Assad must face trial for his atrocities against the Syrian people

 

 Nawaf Obaid and Joel Rayburn:

 'While the world’s attention is understandably focused on Ukraine, it remains imperative that those responsible for committing some of the worst war crimes of the 21st century during Syria’s brutal civil war are brought to justice.

 For all the denials of wrong-doing by Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad’s régime, and its ludicrous proposition that Assad is a civilised, law-abiding leader who was merely protecting his country against foreign-sponsored extremists, a compelling body of evidence paints a very different story: one where the régime systematically committed atrocities against its own citizens.

 And if the perpetrators of the similarly appalling crimes against humanity that are being committed in Ukraine are ever to face justice, then it is imperative that the international community ensures Assad and his henchmen are made to account for their own horrendous crimes.

 The worst excesses of the Syrian conflict may have passed, but the civil war will forever be remembered for the images of barrel bombs raining on civilian neighbourhoods, of Syrian prisons overflowing with civilians subjected to unspeakable horrors, and régime forces gunning down protestors in public squares.

 Now, thanks to exhaustive research carried out by a dedicated team working for the Commission for International Justice and Accountability (CIJA), a vast tranche of material has been accumulated that provides incontrovertible evidence of the régime’s involvement in some of the worst atrocities committed during the conflict.

 The material provides exhaustive detail about how the régime conducted – and continues to conduct – a systematic, centrally planned campaign of mass murder and torture.

 CIJA has accumulated material that catalogues, amongst other things, two categories of criminal behaviour: the régime’s torture and murder of detainees; and its use of military and paramilitary forces to commit atrocities against unarmed civilians.

 Internal régime communications acquired by CIJA show orders were issued from the highest leadership level “not to have compassion and mercy towards demonstrators” and to dissolve public protests “regardless of the consequences.” Military commanders received written instructions to threaten communities with destruction in the event of resistance to Assad's forces. Régime documents also allow us to trace the chain of authority through which these threats were put into action, including by means of direct orders to strike hospitals with artillery and to mobilise and arm loyalist paramilitaries who then massacred civilians.

 Criminal culpability is just as clear for the atrocities which took place in the Assad régime’s detention centres. High-ranking régime officials could watch these crimes in real time via cameras installed in interrogation rooms, with the images sent directly to their offices. Some senior officials even participated in the rape of detainees themselves.

 These crimes were ordered and micromanaged by the Central Crisis Management Cell (CCMC), the supreme decision-making body created by Assad in March 2011 to coordinate the crackdown by his political, military, and security institutions. This machinery kept Assad extensively informed; and he, in turn, managed the machinery closely.

 Ultimately, the prosecution case against Assad and his henchmen will rest, just as was the case at the Nuremberg trials of Nazi war criminals after the Second World War, on the meticulous reports their own bureaucracy recorded on the mass murder of its citizens.

 Assad personally read detailed reports sent to him on a daily basis, and he in turn issued instructions through the chains of command. The régime’s internal documents show that all of Assad’s current top lieutenants had a direct role in informing him and in brutally executing his instructions.

 With the UN-led Syrian peace process deadlocked – stymied by Russia, in particular – Western priorities have shifted to other conflicts such as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Regrettably, Western pressure on Assad has relaxed.

 But that should not mean that the key perpetrators of the Syrian régime’s crimes against humanity should be allowed to escape justice. Investigations and prosecutions of Syrian war criminals are taking place in various jurisdictions - in Europe, most especially.

 This is a good start, although, given the scale of the crimes committed, what is really required is the formation of a special international criminal tribunal at The Hague dedicated to Syria-related cases would serve to accelerate the criminal-justice accountability process.

 It would certainly serve the interests of the major Western powers to establish such a tribunal. Bringing the perpetrators of war crimes in Syria to justice would help to generate the momentum needed to secure a genuine political settlement to the war in Syria. Holding the Assad régime and other war criminals accountable would also serve the purpose of deterring other régimes, such as Russia, that might emulate Assad’s brutal war in the future to solve their own political problems.'

