CIJA Syria Investigators Reflect on a Decade of Conflict
Over fifty Syrian men and women lie at the core of CIJA’s success. Their work has made possible unprecedented efforts to secure linkage evidence from within Syria – the evidence necessary to identify those individuals most responsible for a range of atrocity crimes committed over the past decade of conflict. Their names are unknown to the world, their identities – indefinitely, stringently concealed. And yet, under this operational cover, they are Syrians who by virtue of their work have played a crucial role in four criminal trials concluded to date, and who continue to work inside Syria in support of CIJA’s 37 law enforcement partners throughout Europe and North America. Their work exposes them to real dangers, exacts real sacrifice. In the words of CIJA Executive Director Bill Wiley, “every success that CIJA enjoys is ultimately attributable to their efforts.”
CIJA now works in a handful of other conflict and post-conflict zones, but Syria provided the foundation for a new vision of international criminal justice – one premised on the idea that a non-governmental body could conduct investigations to a criminal evidence standard in the midst of high-intensity conflict. The result, as described by the Chair of CIJA’s Board of Commissioners Stephen Rapp, is evidence as rich, if not richer, than that the Allied powers had available for the Holocaust cases.
CIJA’s Syrian investigators have selflessly dedicated their lives to the pursuit of justice and accountability in total anonymity with little likelihood for public recognition of their sacrifice. Some have been relocated for safety reasons, others who testified in European trials have entered witness protection. They possess unique perspectives on the past decade of conflict and the role of criminal investigations in realising justice and accountability.
On the tenth anniversary of the Syrian uprising, CIJA sought to preserve the reflections of its Syrian investigators. In striking detail and breadth of feeling, investigators described the nature and evolution of their motivation to remain in the fight for accountability, the stakes and toll of their work, and the outcomes they hope it achieves.
“We never despaired”
Many of CIJA’s Syrian investigators have been with the organisation since its founding, working tirelessly from the dawn of the conflict and through its darkest episodes to this day. Reflecting on its beginnings, one of these investigators recalls that, “during our first meeting with the Commission in 2012, we expected that the path to justice would be short, that at any moment Bashar al-Assad would be in prison along with all those who stood by him”. In CIJA’s mandate – to collect, preserve and analyse evidence of core international crimes in service of criminal-justice accountability – investigators found a calling that rose to the principles of the popular uprising: “the aspiration to change the painful reality in which the Syrian people have lived for a long time…[the] pursuit of justice and the most basic human rights that are enshrined in international laws.”
Yet, the ensuing conflict would see these hopes and aspirations deferred by the large-scale devastation and cruelty that the Syrian Regime wrought upon the civilian population – “by destroying the educational and medical infrastructure and sectors, using the army and security branches to suppress the demonstrations and torture people, in violation of all the principles of international law, while insisting on killing innocent civilians who opposed the Regime and demanded freedom and dignity.”
While CIJA’s investigators bore witness to widespread and systematic violations of international law, they spared no effort to collect and preserve the evidence that would one day bring those responsible to account.
In the years that followed, through regular training and mentoring from international experts, CIJA’s Syrian investigators secured and extracted over 1.3 million original documents and collected thousands of witness interviews. This evidence has been crucial for establishing the criminal conduct and individual criminal responsibility of mid- and high-ranking Syrian Regime and IS members for ongoing atrocities committed across the country – an archive of war crimes evidence, the volume and quality of which is unprecedented. As a result of their work, steps toward accountability are starting to be realised through investigations, trials and verdicts across Europe and North America, which have drawn extensively on materials collected by CIJA investigators and the evidentiary information therein.
“Justice will be a victory for humanity, and for the world"
While the tenth anniversary of the uprising is a painful reminder that the path to justice is long, CIJA’s investigators also see the passage of time as a testament to the persistence of the Syrian people: “The anniversary shows that the Syrians who have chosen the path of freedom will not back down from that path even if they lose their lives, and they will keep going until they achieve their freedom and live with dignity”.
Today, they remain resolute in their work, impelled by an understanding that “without achieving justice and conducting trials, no sustainable peace can exist in Syria.” Emphasising the role of fair criminal trials, CIJA investigators hold that securing accountability for the crimes committed in Syria will not only offer recognition for the suffering of the Syrian people, but also set an important example for the rest of the world. In the words of one investigator: “I dream of seeing the criminals punished by law through fair trials, so that the world can realise that no criminal can escape punishment.” Their wish, another tells us, “is for international justice to take its course by prosecuting the criminals who wantonly perpetrated grave violations against the Syrian people. Justice will heal the wounds and relieve the pain of the mothers, the wives and the children who lost their loved ones because of the criminal methods of oppression practiced by the security organisations in Syria. Justice will be a victory for humanity, and for the world."
“A historical and humanitarian responsibility”
And yet, how does one carry forth the work of justice and accountability in the face of intractable conflict and inexplicable levels of loss? The reflections of CIJA’s investigators reveal a fortitude that runs deep not despite of but because of the toll their work takes. They reveal a motivation rooted not just in a belief in the potential of international justice but in a personal responsibility towards victims and survivors, towards family and loved ones, to hold those responsible for their suffering to account.
For one investigator, to carry forth means “to stop for a minute everyday and remember the innocent blood that flowed for freedom, and the many friends who died for believing in freedom. It means that I do not stop thinking about the innocent detainees who are still suffering from the worst conditions of detention in history...it means continuing the struggle despite the fatigue.” For another, their work is part of a struggle larger still – “the rejection of all forms of tyranny in the world despite all the harm my family and I have suffered.”
In the opinions of investigators, international justice remains the path through which their aspirations and those of the popular uprising can be realised. For them, working toward accountability is a “historical and humanitarian responsibility”, “a moral duty”. Despite the slow progress toward a reality in which accountability for Syria is achieved, victories secured through trials and prosecutions in European courts fuel their determination: “we are becoming more and more insistent, after seeing the fruit of the distinguished work carried out by the team, and the success of our efforts.” Ultimately, one investigator remarked, “there are many examples in history of achieving justice after a long time, and this is what makes me continue to do what I am doing”.
Until this vision is realised, they remain committed to furthering the momentum behind criminal-justice accountability. “No matter how long it may take, I know that the sun will rise again and justice will be achieved.”