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Justice in Syria

Algeria - General Khaled Nezzar is accused in Switzerland of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
2 October 2023 by Julia Crawford
Assad and Nezzar: Swiss justice finally moving, but not so convincingly The Swiss have finally moved on two long-running, politically sensitive universal jurisdiction cases. But the chances of Algerian ex-defense minister Khaled Nezzar and former Syrian vice-president Rifaat al-Assad being brought to [...]
Missing persons in Syria -
17 July 2023 by Asymmetrical Haircuts
Missing persons in Syria: why create a new UN body? A June 26 UN General Assembly resolution has created a new Independent Institution on Missing Persons in the Syrian Arab Republic (IIMPSAR). This comes after 12 years of conflict and violence, with at least 100,000 people reported [...]
Crimes against Yazidis - Kurds demonstrate in the Netherlands in support of the Yezidis and Christians of Iraq, victims of Islamic State violence.
22 May 2023 by Margherita Capacci
Netherlands to open first trial on crimes against Yazidis The first trial for crimes against the Yazidis is about to open in the Netherlands. The defendant, Hasna Aarab, is a 31-year-old Dutch national woman from Hengelo, a town in the East of the country. She is facing charges of slaver [...]
Universal jurisdiction in France - Cour de cassation
12 May 2023 by AFP
France: A relief for universal jurisdiction The Court of Cassation ruled on Friday 12 May that French justice can prosecute crimes against humanity or war crimes committed abroad, even if they are not qualified as such in the country concerned. This is a breath of relief fo [...]
Universal jurisdiction (podcast) - Rohingya refugee woman from Myanmar in a camp in Bangladesh
1 May 2023 by Asymmetrical Haircuts
Has universal jurisdiction come of age? “It seems like every week, across a variety of situations, there’s a new universal jurisdiction case. We used to count case by case to see how this phenomenon was growing. Now we wonder whether it’s a standard response by victims’ [...]
Universal jurisdiction in France - World map of countries where France conducts investigations
16 March 2023 by Lena Bjurström
Crucial hearing for universal jurisdiction in France On March 17, the French high court will examine appeals in two Syrian war crimes and crimes against humanity cases. The outcome could affect the future of French universal jurisdiction and of more than a third of such investigatio [...]
Syrian trial for war crimes in Germany
23 February 2023 by AFP
Syrian trial in Berlin: life imprisonment for a militiaman A Berlin court on February 23 sentenced former Syrian militiaman Moafak D. to life in jail for firing a grenade launcher on a crowd of civilians in the Yarmouk camp, near Damascus. This is the third trial for war crimes related to [...]
Court in Berlin where Moafak D is tried for war crimes in Syria.
20 February 2023 by Hannah El-Hitami
Syrian war crime trial in Berlin: a late alibi for defense Last Thursday, 16 February, in Berlin, Germany, Palestinian Syrian militiaman Moafak D.’s defense gave their final statements and called for his acquittal. They argued their client had been injured and bedridden at the time of the [...]
Yarmouk camp in Damascus (Syria)
14 February 2023 by Hannah El-Hitami
Syria: Berlin prosecutors urge life sentence in war crimes trial In a German court, a former militiaman from Syria is accused of firing a grenade into a crowd of civilians gathered to collect food, in March 2014. The attack took place during a Bashar al-Assad regime’s months-long siege of the P [...]
In a street whose buildings are completely devastated (Yarmouk district in Damascus, Syria), a distribution of food aid is organized for many refugees
9 January 2023 by Hannah El-Hitami
Patrick Kroker: “They saw injuries nobody could have survived” In Berlin, a former militia member from Syria is accused of war crimes for firing a grenade into a group of civilians in Damascus in 2014. The trial is the third in Germany to prosecute crimes of the Bashar al-Assad regime. Lawyer [...]
14 October 2022 by Asymmetrical Haircuts
Is there a right methodology to document war crimes in Myanmar, Syria, Iraq or Ukraine? “Don’t over document” warned the International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Karim Khan in a recent meeting held in The Hague with Eurojust, in an address to civil society organizations, referring to situations in Myanmar, Syria [...]
A soldier of the Syrian government army points his weapon at a large hole whose bottom is not visible
16 June 2022 by Veronica Bellintani
What the Alleged Arrest of Tadamon Perpetrator Tells Us About the Syrian Regime Model of Transitional Justice Last April two academics revealed their investigation on a gruesome video showing a Syrian government soldier executing at least 41 civilians in Tadamon, Damascus, in 2013. The killer is said to have been arrested by Syrian author [...]
A doctor holds a bloodstained open book in a hospital
1 February 2022 by Hannah El-Hitami,
Germany: When Syrian doctors became part of Assad’s terror In Frankfurt, Germany, a Syrian doctor is accused of crimes against humanity. He is said to have tortured 18 prisoners in Syria’s military hospitals, depriving two of their ability to reproduce, and killing one. Dr. Alaa Moussa ha [...]
2 Syrian victims and activists demonstrate with signs outside the court in Koblenz, Germany, following the trial of Anwar Raslan
20 January 2022 by Hannah El-Hitami
Anwar Raslan's conviction: "The beginning of a wider struggle" In Koblenz, Germany, the al-Khatib trial has ended with a life sentence for main defendant Anwar Raslan. The judges found the ex-intelligence officer responsible for torture and killing in Damascus security branch 251. The defence [...]
Anwar Raslan in the dock in Koblenz (Al-Khatib trial), Germany
13 January 2022 by AFP
Syria: Anwar Raslan gets life sentence for crimes against humanity A historic verdict has just been handed down in Germany, on Thursday 13 January. State torture in Syria has been recognised for the first time by a court, in Koblenz, with the sentencing of Anwar Raslan to life for crimes against [...]
Anwar Raslan during his trial in Koblenz, Germany
10 January 2022 by Hannah El-Hitami
Defence: “Raslan did whatever he could to help” The final verdict in the first state torture trial for Syria is expected on January 13, in Koblenz, Germany. Last Thursday, the defence pleaded for Anwar Raslan’s innocence. The former secret service officer himself made a final s [...]
Syrian Colonel Anwar Raslan handcuffed during his trial in Koblenz (Germany)
6 January 2022 by Hannah El-Hitami
Prosecution: "Raslan was either powerless, or he wasn’t" Today on January 6, the defense will make its closing arguments before the court in Koblenz, Germany. The trial against former Syrian secret service colonel Anwar Raslan is coming to an end. In December, the prosecution and joint [...]
Anwar Raslan in the dock in Koblenz (Al-Khatib trial), Germany
5 November 2021 by Hannah El-Hitami
Syrian torture trial in Germany: “Raslan was scared” As the first Syrian state crimes trial in Europe is coming to an end, it is the defence’s turn to show the main defendant, Anwar Raslan, in a different light. They presented a man stripped of real authority, sympathetic to the rev [...]
Destroyed buildings in Homs, Syria
22 July 2021 by Lena Bjurström
In France, the lengthy Syrian investigations Investigations on crimes in Syria are multiplying in France. They now constitute the largest number of cases handled by judicial bodies dedicated to the prosecution of war crimes and crimes against humanity. But the many investiga [...]