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Assad Opponents Seek Justice for Syria’s War Victims

Rogue Valley

Rogue Valley

Lead or get out of the way
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Assad Opponents Seek Justice for Syria’s War Victims - The New York Times

The non-profit organization Commission For International Justice and Accountability has over 750,000 documents pertaining to commanders and members of Assad's security forces. Former Syrian police photographer [code-name] Caesar smuggled 52,000 + photographs out of Syria documenting the torture and murder of 6,700 people by Assad's security forces. The Syria Justice and Accountability Center in Washington D.C. documents war crimes by the Syrian regime. The world has over three tons of captured Syrian documents that chronicle the depravity of the Bashar Assad regime in Syria. Syria never joined the International Criminal Court. Russia vetoes every UN resolution to hold the Assad regime responsible for its internal crimes and its war crimes.

The Assad regime's unimaginable brutality, pervasive tortures, and rampant murder continues unabated.
 
What about the accountability of the USA, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Turkey for the dead Syrians as a result of organizing, funding, training, and arming Nusra Front a/k/a ISIS, al Qeda, and others after the USA failure to successfully manipulate the election and Assad won. I don't recall Assad asking the USA or anyone, except Russia and Iran, to aid in the war. All others in Syria are invaders. That would be USA, Turkey, Iraq, and coalition forces. That is where the ICC should be prosecuting, unless, of course, it is a USA/NATO/Euro toadie,.
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Rogue Valley said:
Assad Opponents Seek Justice for Syria’s War Victims - The New York Times

The non-profit organization Commission For International Justice and Accountability has over 750,000 documents pertaining to commanders and members of Assad's security forces. Former Syrian police photographer [code-name] Caesar smuggled 52,000 + photographs out of Syria documenting the torture and murder of 6,700 people by Assad's security forces. The Syria Justice and Accountability Center in Washington D.C. documents war crimes by the Syrian regime. The world has over three tons of captured Syrian documents that chronicle the depravity of the Bashar Assad regime in Syria. Syria never joined the International Criminal Court. Russia vetoes every UN resolution to hold the Assad regime responsible for its internal crimes and its war crimes.

The Assad regime's unimaginable brutality, pervasive tortures, and rampant murder continues unabated.
Click to expand...

The problem with that approach is that the war crime tribunal never worked right and since so many countries dont support it most notably China it is not clear that it is going to stick around.

A secondary problem is that so many different groups have committed war crimes in Syria that the concept losses its relevance.
 
Rogue Valley said:
Assad Opponents Seek Justice for Syria’s War Victims - The New York Times

The non-profit organization Commission For International Justice and Accountability has over 750,000 documents pertaining to commanders and members of Assad's security forces. Former Syrian police photographer [code-name] Caesar smuggled 52,000 + photographs out of Syria documenting the torture and murder of 6,700 people by Assad's security forces. The Syria Justice and Accountability Center in Washington D.C. documents war crimes by the Syrian regime. The world has over three tons of captured Syrian documents that chronicle the depravity of the Bashar Assad regime in Syria. Syria never joined the International Criminal Court. Russia vetoes every UN resolution to hold the Assad regime responsible for its internal crimes and its war crimes.

The Assad regime's unimaginable brutality, pervasive tortures, and rampant murder continues unabated.
Click to expand...

R2P would have required the UN and the Neighbors to stop Assad years ago.
 
joG said:
R2P would have required the UN and the Neighbors to stop Assad years ago.
Click to expand...

If there had not been the colossal idiocy of what we did in the Libyan civil war Assad would have been stopped, but lying to the Russians carried huge consequences when China is their best friend and partner.
 
Re: Assad Opponents Seek Justice for Syria’s War Victims
Hawkeye10, et al,

I do not think the "Assad Opponents" however we should define them, has thought this through.

Hawkeye10 said:
Hawkeye10 said:
The problem with that approach is that the war crime tribunal never worked right and since so many countries dont support it most notably China it is not clear that it is going to stick around.

A secondary problem is that so many different groups have committed war crimes in Syria that the concept losses its relevance.
Click to expand...


If there had not been the colossal idiocy of what we did in the Libyan civil war Assad would have been stopped, but lying to the Russians carried huge consequences when China is their best friend and partner.
Click to expand...
(POINTS of REFERENCE - DIRECT QUOTES)

MOST IMPORTANTLY:

∷ Chapter I, Article 2(7), UN Charter: Nothing contained in the present Charter shall authorize the United Nations to intervene in matters which are essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of any state or shall require the Members to submit such matters to settlement under the present Charter; but this principle shall not prejudice the application of enforcement measures under Chapter Vll.

(COMMENT)

Attempting to assign culpability for "War Crimes" in Syria becomes true sticky.

For instance, under what authority does the Russian Federation or the US have for intervening? “Act of Aggression” means the use of armed force by a State against the sovereignty, territorial integrity or political independence of another State, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Charter of the United Nations. Any of the designated acts, regardless of a declaration of war, shall, in accordance with United Nations General Assembly resolution 3314 (XXIX) of 14 December 1974, qualify as an act of aggression.

The "Responsibility to Protect" (R2P) is essentially "coercive intervention;" for which the UN Charter make no differentiation. R2P is a double edged sword. If the General Assembly cobbles together IHL that make intervention application either as IAC or NIAC it would set a world-wide precedent applicable to all nations. Imagine the R2P implications on the Crimea, Palestine, Tibet, and the Kurds. And how would the Russian Federation, Israel v Arab League, China and Turkey feel about a 21st Century interpretation of interventionist law?

