Syria Accountability mechanism, support to the UN International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism (IIIM)

Description What is done in the programme or project and why, what results are pursued, who benefits from the activities and who are involved in the implementation.

The UN General Assembly passed on December 2016 the resolution 71/248 establishing 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)" The Mechanism will provide assistance in the investigation and prosecution of persons responsible for the most serious crimes under international law in full independence, impartiality and objectivity. it has 2 goals: 1) To collect, consolidate, preserve and analyse evidence of violations of international humanitarian law and human rights violations and abuses; and 2) To prepare files in order to facilitate and expedite fair and independent criminal proceedings, in accordance with international law standards, in national, regional or international courts or tribunals that have or may in the future have jurisdiction over these crimes, in accordance with international law. The Mechanism will only share information with those jurisdictions that respect international human rights law and standards, including the right to a fair trial, and where the application of the death penalty would not apply for the offences under consideration. The Mechanism may share information either at the request of national, regional or international courts or tribunals or on its own initiative. The fight against impunity is one of the main priorities of the Finnish Syria-Iraq Aid Strategy 2017-2020. Finland is the top donor to the mechanism, along with the Netherlands and Germany, with its 1 Million Euro contribution. Syria, as being a lower middle-income country, is ODA-eligible. The same goes with the IIIM-mechanism in particular and UN-OHCHR in general.