HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS APPOINTS PROJECT MANAGER OF THE UN INVESTIGATION TEAM FOR AFGHANISTAN

HR/99/38
5 May 1999


The High Commissioner for Human Rights appointed on 30 April, 1999 Andreas Schiess (Switzerland) as Project Manager/Principal Investigator of the United Nations Investigation Team for Afghanistan.

The investigation will be carried out pursuant to General Assembly resolution 211B, Security Council Presidential Statement S/PRST/1997/55, and resolution 1193 of 28 August 1998. The objective is to independently investigate allegations of serious violations of international human rights or humanitarian law committed in northern and central Afghanistan within the period of 1 January 1997 to 31 December 1998 with a view to establishing the facts of these alleged violations and the responsibility of the perpetrators.

The Commission on Human Rights in its resolution 1999/9 on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan, adopted on 23 April, 1999, strongly condemned the mass killings and systematic human rights violations against civilians and prisoners of war and expressed its gravest concern at numerous reports of mass killings in the area of Mazar-I-Sharif and Bamian. The Commission invited the Secretary-General to implement promptly, security conditions permitting, the decision to investigate fully reports of mass killings of prisoners of war and civilians, rape and other cruel treatment in Afghanistan, and called upon the United Front and the Taliban to fulfil their stated commitment with respect to such investigations.

After initial consultations in Geneva, Mr. Schiess will commence his investigation and travel to the area shortly.

Mr. Schiess, a Swiss national born in 1950, is an independent attorney and legal adviser. After completing law studies at the Universities of Bern and Zurich and advanced legal and political science studies at the University of St. Gallen, he worked in the energy and transport industry for two years. Between 1979 and 1990, Mr. Schiess held different posts within the judiciary in Zurich and Appenzell.

Mr. Schiess has extensive field experience. From 1990 to 1994, he was a delegate for an international organization dealing with protection, detention and assistance in different countries. He has also been associated with various human rights investigations with the United Nations.