UN: senior judge or prosecutor to head Syria war crimes investigation News
UN: senior judge or prosecutor to head Syria war crimes investigation

The UN announced [UN News Centre report] on Thursday that the independent panel charged with assisting in the investigation and prosecution of war crimes or crimes against humanity in Syria will be headed by a senior judge or prosecutor with extensive experience in criminal investigation and prosecution. The head of the panel, which is officially called 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,” will be further assisted by a deputy and a secretariat. The panel is primarily charged 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 panel will be established in phases [UN correspondent’s note], and the new UN Secretary-General António Guterres [official website] will name the head of the panel by the end of February.

The UN General Assembly adopted a resolution [JURIST report] last month, approved by a vote of 105-15, with 52 abstentions, establishing the panel. The panel will work closely with the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria, which was established by the UN Human Rights Council [official websites] in 2011. The war in Syria [JURIST backgrounder] continues to have a devastating impact, particularly for the war torn region of Aleppo. In December the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein [official profile] accused Syrian pro-government forces of going door to door and systematically killing civilians [JURIST report] in at least four Aleppo neighborhoods. The Russian/Syrian coalition committed war crimes in Aleppo during September and October, Human Rights Watch [advocacy website] said [JURIST report] in early December. Earlier this month UN officials urged [JURIST report] the international community to unite with the UN Security Council to protect civilians in the war-torn eastern Aleppo region of Syria. US Central Command concluded [JURIST report] in November that airstrikes carried out by the US-led coalition near Dayr az Zawr, Syria, in September did not violate international law. Also in November a group of German lawyers announced [JURIST report] the filing of charges against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, alleging that he committed war crimes in Aleppo.