114 INTERNATIONAL LEGAL PROTECTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN ARMED CONFLICT Council and the Human Rights Council have had recourse to is the use of fact-finding missions and commissions of inquiry. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights is frequently asked to help establish and provide expertise to such efforts. The Secretary-General has stated that international commissions of inquiry and fact-finding missions “can assist the United Nations intergovernmental bodies, including the Commission on Human Rights and the Security Council, in their decision-making processes on action when serious violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law are taking place.”185 Similarly, the High Commissioner for Human Rights has stated that among the most significant actions that the Security Council has taken for the protection of civilians is the establishment of commissions of inquiry.186 United Nations commissions of inquiry or fact-finding missions, supported by OHCHR, have been established to assist States in addressing violations of international human rights and humanitarian law in Timor-Leste, then East Timor187 (1999), in Togo188 (2000), in the Occupied Palestinian Territory189 (2000), in the Darfur region of the Sudan190 (2004-2005), in Lebanon191 (2006), regarding events in Beit Hanoun in the Occupied Palestinian Territory192 (November 2006), regarding human rights concerns in Darfur193 (December 2006), and regarding Israeli military operations in Gaza194 (2009).   E/CN.4/2006/89.   Statement to the Security Council during its open debate on the protection of civilians in armed conflict on 7 July 2010. 187   Commission on Human Rights resolution 1999/S-4/1. 188   Established under the auspices of the United Nations and the Organization of African Unity (OAU) at the request of the Government of Togo. 189   Commission on Human Rights resolution S-5/1. 190   Security Council resolution 1564 (2004). 191   Human Rights Council resolution S-2/1. 192   Human Rights Council resolution S-3/1. 193   Human Rights Council resolution S-4/101. 194   Human Rights Council resolution S-9/1. 185 186