion that an alleged attack had occurred; (b) A U.S. delegation was allowed to brief the FFM, an action prohibited by the Chemical Weapons Convention; and (c) formal attempts by the inspectors to obtain transparency and dialog was rejected by the OPCW. Meanwhile, the United States and its allies have dismissed questions as Russian “disinformation” or as a “conspiracy theory.” Overall, analysis of the alleged Douma attack and the OPCW's FFM supports the thesis that key international organizations have been effectively captured, or at the very least heavily influenced, by particular states that assume their own impartiality. This shortcoming poses a risk to international peace and security.

Contested Facts: The Politics and Practice of International Fact-Finding Missions

Abstract International organizations (IOs) dispatch fact-finding missions to establish epistemic authority by objectively and impartially assessing contested facts. Despite this technocratic promise, they are often controversial and sometimes even fuel international disputes that challenge the epistemic authority of the dispatching organizations. Although the twenty-first century has witnessed a proliferation of United Nations (UN) commissions of inquiry, they have received surprisingly little attention in international relations (IR) scholarship. How can we explain this trend and the successes and failures of fact-finding missions, which sometimes even backfire on the IO authority? Drawing on IR theories of delegation, epistemic authority, and IO field operations as well as public international law scholarship on commissions of inquiry, this article develops an analytical framework for studying the delegation, implementation, and dissemination of fact-finding missions. It theorizes how and under what conditions international fact-finding missions close or widen credibility gaps and thus help to establish, maintain, or weaken the epistemic authority of IOs. The article illustrates this framework with a case study of the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Human Rights Situation in Chile, sent by the UN Commission on Human Rights in 1974 to investigate allegations of human rights violations and torture. The conclusion outlines a comparative research agenda on international fact-finding missions for IR that contributes to the study of knowledge production in IOs and the enforcement of international norms.

722 Select Survey of Human Cadaver Skin Allograft Utilization by 21 Senior Academic Burn Surgeons

Abstract Introduction As of 2022, cryopreserved human cadaver skin allograft remains the gold standard by which all other skin substitutes used for burn care are compared. The 2015 Taiwan Color Dust Explosion burn mass casualty engendered the transfer of emergency tranches of skin allograft from reserves in both the US and EU to Taiwan. HHS/ASPR/BARDA/CBRN led an after-action fact-finding mission to Taiwan and concluded that skin allograft would still play a central role as a safety net in US national burn care preparedness, even as BARDA invested in the development of other burn medical countermeasures that would be part of the preparedness strategy. However, before investments in a skin allograft based national strategy could be built, it was critical that the leaders of the Disaster Committee and Organization and Delivery of Burn Care (ODBC) Committee of the American Burn Association (ABA) commission a survey to verify current practice patterns of senior academic burn surgeons on the use of skin allograft. Methods The committee chairs curated a list of 21 leading academic burn surgeons in North America. These surgeons’ credentials included having been an ABA president, a member of the ABA Board of Trustees, or having chaired a standing committee of the ABA. All 21 surgeons were actively practicing burn care daily. The survey contained 18 questions and was intentionally kept brief (Survey to be provided as Appendix). Results Of the 21 surgeons selected, there was 100% participation and completion of the survey. Most were in practice &amp;gt;15 years (62%) and manage &amp;gt;200 patients surgically per year (71%). The predominant use of allograft is to temporize the wound bed when there are inadequate donor sites (48% “Almost Always”). It is “Often” (48%) used to temporize wound beds prior to autografting. However, most are looking for alternatives to allograft (43% “Sometimes”, 43% “Often”). With ongoing development of skin substitutes, most indicated their allograft use will likely decrease, with only 19% indicating “Probably Not”. Conclusions Human skin allograft continues to play a central role in surgical burn care management. For the foreseeable future, new technologies are not likely to displace allograft use but rather blend with its use. This brief, select survey is not powered but provides a snapshot of the current role of skin allograft. In the future, we may conduct a broader survey to obtain a validated and more granular view of the use of allograft in modern burn care. Applicability of Research to Practice Armed with this information, the US Federal Government acted to increase preparedness after a burn mass casualty. In February 2022, a Request for Proposals for a large vendor-managed inventory of human cryopreserved skin allograft was answered by two separate tissue banks. As of September 2022, $38M was awarded to two partners for procurement and expansion of a vendor managed inventory of cryopreserved human skin allograft to ensure preparedness for rapid response to a burn mass casualty incident.

The Routledge Handbook to the Music of Alfred Schnittke Gavin Dixon

Alfred Schnittke (1934–98) is arguably the best known, most often performed and recorded, and most frequently discussed Russian composer of the post-Shostakovich generation. Yet despite such international renown, Schnittke scholarship thus far has for the most part followed a trajectory noticeable in research on his less famous colleagues, in that it has been dominated by what one might call ‘data-gathering’ types of publications, such as biographies and collections of primary sources, including historical documents, transcriptions of interviews with the composer, and translations of his own journalistic and musicological writings. We also see a concerted effort to issue critical editions of Schnittke’s principal scores and, to a lesser extent, to conduct analytical studies—some brief, others more expansive—of individual compositions. While rarely judged to be the most exciting type of musicological research, especially these days, this positivistic ‘fact-finding mission’ is a necessary endeavour, as it provides a solid foundation for the more contextually rich and interpretatively adventurous scholarship to come. It is within this tradition of ‘plowing the virgin soil’, to use the appropriately Soviet lingo for this initial phase of scholarly enquiry, that the present publication belongs.