To compound the situation even more, there is the case of the "Non-State Actors." There are over a thousand Non-State Actor entities running operations against the Assad Regime; making the IAC the most extraordinarily complex insurgency seen in the last century. And the compound coalitions like the Ahrar al-Sham and the Syrian Islamic Front (SIF) → → explicitly Salafist alliance supporting democracy as an alternative to an Islamic state.

Most Respectfully,
R
 
RoccoR said:
Re: Assad Opponents Seek Justice for Syria’s War Victims
Hawkeye10, et al,

I do not think the "Assad Opponents" however we should define them, has thought this through.


(POINTS of REFERENCE - DIRECT QUOTES)

MOST IMPORTANTLY:

∷ Chapter I, Article 2(7), UN Charter: Nothing contained in the present Charter shall authorize the United Nations to intervene in matters which are essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of any state or shall require the Members to submit such matters to settlement under the present Charter; but this principle shall not prejudice the application of enforcement measures under Chapter Vll.

(COMMENT)

Attempting to assign culpability for "War Crimes" in Syria becomes true sticky.

For instance, under what authority does the Russian Federation or the US have for intervening? “Act of Aggression” means the use of armed force by a State against the sovereignty, territorial integrity or political independence of another State, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Charter of the United Nations. Any of the designated acts, regardless of a declaration of war, shall, in accordance with United Nations General Assembly resolution 3314 (XXIX) of 14 December 1974, qualify as an act of aggression.

The "Responsibility to Protect" (R2P) is essentially "coercive intervention;" for which the UN Charter make no differentiation. R2P is a double edged sword. If the General Assembly cobbles together IHL that make intervention application either as IAC or NIAC it would set a world-wide precedent applicable to all nations. Imagine the R2P implications on the Crimea, Palestine, Tibet, and the Kurds. And how would the Russian Federation, Israel v Arab League, China and Turkey feel about a 21st Century interpretation of interventionist law?

To compound the situation even more, there is the case of the "Non-State Actors." There are over a thousand Non-State Actor entities running operations against the Assad Regime; making the IAC the most extraordinarily complex insurgency seen in the last century. And the compound coalitions like the Ahrar al-Sham and the Syrian Islamic Front (SIF) → → explicitly Salafist alliance supporting democracy as an alternative to an Islamic state.

Most Respectfully,
R
Click to expand...
The OP is about the crimes of the Assad regime. Not Russia. Not the US. Not Lichtenstein.

Assad opponents can be indigenous Syrians and indigenous Kurds.

Respectfully,
RV
 
Re: Assad Opponents Seek Justice for Syria’s War Victims
Rogue Valley, et al,

I understand that the OP is about Assad.

Rogue Valley said:
The OP is about the crimes of the Assad regime. Not Russia. Not the US. Not Lichtenstein.

Assad opponents can be indigenous Syrians and indigenous Kurds.

Respectfully,
RV
Click to expand...
(COMMENT)


The suppression of domestic anti-government elements, is a domestic matter (both in US as well as Syria). Nothing under International Law prohibits a nation (any nation) from pursuing and maintaining law and order inside its own borders. In fact, the principle is:

Princeton Encyclopedia of Self-Determination said:
In international law, the principle of non-intervention includes, but is not limited to, the prohibition of the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state (Article 2.4 of the Charter). The principle of non-intervention in the internal affairs of States also signifies that a State should not otherwise intervene in a dictatorial way in the internal affairs of other States.
SOURCE: Non-Interference in Domestic Affairs
Click to expand...

In order to override this princple, the UN and the ICC must build the international political will to overcome, what would be otherwise considered, a violation of international law.

(EPILOG)

The Commission for International Justice and Accountability (CIJA), has completed its independent (Article 8) War Crimes Investigation (without a court mandate) as well as a case for selected (Article 7) Crimes Against Humanity. There are no good behavioral indicators (that everyone will agree with) that distinguish between the legitimate rule with that of illegitimate rule, relative to the Assad Regime.

Justice in Conflict.org said:
There is no immediate prospect for international justice or accountability in Syria. Efforts to have the United Nations Security Council refer the conflict to the International Criminal Court (ICC) have been stymied by Russia and China. The possibility of setting up an “ad hoc” tribunal to investigate allegations of crimes committed in Syria is more of an intellectual project than a political reality. While the U.N. Commission of Inquiry on Syria has produced a host of impressive and damning reports, the response of states has been meager and the conflict rages on. Even the broader debate regarding “transitional justice” in Syria misses a key point: There is no transition.
SOURCE: What Counts as Evidence of Syria’s War Crimes?
Posted on October 29, 2014 by Mark Kersten


For all the talk of justice for mass atrocities in Syria and myriad mechanisms aimed at forcing the international community to bring Syrian war criminals to account, the world has very little to show. But several recent developments at the United Nations General Assembly could lay the foundation for the day when justice in Syria becomes possible.
SOURCE: United We Stand, Divided We Fall — The UN General Assembly’s Chance to Bring Justice to Syria
Posted on December 30, 2016 by Mark Kersten
Click to expand...

Most Respectfully,
R
 
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