by Ambra Visentin
A dozen Syrian human rights groups, civil society organisations and international legal experts have been laying the groundwork for the past two years. Today, they launched the initiative to create a court to try users of globally banned toxins. On 14 November, a French court issued an arrest warrant against Bashar al-Assad for using these substances against his people, which is why the Syrian president is not among the world leaders attending COP28 these days.
Source of the following information: Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression
To learn more, read our Syria conflict factsheet
Today, Syrian human rights defenders and civil society groups are calling for the establishment of an exceptional chemical weapons tribunal to hold perpetrators accountable for the use of chemical weapons in Syria and beyond.
The proposed exceptional tribunal will consider cases for all uses of chemical weapons, for Syria and for any case that falls outside of the International Criminal Court, due to the political deadlock that currently prevents the court from acting.
The public call from Syrian groups follows almost two years of international expert consultations and multilateral and bilateral discussions with States, and is based on in-depth analysis of legal, political and technical considerations.
Follow this link for the official statement
Cover image by Thorsten Strasas on Flickr
