Try, Try Again

Listen to Today's Edition:

The Netherlands and Canada filed a complaint against Syria at the International Court of Justice this week, alleging that the Syrian government has tortured thousands of civilians since the start of the civil war more than a decade ago, Sky News reported.

The complaint accused the Syrian regime of President Bashar Assad of failing to respect the United Nations Convention against Torture.

The convention includes Canada, the Netherlands, and Syria as participating countries. Additionally, it grants countries the option to bring cases of non-compliance to the United Nations’ highest court if negotiations and arbitration efforts prove ineffective.

The claimants said that hundreds of thousands of Syrian civilians have been unlawfully killed and illegally detained by the government. The Syrian government also faces accusations of operating hundreds of detention centers that imprison and torture dissidents.

Ahmed Helmi, a torture survivor and human rights advocate, noted that the move will help many of the Syrian government’s victims receive recognition.

Lawyers representing the Western countries also hailed the decision, saying it “puts pressure for these violations to cease, perpetrators to be held to account, and victims to receive reparations.”

The complaint came less than a month after Assad was warmly welcomed to the Arab League Summit in Saudi Arabia – even though Riyadh supplied weapons and ammunition to rebels during much of the Syrian civil war.