France judge appointed to collect evidence concerning Syria war crimes News
France judge appointed to collect evidence concerning Syria war crimes

French judge Catherine Marchi-Uhel was appointed [press release] as Head of the International Impartial and Independent Mechanism on Monday to collect evidence concerning persons involved in Syrian war crimes over the last six years. Marchi-Uhel has experience in criminal law, transitional justice and human rights, and worked for the UN concerning various international affairs. Marchi-Uhel will gather evidence and prepare cases concerning suspected war crimes contributors, with the goal of taking the cases to trial.

This past December, the General Assembly created the Mechanism under resolution 71/248, describing it as the “International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism to assist in the Investigation and Prosecution of those Responsible for the Most Serious Crimes under International Law committed in the Syrian Arab Republic since March 2011.” The Mechanism is primarily charged [JURIST report] with “collecting, consolidating, preserving, and analyzing” evidence of human rights violations, and facilitating and expediting independent criminal proceedings in accordance with standards of international law. The Mechanism will work closely with the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria [official profile], which was established by the UN Human Rights Council [official website] in 2011.