For all the talk of justice for mass atrocities in Syria and myriad mechanisms aimed at forcing the international community to bring Syrian war criminals to account, the world has very little to show. But several recent developments at the United Nations General Assembly could lay the foundation for the day when justice in Syria becomes possible.
Read MoreThis year seems to have packed in more news events and shocking developments than any other in recent memory. As 2016 draws to an end, many are fearful of how the political trends that surfaced this year will play out and what their long-term effect will be on the international legal order. At the same time, the year has seen a number of successes in international law, most notably in judicial decisions that championed the rule of law against the interests of powerful states and corporations. This post highlights and discusses ten international law victories and failures in 2016.
Read MoreWhat It Means and What Are Its Limits
Read MoreAs innocent civilians continue to be slaughtered within the besieged Syrian city of Aleppo, our greatest present-day humanitarian catastrophe can be largely attributed to the fact that the Muslim world has failed the people of Syria.
Read MoreWhat justice might look like and why “genocide” is an unhelpful label
Read MoreSix German lawyers are bringing a case against Syrian leader Assad for war crimes and crimes against humanity. It may sound naive, but it is a long-overdue step in international law enforcement – and Germany is the perfect venue. By Kristin Helberg
Read MoreDonald Trump is taking his time to assemble his cabinet and his national security team, but the world isn’t stopping for him. In fact, the world doesn’t stop for anyone.
This is especially so for the Syrian people, who have been terrorized, starved and besieged by their own government over the last six years. Bashar al-Assad may be an evil and cunning man, but he isn’t stupid; he grasps the political reality in the United States and understands that folks in Washington are too distracted to do anything significant about Syria. The two months when one administration hands power to another isn’t the best time to rock the boat and change policy.
Read MoreSechs deutsche Anwälte klagen Syriens Machthaber Assad wegen Kriegsverbrechen an. Was naiv klingt, ist ein überfälliger Schritt der internationalen Strafverfolgung.
Read MoreMeet the evidence hunters risking it all to collect and document evidence of war crimes committed during Syria's war.
Read MoreIn May 2014 an attempt to refer the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court (ICC) was vetoed by Russia and China. Since then, war crimes and crimes against humanity have escalated.
Civilians have been bombarded by chemical weapons, cluster munitions, incendiary devices and barrel bombs. Cities have been starved in medieval sieges, doctors and hospitals systematically attacked, food convoys obliterated or obstructed, and courageous rescuers like the Syrian ‘White Helmets’ deliberately killed. Thousands have been tortured or enslaved.
Read MoreWith the Mosul battle raging and the Raqqa offensive possibly weeks away, U.S. policymakers and government attorneys will be facing a familiar kind of problem: What is going to be done with the inevitable ISIL fighters captured in the battle?
The answer to that question is not going to be easy, as evidenced by the ongoing legal and policy debates surrounding the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where hundreds of detainees tied to the conflict with Al Qaeda and the Taliban were brought following the 9/11 attacks in 2001. Of those, 60 remain.
Read MoreA Paris court has accepted a legal complaint from human rights groups accusing the Syrian regime of war crimes.
The criminal court has opened an investigation and appointed an investigative judge to probe charges of "torture", "crimes against humanity", and "forced disappearances".
BRUSSELS—The European Union has agreed to add 10 Syrians to its sanctions list, including high-ranking military officials and other senior figures linked to the regime, the bloc announced on Thursday.
Read MoreThe Bashar Assad regime could face its first European war crimes probe after two human rights groups filed a complaint in a specialized Paris court over two missing Franco-Syrian nationals.
The International Federation for Human Rights and the Human Rights League lodged a complaint against persons unknown at the war crimes division of the Paris High Court.
Frustrated by the Russian veto of a United Nations Security Council resolution on Syria, France and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry last Friday called for war crime prosecutions over the ongoing assault on Aleppo. Such calls for legal action have been issued multiple times in recent years, including by the United States. Is the international community any closer to delivering justice today for the suffering in Syria? What are the prospects of accountability for war crimes in this ongoing, and tragic, civil war?
Read MoreWhat the United States called Russia’s “barbarism” in Syria, the United Kingdom referredto as Moscow’s “war crimes”. Russia responded by stating that either characterization was “unacceptable”. And so it continues.
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