This expert roundtable examines the lessons learned from the recent Anwar R. case for future of international accountability in Syria and elsewhere, including the invasion in Ukraine, as well as alleged crimes perpetrated against the Yazidi population.
In January this year, Anwar R, a former senior member of the Syrian government, was prosecuted in the Higher Regional Court in Koblenz, Germany, for crimes against humanity. It raised questions surrounding the role foreign courts exercising universal jurisdiction can play in holding senior leaders suspected of atrocity crimes to account - most particularly when the local Syrian judiciary are unwilling or unable, and an international tribunal remains unavailable.
The Anwar R. case represented one of the first cases where a senior leader was prosecuted while atrocity crimes continue in Syria (as opposed to years after). Moreover, it also reflected a trial whereby non-state actors played a major role in collecting evidence. For example, the Commission for International Justice and Accountability (CIJA) collected documents produced by the Syrian security services that linked senior leaders to the underlying crime. Syrian witnesses and victims of atrocity crimes worked with NGOs, such as the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR), as well as the German judiciary, to identify other witnesses and victims to testify in the prosecution. Lastly, the German legal system constitutes the broadest universal jurisdiction in the world (aside from Norway), and played a unique role in the accountability process.
It illuminates the multiplicity of actors, institutions and means involved in closing the accountability gap, including witnesses and victims of core crimes, the Convention Against Torture, foreign courts exercising universal jurisdiction, foreign policy institutions enabling international law, as well as the nature of state practice and the UN-System in the post-Nuremberg era.
This roundtable includes practitioners who have contributed to Syrian accountability, including the Anwar R. case, as well as academics in international relations who research accountability, universal jurisdiction, and human rights.
Due to generous sponsorship, BISA is able to offer five free tickets for Global South resident scholars and 10 free tickets for student non-members. Tickets are first come first serve.
Speakers
Patrick Kroker (PhD)
Patrick was lawyer to the co-plaintiffs in the recent Anwar R. case in the Higher Regional Court in Koblenz, Germany. He is a German qualified lawyer and legal advisor in the International Crimes and Accountability Program at the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR) in Berlin where he focusses on cases involving universal jurisdiction. Previously, he was assistant to Civil Party Lawyers at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC).
Tarik Abdulhak
Tarik wrote the first criminal brief for the Commission for International Justice and Accountability (CIJA) concerning the Syrian government. Currently, he is a Crown Prosecutor in Australia. Previously, Tarik worked in Bosnia Herzegovina as an advisor to the President of an internationalised court for war crimes and organised crime; and as a prosecutor at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC).
Ibrahim Olabi
Ibrahim is part of a legal team advising The Netherlands on the first case which may end up before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) against Syria for torture. He is a Barrister at Guernica 37 in the UK; and founder of the Syrian Legal Development Programme. Recently, Ibrahim provided a report to the UNSC on the status of accountability in Syria.
Yuna Han (PhD)
Yuna is Departmental Lecturer in International Relations in the Department of Politics & International Relations at the University of Oxford, and affiliated with St. Catherine's College. Her research focuses on the politics of international law, focusing on international criminal law and human rights accountability. Previously, Yuna was fellow in International Relations Theory at the London School of Economics & Political Science (LSE); and a research associate at the European University Institute (EUI).
Chair
Melinda Rankin (PhD)
Melinda is a researcher at The University of Queensland, and author of De facto International Persecutors in a Global Era: With My Own Eyes (Cambridge University Press, 2022). Her research focuses on international criminal justice, human rights, humanitarianism, and international practices.