Doctors without borders call for independent international inquiry for Kundoz airstrike

Hundreds of doctors without borders in remembrance of the victims of Kundoz demanded for an independent international investigation into the attack that killed 22 people and wounded 37 more. The group views the airstrike as a war crime.

MSF wants the airstrike to be investigated by an International Humanitarian Fact-Finding Commission—established in the Additional Protocols of the Geneva Conventions.

The commission, which was set up in 1991, is the only permanent body that specifically investigates violations of international humanitarian law.

“This was not just an attack on our hospital – it was an attack on the Geneva conventions. This cannot be tolerated,” said MSF’s international president, Joanne Liu.

Liu said the group intended to “reassert the protected status of hospitals in conflict”, framing the international response to the US bombing of the Kunduz hospital as a critical moment for the laws of war.

“If we let this go, we are basically giving a blank cheque to any countries at war.”

The United States took responsibility of the incident and expressed regret over the tragic incident and offered his thoughts and prayers on behalf of the American people to the victims, their families, and loved ones.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and other leaders of the international body have also condemned the attack and called for an independent inquiry.

The U.S. attack on the MSF hospital in Kunduz was the biggest loss of life for the organization in an airstrike.

The body’s rules state one of 76 signatory states must sponsor an inquiry. But for one to get formally underway, it must be endorsed by the parties to the conflict, in this case the U.S. and Afghanistan. Neither country is likely to support such a move.