The UN General Assembly as a Security Actor: Appraising the Investigative Mechanism for Syria

This article analyses the role of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) as a security actor. With the creation of the ‘International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism to Assist in the Investigation and Prosecution of Persons Responsible for the Most Serious Crimes under International Law Committed in the Syrian Arab Republic since March 2011’ (IIIM), through UNGA Resolution 71/ 2481 in 2016, the General Assembly creatively used its powers to strengthen international criminal justice. Although investigative or fact-finding missions itself are nothing new to the UN system, Resolution 71/ 248 is qualitatively different to any other mission before it. The IIIM was established without Syrian consent, which is a historic first for the General Assembly. It is also the first time that such a body is tasked with investigations that fulfil prosecution standards, that serves as an evidence repository as well as a connecting hub between different justice actors. The UN General Assembly filled a void where the UN Security Council found itself in a stalemate over Syria. The IIIM has since served as a blueprint for a new generation of investigative mechanisms that emerged in the UN system. Looking beyond the appraisal of the IIIM, the article argues that the UN General Assembly practice in maintaining peace and security has significantly evolved over time. The early UN General Assembly practice through Uniting for Peace allowed it to assert its proactive role in parallel to the Security Council, yet it failed in its claim of authority to recommend forceful, collective measures. The practice subsequently evolved towards the diverse use of non-forceful measures, of which the IIIM provides a recent example. Creative boundary pushing in the UNGA through non-forcible measures will hopefully contribute to peace and security beyond war.

No comparison

Should the former childcare minister have gone on a fact-finding mission to Sweden in his quest to lower childcare costs? No, for several reasons, says Professor Peter Moss

THE APPOINTMENT OF ACTING JUDGES IN SOUTH AFRICA AND LESOTHO

The appointment of acting judges is a common practice in many Commonwealth countries, including South Africa and Lesotho. The practice has been criticised as infringing judicial independence. This article explores this criticism with reference to the recent decision of the Lesotho Court of Appeal in Sole v Cullinan, and the Report of the United Nations Special Rapporteur for the Independence of Judges and Lawyers’ fact-finding mission to South Africa in 2000.

Around the World in 283 Days: Traveling with the Laymen’s Foreign Missions Inquiry Commission of Appraisal

The Laymen’s Foreign Missions Inquiry was an ambitious attempt by seven mainline Protestant denominations to evaluate the state of American foreign missions in 1931–32. It consisted of two parts, a fact-finding mission and the Commission of Appraisal, the findings of which are known as the Hocking Report. The Report stirred quite a bit of controversy and helped shape American Protestant missions for years to come. This article is based on a collection of letters written by the secretary of the Commission; it offers a glimpse into the inner workings of the Commission as it traveled around the world.

British Diplomat and Spy Major Noel’s Report on the Extermination of Armenians and Assyrians in Diarbekir Province during the Armenian Genocide

This publication presents the report by Major Edward William Noel, British diplomat and spy, regarding the extermination of Armenians and Assyrians in Diarbekır province during the Armenian Genocide. The document, entitled “Christian Massacres of 1915 in Diarbekir Vilayat,” has been compiled in April, 1919 in the city of Mardin, where the author was on a fact-finding mission, so most of the massacre cases presented there refer to the mentioned locality. Attached to Noel’s report, as an appendix, we present the letter of Arthur Calthorpe, British High Commissioner in Constantinople, to British Foreign Minister Lord George Curzon, dated July 2, 1919, in which he transmits Major Noel’s estimate of populations of Diarbekir vilayet before and after the First World War. Major Noel has been characterized by researchers as “an expert on Kurdistan and the Kurds”, and as “the main British agent in Kurdistan, both in Anatolia and in Iraq, from 1919 to 1922,” so these documents published in Armenian translation, as well as other papers related to his mission in 1919 are very remarkable from the point of view of studying the demography of the southern regions of Western Armenia, the course of the Armenian Genocide, as well as of the history of ArmenianKurdish, Armenian-Turkish, Turkish-Kurdish relationships after the First World War.

Mapping the Use of Open Source Research in UN Human Rights Investigations

Abstract Open source information, particularly digital open source information that is publicly available on the internet, plays an increasingly central role in the landscape of human rights investigations. This article provides a thorough analysis of how open source information is used in practice by UN human rights fact-finding missions, commissions of inquiry and other official human rights investigations. Combining data from semi-structured interviews carried out with investigators with specific experience in open source human rights investigations with a review of reports and other primary and secondary sources, it examines the utility of open source information to UN human rights investigative bodies. It posits that open source research can offer tremendous benefits in planning investigations, supplying lead evidence, and providing direct evidence of violations, thereby overcoming some of the access barriers that investigators face, and potentially giving voice to a wider range of perspectives. On the other hand, this article argues that open source investigations should be approached with a clear eye to their challenges and possible pitfalls. These include the gaps of open source information and the potential to silence already-marginalized communities through open source investigations, as well as the resource-intensive nature of these investigations, the danger that open source information can affect witnesses’ perceptions, and the risks posed by online disinformation. As open source research is likely to comprise an important component of the human rights investigator’s toolbox in the future, this article argues in favour of the institutional buy-in, resourcing, and methodological rigour that it deserves.

Ellis Island: A People's History

Ellis Island: A People's History

The Hill Cumorah: Restoring a Sacred Site

The Hill Cumorah: Restoring a Sacred Site

Travelers' Tales: Their Values and Virtues

Travelers' Tales: Their Values and Virtues