ONTARIO — Canada and the Netherlands have officially filed a case against the Syrian state at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) over allegations of torture and cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment and punishment of the Syrian people, initiating precedence of holding the Syrian state accountable at the ICJ for grave human rights violations.
The two countries announced last week through a joint statement that they have proceeded with the legal measures at the ICJ to hold Syria accountable for human rights violations that have been taking place since 2011, namely torture, murder, sexual assault and forced disappearance. The two countries also requested for the Syrian state to be subjected to provisional measures to cease those violations.
For a state that ratified the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, the Syrian regime’s record of human rights abuses has led Canada and the Netherlands to build a case that calls out the Syrian state for breaching the terms of the convention. Syria ratified the convention in 2004.
While ideally disputes between the convention’s state parties follow a pathway of negotiations, the two countries expressed that there were no fruitful results with the Syrian state in that avenue. Consequently, the two states referred the dispute to the ICJ as per Article 30 of the convention.
In the international scene, this step has been widely endorsed by the International, Impartial, and Independent Mechanism – Syria (IIIM), the United Nations’ mechanism that works on accountability for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide committed in Syria since 2011. IIIM will also be supporting the case by providing evidence, witness testimonies and geolocation reports.
“This step represents a significant milestone in the ongoing struggle against impunity, and for the victims and survivors affected by these crimes and violations,” said the head of the IIIM, Catherine Marchi-Uhel, in a statement released June 14. The US State Department also welcomed the initiative, as it also called for a collective effort to promote a justice-based political solution.
Locally, Syrian organizations and human rights groups in the diaspora also welcomed this initiative, as it falls within their efforts to mobilize legal mechanisms of accountability, such as universal jurisdiction to prosecute members of the Syrian regime in European courts. “The ICJ case initiated by the Netherlands and Canada is an important effort to recognize and condemn in the oldest international court the commission of the worst forms of treatment, namely torture, as a matter of policy by the Syrian government,” said Roger Phillips, legal director at the DC-based Syria Justice and Accountability Center.
The reality of grave human rights violations in Syria has been well documented thoroughly over the past 12 years. International organizations like Amnesty International have reported “unimaginable torture” and “sub-human conditions” in Syria’s prisons. Consistently, the Syrian Network for Human Rights reported that 15,039 individuals have died due to torture by the Syrian regime. The Caesar forensic photographs, which consist of 53,275 photographs of torture victims smuggled by a military defector, remain one of the most compelling pieces of evidence against the Syrian regime.
Despite the significant symbolism in this initiative, there is skepticism about the ICJ’s enforcement mechanisms and the limitations of the court. “It is not a criminal prosecution and will not result in any jail time for those responsible. The ICJ may order certain measures. For example, it can order the Syrian government to cease its policies of torture or to prosecute those responsible for such crimes. But the ICJ has limited means of enforcement and the orders are unlikely to result in any real prosecutions,” Phillips told Al-Monitor. “A comprehensive solution will only be possible when an international or hybrid institution is created with prosecutorial jurisdiction.”
On the diplomatic level, this case can be seen as an affirmation by international actors that the Syrian regime is responsible for grave human rights violations. Amid the recent regional normalization with the regime and Syria’s return to the Arab League, vocal human rights activists called for more assertive measures against the regime. “This case is one of the attempts to confirm that there is no turning back to the situation before 2011,” said Yaman Zabad, assistant researcher at the Istanbul-based Omran Center for Strategic Studies.
“Any international or individual human rights enforcement initiative certainly contributes to obstructing the path of normalization with the Syrian regime,” Zabad told Al-Monitor.
Within the scheme of accountability efforts, this case is preceded by a life sentence verdict by the Higher Regional Court of Koblenz in Germany against Anwar Raslan, as the former colonel was guilty of being an accomplice to murder, torture and sexual violence. In addition, Alaa Mousa, a former doctor affiliated with the Syrian regime, is currently facing trial in Frankfurt over charges of torture. It is possible that the ICJ case intersects with those trials.
“The systems of torture orchestrated by the Syrian government are central to the proceedings before the ICJ. Evidence from the Raslan trial was tested and relied upon by the German Higher Regional Court in reaching a guilty verdict for the crime of torture. This same evidence may be adduced at the ICJ in The Hague,” explains Phillips.
On the next steps in this case, Phillips indicated that ICJ will be preparing a scheduling order upon consultations with the parties involved. This is followed by the preparations of each party’s submissions by lawyers. It is anticipated that Canada and the Netherlands consult with the Syrian civil society to compile evidence of torture accounts to support their submissions.