Lawyers for victims in Syria urge ICC to arrest Assad, accomplices

Lawyers representing victims in Syria encouraged the International Criminal Court (ICC) to ‘urgently’ issue arrest warrants for Bashar al-Assad and 17 senior officials for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

In a statement Thursday after meeting Syrian authorities, Gulden Sonmez and Cihat Gokdemir said they initiated proceedings in 2017 on behalf of their clients, who suffered under the Baath regime, to prosecute Assad and senior military and political figures at the ICC in The Hague.

Highlighting that victims’ case files remain active due to conditions linked to the Syrian war, Sonmez and Gokdemir said: “With the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime on Dec. 8, 2024, the crimes against humanity and war crimes committed by the Assad regime have been exposed to the world.”

The lawyers urged swift action. “We call upon the ICC prosecutor from Damascus to urgently issue arrest warrants for Bashar al-Assad and senior officials based on the existing case files.”

– Call for investigations, justice

Sonmez and Gokdemir urged the ICC to send a delegation to Syria for on-site investigations.

“In this horrific war, marked by systematic torture, rape, and the use of chemical and other weapons of mass destruction, trials against war criminals must be initiated urgently to ensure justice for the victims,” said the statement.

They also invited institutions, NGOs and individuals with evidence of the regime’s crimes to share information or intervene in the ICC case.

“We are open to all forms of cooperation to ensure justice,” the lawyers said, calling for petitions and supporting evidence to strengthen the case.

-Next steps

Speaking outside a courthouse in Damascus, Sonmez said their team spent 10 days in Syria meeting victims and assessing their experiences first-hand.

“We will return to Istanbul and then proceed to The Hague with our delegation of international lawyers to take steps toward the arrest of Assad and other perpetrators,” said Sonmez.

Assad, who ruled Syria for nearly 25 years, fled to Russia after anti-regime forces captured Damascus on Dec. 8, ending the Baath Party’s six-decade rule.

The regime’s collapse followed a rapid offensive by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham fighters, who seized key cities in less than two weeks.

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