It has been an honour to serve on the Independent Special Commission with Chairperson Willy Mutunga and Justice Gita Mittal. Since we were appointed in October 2021, we have placed two things above all else – the best interest of the children and youth under SOS CV’s care and the ISC’s independence.
It has been a worthy and successful journey which I regret must come to an end for me at the end of my current appointment on 30 September 2022. I am not in a position to accept an extension of my appointment due to the demands of an equally compelling cause of the rule of international law.
I am confident that, having helped put in place the parallel approach to all three pillars of the ISC’s mandate including the necessary legal framework, evidentiary standards, due process provisions and reporting framework to guide the ISC’s investigations which are at the heart of that mandate, I can leave the ISC in the knowledge that the ISC support team and team of investigators can continue the ISC’s important work under Chairperson Mutunga and Justice Mittal’s leadership. As former chief justices, my fellow Commissioners are best placed to oversee the final phase of the ISC investigations.
I truly hope that the Federation will act on the evaluations and recommendations provided in the ISC’s interim report in order to strengthen SOS CV’s prevention, response, governance and accountability mechanisms. I hope that the ISC’s final report will also help to bring a measure of justice to those who have been harmed and accountability to those who have caused harm to the organization and/or to the children and youth under its care.
With thanks and a fond farewell to Chairperson Mutunga, Justice Mittal and the ISC team,
Mona Ali Khalil