Latest Suwayda Protest Serves as Reminder of Worsening Syrian Crisis

 

 Charles Lister:

 ' “The people want the downfall of the régime!” Those were the words that hundreds of protesters chanted in Al-Mashnaqa Square in front of the provincial headquarters of the Syrian Baath Party in Suwayda on November 4.

 This was far from the first time protests had erupted in Suwayda, the Druze-majority town in southeastern Syria, but the embrace of that notorious phrase made famous throughout the Arab Spring was significant.

 Even more consequential was what happened next, as protesters stormed the building, setting fire to parts of its interior and visibly tearing down the large portrait of Bashar al-Assad on its front walls. As régime security forces arrived on the scene, their vehicles were surrounded – several were set on fire. More portraits of Assad were brought onto the street and stepped on and shredded, while the Damascus-Suwayda highway was blockaded. Gunfire soon broke out and in the chaos that ensued, two people were killed and 18 others injured.

 While a tense calm prevailed the following day, the deadly day served as a reminder of just how tenuous the Assad régime’s grip on power remains. While ten years of terror has returned much of Syria to the state of fear that it existed in prior to the peaceful uprising in 2011, the régime’s ruthless pursuit of survival has driven the country into a deep hole out of which it looks unlikely to escape anytime soon.



 This latest protest in Suwayda erupted to demonstrate against a range of complaints, from frequent power outages and water cuts, to the high price of fuel and food, as well as pervasive corruption and increasing criminality. While state media appeared to acknowledge the news from Suwayda, it blamed the violence on “armed outlaws” and made no clear reference to any legitimate reasons for protest.

 That Syrians are willing to take to the streets today is far from surprising. Over 90 percent of Syrians today live under the poverty line and at least 12.5 million live without sufficient food each day.

 Syria has been hit hard by a recent cholera outbreak, which is thought to have infected tens of thousands of people across much of the country. The Syrian Pound continues to weaken amid spiraling inflation that has left the currency valued at over 6,000 to a single American dollar. An average government employee salary in Damascus today equates to $20, while the cost of feeding a family of five is around $300. More than 50% of Syria’s basic infrastructure remains destroyed, four years after the peak of armed conflict ended, and the projected cost of reconstruction – at least $500 billion – remains all but a fantasy never to be realized.



 Meanwhile, any hope that might have stemmed from regional governments seeking to normalize with Assad’s régime has faded away, as economic investments are deterred by the Caesar Act in the US and the régime’s own obstinacy and corruption kill off any faith in the value of re-engagement.

 At home in Syria, the régime’s capacity to insulate its people from economic collapse is stifled both by the economy’s profound weakness, but also by the régime’s corruption. Syria’s planned budget for 2023 is $6.5 billion, a 30% reduction from two years ago. Subsidies for staple foods like flour and wheat are to be further reduced, while fuel costs look set to continue increasing.

 Meanwhile, one of the few budget items to benefit from Syria’s new budget is pharmaceuticals used in plastic surgery – a need very specific to the régime’s exclusive elite. While Assad’s corrupt elite continue to enrich themselves to immeasurable levels, the Syrian population’s suffering is guaranteed to worsen with time.

 While the international community agreed in Brussels earlier in 2022 to pledge $6.5 billion to the humanitarian effort across Syria for 2022-2023 – the same sum as Syria’s entire national budget – the régime has emerged as a narco state of global significance.

 In 2021, Syrian-produced captagon (manufactured in industrial-scale facilities across western Syria managed and secured by the elite 4th Division and facilitated in part by Hezbollah) was smuggled abroad for a market value of at least $20 to $30 billion.

 While the primary market for Syrian drugs is the Gulf, new markets are emerging in north Africa, Jordan, Turkey and Iraq. This is a criminal practice expanding at an exponential scale and the resulting instability and threat to international security and public health is not receiving the acknowledgement it deserves. But most significantly, it is yet another insult to the Syrian people, who continue to suffer under a régime that now produces a greater value of drugs than Mexico’s cartels combined.



 Once again, the world is reminded with clear evidence that Syria’s crisis remains unresolved and the root causes and drivers of instability remain deeply embedded. While solutions to the crisis are more difficult to envision than ever before, leaving the régime unchallenged and abandoning efforts for a comprehensive settlement only guarantees that suffering and instability will persist into the long-term.'