United Nations International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism (IIIM)

On 21 December 2016, the United Nations General Assembly adopted resolution A/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 creation of this new accountability model was initiated by the UN General Assembly to address the growing evidence of human rights violations being committed since the start of the conflict. The UN’s Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic (CoI) had issued several reports highlighting “gross violations of human rights” as well as concern about “crimes against humanity” being committed, and recommending that the Security Council take action to refer the conflict to international justice bodies.

However, a Security Council impasse and the jurisdictional restrictions of the International Criminal Court limited the number of available pathways to justice. The General Assembly decided that an international response was needed to reinforce its commitment to the rule of law and that work to prepare for criminal proceedings could and should commence.

It was against this background that it created a unique body, the IIIM, not to prosecute cases but to prepare for prosecutions, and to support courts and tribunals seeking to prosecute serious international crimes.

To that end, the General Assembly mandated the IIIM to:

• Collect, consolidate and preserve information and “evidence of violations of international humanitarian law and human rights violations and abuses”.
• Analyse this collected evidence and prepare “files in order to facilitate and expedite fair and independent criminal proceedings”.
• Share information and evidence collected and analytical work produced with national, regional and international courts.

In accordance with UN principles, material can only be shared with jurisdictions that respect human rights law and standards, including the right to a fair trial, and where the death penalty would not apply for the offences under consideration.