European Countries Fight Impunity Over Alleged War Crimes In Syria

Several countries sparred over a European push to take legal action against individuals accused of war crimes in Syria at a U.N. panel discussion on Tuesday.

The panel, titled First Cracks in the Syrian Impunity Wall, raised the issue of whether or not European countries should prosecute individuals accused of committing atrocities in Syria, the Associated Press reports. If the investigations proceed, the cases would be brought before European courts with the power to prosecute international war crimes.

The Syrian Network for Human Rights, an organization that documents atrocities in the Syrian conflict and has collected thousands of files on alleged crimes, voiced its willingness to support the European efforts and claimed it has already prepared five cases to be submitted to prosecutors, adding that the vast majority of the alleged crimes were committed by the Syrian government.

The call to start investigations, made by a number of European countries including Sweden, France, Germany and Finland, follows Russia and China’s veto of a U.N. Security Council resolution that would have referred the Syrian conflict to the International Criminal Court (ICC). More than 60 countries had backed the resolution.

Russia was among those present at Tuesday’s panel. Russian diplomat Sergey Leonidchenko said his country’s objection was “quite understandable in this situation.” He highlighted that the Security Council’s decision to refer the events of the Libyan civil war to the ICC had not produced anything more than a short case against the country’s ousted former leader, Moammar Gadhafi, according to AP.

Russia Calls for Resumption of Peace Talks

A senior counselor at Russia’s mission to the U.N. called on Tuesday for a quick resumption of Syrian peace talks, saying they should include a “broad spectrum” of factions.

The Russian official said that peace talks, aimed at finding a political solution to the conflict in Syria, were the only way to stop the “massive” human-rights violations happening in the war-torn country, according to Reuters.

“The only way to find a solution to the Syria crisis and stop the massive violations is to promptly convene talks with a broad spectrum of Syrian opposition, which includes Syria Kurds,” Aleksei Goltiaev told the U.N. Human Rights Council.

Despite their influence on the ground, the PYD, Syria’s main Kurdish political party, was not included in the latest round of Geneva-based peace talks.

“Only Syrians, without diktat, have the right to decide (their future),” Goltiaev said..

Peace talks were put on hold in April when the main opposition body, the High Negotiations Committee (HNC), suspended its participation. The following month, Mohammed Alloush, the chief negotiator for the High Negotiations Committee, resigned from his post.

Syrian and Iraqi Borders with Jordan Declared Closed Military Zones

Jordan’s border regions with Syria and Iraq will now be considered closed military zones following a suicide bombing on Tuesday that killed six Jordanian soldiers near a refugee camp, Jordanian authorities announced on Wednesday.

“Any vehicle and personnel movement within these areas that move without prior coordination will be treated as enemy targets and dealt with firmly and without leniency,” the Jordanian army statement said.

The statement also said that no additional refugee camps would be built in the country, and none of the existing camps would be expanded, BBC News reports.

Jordanian authorities have suspected that militants have been hiding in the border’s desert area for months, Jordan’s information minister, Mohammed Momani, told the BBC.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack, but Jordanian authorities said a vehicle laden with explosives was driven from Syria into the country, where it was detonated in close proximity to a Jordanian military post.

Recommended Reads:

• The Daily Beast: How Many Russian Soldiers Have Died in Syria?
• Business Insider: The State Department’s Syria Revolt Could Have an important Effect in the Middle East
• NPR: In Syria, Underground Efforts to Train Doctors Amid Regime Attacks
• ABC News: Lebanese Army Slowly Crushing Extremists Near Syria Border
• Voice of America: Syria Policy Discontent Unlikely to Be Resolved Before Obama Term Ends