Respecting IHL obligations to the deceased does make a difference: The ICRC-led Falkland Islands/Islas Malvinas identification operation

Abstract The posthumous identification of Argentine soldiers killed in action during the international armed conflict in the Falkland Islands/Islas Malvinas was the result of the Humanitarian Project Plan, an unprecedented humanitarian forensic operation carried by the International Committee of the Red Cross at the request of Argentina and the United Kingdom. As a result of respect for international humanitarian law obligations to the dead and the novel use of humanitarian forensic action to help make this possible, tombstones that once read “Argentine soldier known only to God” now bear a name, thereby assuring their families of the fundamental right to know the final fate of their loved ones. This project was originally requested by relatives of unidentified soldiers and some veterans of the war, and was agreed to and supported by the parties to the past armed conflict. Although the unidentified soldiers were not missing (as it was known that they had died on the battlefield and that they were buried with dignity in a military cemetery, although without identification), it was essential for their relatives to have their names restored and to be able to honour them in their respective graves. While this was a logistically challenging and complex forensic operation, the main challenges were not exclusively logistical and scientific, but were political and diplomatic as well. At the completion of two Humanitarian Project Plan missions, 121 Argentine soldiers originally buried without a name had been identified; one identity had been corroborated and the remains of one body that were buried in two different graves were reassociated. All families were informed.