Search Results for: Syrian Civil War

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 [...]

“For by Wise Counsel, Thou Shalt Make Thy War.” Proverbs 24,6 Israel’s nuclear posture remains closely held. On its face, this “ambiguous” stance appears perfectly reasonable. But a critically core question should now be raised: Is unmodified deliberate nuclear ambiguity (the “bomb in the basement”) still in the long-term survival interests of the beleaguered state. [...]

In response to the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks against Israeli civilians, Israel mounted Operation Swords of Iron. Although international law allows for certain limited uses of insurgent force, including uses directed toward “self-determination,” these residual allowances do not include any rights of indiscriminate violence or of deliberate attacks on noncombatants. “Revenge,” of course, is [...]

Security forces in Syria fired at anti-government protestors Wednesday in Sweida, a Druze city in the southwest of the country, according to a correspondent from news outlet Suwayda 24. The protestors were fired upon near the entrance of a local Ba’ath party building after they attempted to shut it down. Suwayda 24’s correspondent said security [...]

UN Special Rapporteur Fionnuala Ni Aolain released a statement on Friday urging the cessation of “indefinite mass detention without legal process,” particularly for children, in northeastern Syria detention centers. After arriving in Damascus, Syria on July 15, she visited prisons and detention sites and witnessed “major humanitarian challenges,” including inadequate access to water and electricity [...]

July 17 is the Day of International Criminal Justice. This year it also marks 25 years since the adoption of the Rome Statute, the founding treaty of the International Criminal Court (ICC). ICC member countries will gather today at the United Nations headquarters in New York City to discuss strengthening political and practical support for [...]

The United Nations released the Global Trend Report 2022 on Wednesday which covers refugees, asylum seekers, internally displaced and stateless people worldwide. 112.6 million people fall under the protection of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The number of forcibly displaced people is 108.4 million. Both figures are at their historic high since [...]

The Netherlands and Canada jointly submitted a case against Syria to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), accusing the Syrian government of committing numerous violations of international law, including torture, since the beginning of the country’s civil war in 2011. The primary objective of the application, filed with the registry on June 8, is to [...]

The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR), along with 20 other human rights organizations, issued a joint statement on Thursday calling out Lebanon’s deportation of Syrian refugees. The human rights organizations claim the deportations violate the international law principle of non-refoulement, which protects individuals from being returned to a country where they face torture, cruel, [...]