Search Results for: syria

The UK, the US and Canada announced coordinated sanctions on Friday against individuals and entities linked to human rights abuse, approaching the 75th anniversary of the ratification of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The UK has imposed 46 sanctions of asset freezes and travel bans. The first category of these focuses mainly on forced labour [...]

Stephen Rapp, an American lawyer and diplomat, has been a leading figure in international criminal law and human rights. He was appointed as the US Ambassador at Large for War Crimes Issues in 2009, overseeing investigations and prosecutions of war criminals worldwide. Rapp’s commitment to justice and ending impunity was evident during his tenure, supporting [...]

This weekend marks the 75th anniversary of one of the world’s most groundbreaking global pledges: the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). On December 9 we see the anniversary of the Genocide Convention, signed on the December 9, 1948, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights signed 75 years ago. It represents an an important occasion that aims to raise [...]

Human rights groups Oxfam Novib, PAX, and The Rights Forum are seeking to halt the Dutch government‘s export of F-35 fighter jet parts to Israel in a hearing that began Monday. During summary proceedings in front of the Hague District Court , they argued that such exports make the Netherlands complicit in potential war crimes, [...]

Lawrence Wilkerson is a retired United States Army Colonel who held key roles in government, including serving as Chief of Staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell from 2002 to 2005. Wilkerson played a role in preparing US Secretary of State Colin Powell’s presentation in 2003 at the United Nations in making the case for [...]

Baroness Helena Kennedy of the Shaws, KC, is one of the UK’s most established lawyers, a bencher at Gray’s Inn and a member of the House of Lords. Kennedy is also a broadcaster,  journalist and lecturer. She has not only acted in many of the most prominent cases of the last decade but has promoted civil [...]

Syria’s opposition government said Saturday that government forces shelled the northwestern village of Qaqfin, located in Idlib, Syria. The shelling resulted in the death of ten civilians, drawing further attention to allegations of human rights violations committed by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his government.  In a press release, the Syrian Opposition Coalition (SOC) revealed [...]

Syria’s president Bashar al-Assad issued a decree on Thursday (Legislative Decree No 36 of 2023) granting amnesty for certain crimes committed before the decree was issued, subject to conditions. Judge Muhammad Eid Baloza announced that 350 prisoners in Damascus have been released under the decree as of Saturday. The decree stated that misdemeanors and violations [...]

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague issued an interim order on Thursday directing the Syrian government to “take all measures within its powers” to prevent torture. This development comes from a case brought by the Netherlands and Canada, accusing Syria of engaging in a prolonged campaign of torturing its own citizens. The [...]

France issued arrest warrants on Wednesday for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his brother Maher al-Assad, the de facto chief of the Syrian elite military unit, as well as two high-ranking armed forces generals. The arrest warrants stem from two chemical weapons attacks that occurred in Ghouta, Syria in August 2013. The warrants are in [...]