As rebel leader promises torturers will be held accountable, legal experts consider whether war crimes trials can be conducted
Ahmed al-Sharaa, the leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham , said: ‘We will not hesitate to hold accountable the criminals, murderers, security and army officers involved in torturing the Syrian people.’Ahmed al-Sharaa, the leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham , said: ‘We will not hesitate to hold accountable the criminals, murderers, security and army officers involved in torturing the Syrian people.
The Assad family have fled to Russia, but there was limited space on the private plane which reportedly whisked them out of Syria. The intelligence agency officers who were the levers and cogs of the Syrian torture and killing machine have mostly been left to fend for themselves. Many are expected to try to use human smuggling networks to reach Europe, and efforts are under way to track them as they seek to escape.
For human rights activists inside Syria as the regime fell, the priority was to stop it claiming more victims. Syria Civil Defence, known as the White Helmets, offered a $3,000 reward for information leading to the discovery of any secret prisons or detention cells where regime victims might be trapped.
However, several human rights groups have argued there is a precedent for a new pathway for ICC involvement in Syria,when the court’s judges ruled it had jurisdiction over crimes committed by the Myanmar government because some of the criminal conduct spilled into neighbouring Bangladesh . No public action has been taken so far, but diplomats from multiple European member states are now understood to be discussing making a referral to Karim Khan, the ICC prosecutor.
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