More than half a million people have been killed in the course of the Syrian conflict, and more than 13 million displaced across the world. At least 100,000 Syrians still languish in the country’s prisons, and the families of hundreds of thousands wait for confirmation of the fate of their loved ones – many of whom were likely tortured to death. While it appears that the Syrian government and its allies won the military battle, is the window for accountability for their crimes closed? What can the international community do to ensure that Syrians can have access to reparations, accountability, and possibly reconciliation in the future? What efforts currently exist, and what remains to be done?
 
The Henry Jackson Society is pleased to gather a panel of world experts to discuss this issue and look at ways in which justice may yet be served for Syria.

Mazen Darwish is a Syrian human rights defender and lawyer, Graduate of the Law University in Damascus.

Mr. Darwish was elected as Commissioner of the International Commission of Jurists- ICJ, he is one of the most important human rights defenders in the Arab world who has been awarded over 12 international awards including “Roland Berger Human Dignity Award”, “UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize” and “Four Freedoms Award”.

Darwish worked for years as a human rights defender, which caused him detention several times; last time was between (2012-2016), his work concentrated to follow up on the legal status of conscience prisoners in various areas of Syria. Formatting international support and advocacy campaigns for them, and securing legal support in their trials in the Syrian judiciary, and providing support for their families. He is the founder and director of SCM (Founder and Director, Syrian Centre for Media and Freedom of Expression) and VDC (The Violations Documentation Center in Syria).

Photo credit: The Atlantic Council

Gissou Nia is the director of the Strategic Litigation Project, within Middle East Programs at the Atlantic Council. The Strategic Litigation Project advises on the inclusion of legal tools as a part of foreign policy, with a focus on prevention and accountability efforts for atrocity crimes, human rights violations, terrorism and corruption offenses.

Nia is a human rights lawyer and non-profit leader. She serves as board chair of the Iran Human Rights Documentation Center where she is helping develop and oversee the group’s human rights advocacy and legal programs, which seek to promote accountability, respect for human rights and the rule of law in Iran. She previously served as the Executive Director for the group, and as the Deputy Director of the Center for Human Rights in Iran.

Nia started her career in The Hague, where she worked on war crimes and crimes against humanity trials at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and the International Criminal Court. She lectures and publishes widely on human rights developments in the Middle East and North Africa, as well as the rule of law in post-conflict and transitional societies.

Photo credit: The Atlantic Council

Jomana Qaddour is a resident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Rafik Hariri Center and Middle East Programs, where she leads the Syria portfolio. Qaddour is a doctoral student at Georgetown University Law Center, focusing on ethno-sectarianism and its impact on constitutional frameworks in Iraq, Bosnia, and Syria. She is currently a member of the UN-facilitated Syrian Constitutional Committee, as part of the Civil Society Group. She is the co-founder of Syria Relief & Development, a humanitarian organization working in northwest Syria that has implemented over $120 million worth of aid; she also serves on the Executive Committee of the American Relief Coalition for Syria, an umbrella group of 10 Syrian American humanitarian organizations. Qaddour previously served as a Senior Policy Analyst at the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom and as a Senior Research Assistant and Publications Manager for the Project on U.S. Relations with the Islamic World at the Brookings Institution’s Center for Middle East Policy. Prior to that, she worked as a patent attorney.

Helena Ivanov is an Associate Research Fellow at the Henry Jackson Society. She recently completed a PhD in International Relations at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Her research focuses on the relationship between propaganda and violence against civilians. In her thesis, Helena examined the role propaganda played during the Yugoslav Wars and produced a model for studying propaganda which details the key phases, functions, discourses, and techniques of propaganda (the model itself is applicable to other contexts). Additionally, Helena also served as a Manager at the Centre for International Studies at the LSE.

Prior to her PhD, Helena completed an MPhil in Political Theory at the University of Oxford, and holds a BA in Politics from the University of Belgrade.

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EVENT SUMMARY

The Henry Jackson Society was pleased to welcome experts on the Middle East to share their views on the situation in Syria. Dr Helena Ivanov began the discussion by introducing the speakers and the topic of the discussion. Mazen Darwish stressed the importance of accountability for long-lasting peace. He stressed the importance of prosecution of war criminals to be able to guarantee the safe return of refugees to Syria and to prevent cyclical violence and extremism which was likely to rise if the Syrian people did not get justice. Mazen Darwish also noted the complexity of finding an adequate balance between accountability and amnesty. Jomana Qaddour gave an overview of the crimes committed in Syria, highlighting the role of the Syrian, Russian and Iranian governments. Gissou Nia discussed what legal processes have been engaged to prosecute crimes and the options the current international legal system offers in light of Ukraine’s invasion. All the panellists concluded that it is not too late for justice in Syria and provided recommendations for countries to follow.

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