Syria has failed to comply with a 2023 International Court of Justice (ICJ) order requiring the country to “take all measures within its power to prevent acts of torture,” Human Rights Watch (HRW) stated Wednesday.
HRW highlighted that despite the court’s directive, reports indicate ongoing abuses. “Syrian officials are still sending people to the country’s detention centers, which are notorious for torture,” said Balkees Jarrah, associate director for international justice at HRW. Amnesty International has also documented Syria’s widespread use of torture, describing it as a state policy employed systematically in detention facilities. In its reports, Amnesty highlights methods of abuse, including severe beatings, electric shocks, and psychological torment inflicted on detainees.
The ICJ’s provisional measures, issued on November 16, 2023, were prompted by a case brought by Canada and the Netherlands, accusing Syria of gross violations of the Convention Against Torture.
The ICJ had ordered Syria to take specific steps, including ceasing arbitrary and incommunicado detention, granting independent monitors access to detention facilities, and ensuring that detainees are treated with dignity. It also required Syria to prevent the destruction of evidence related to acts of torture and disclose information about detainees’ fates and burial sites to their families.
HRW reported that Syria has failed to implement these directives, with detainees continuing to face horrific conditions and systemic abuse. Moreover, rights groups fear recent legislative moves, including the dissolution of Syria’s Military Field Courts, may serve as a pretext to destroy evidence of systemic torture. Syria has repeatedly denied the allegations, defending its actions as counter-terrorism measures. Yet international law explicitly prohibits torture under any circumstances.
UN bodies and nongovernmental organizations have described the abuses in Syrian detention facilities as amounting to crimes against humanity. European courts have been able to prosecute individuals accused of torture and war crimes in Syria by invoking the principle of universal jurisdiction.
