An independent international United Nations fact-finding committee has held the United States responsible for airstrikes on a wedding ceremony in Kuhestak and a residential home in Qeshm, according to an official statement issued by the committee.
As reported by IRAF, the committee said information and accounts it had gathered showed that a U.S. airstrike on September 1 targeted a residential house in Kuhestak where a wedding ceremony was taking place, killing five civilians, including two children and a woman, and injuring dozens of others.
The committee also said that a U.S. airstrike on a residential house in the city of Qeshm on July 30 killed three members of a family — a man, a woman and their two-year-old child — and wounded two other children.
UN Fact-Finding Committee Experts Call for Compliance with International Humanitarian Law
Members of the committee stressed the need to uphold international humanitarian law following the release of the findings.
Sara Hassan, chair of the fact-finding committee, said: “Civilians and their property must remain protected from the effects of hostilities under all circumstances, and all necessary precautions must be taken to prevent harm to them.”
Max du Plessis, a committee expert, said: “The occurrence of attacks resulting in civilian casualties calls into question compliance with international obligations and the adoption of necessary precautionary measures.”
Viviana Krstičević, a committee expert, said: “Failure to respect the principles of distinction, proportionality and precaution under international humanitarian law may give rise to international responsibility and criminal proceedings for war crimes.”
The UN fact-finding committee’s findings come after various aspects of the incidents had previously been reported by the media.
Weapon identification: Reuters had previously reported, following an independent verification, that U.S.-made weapons were used in the strike on the wedding ceremony in Kuhestak.
Previous civilian casualties: Airstrikes by the United States on civilian targets had also been reported before the incidents in Kuhestak and Qeshm, including a strike on a school in Minab that reportedly killed more than 60 people, including students and teachers.
