“Syria: Scepticism towards the tribunal for terrorist suspects”
“Sweden belongs to those who want to see an international tribunal for the member IS in Syria and Iraq. It is a warped proposal, according to a united nations investigator for the international crimes in Syria.”
“– What signals does it send if we establish a tribunal for only a warring party, ” says Lina Biscaia.”
“Prime minister Stefan Löfven (S) belongs to those who want to establish a special international tribunal with a mandate to examine the terrorgruppens crime in the region. The proposal has attracted cautious support among other european countries.”
“But human rights lawyer, Lina Biscaia, who was recently in Sweden at the invitation of the Raoul programme, the wallenberg institute in Lund, sweden, is skeptical.”
“– It is, of course, a political question – for the western world, it is important to highlight the ICE. But we can’t ignore the other parties in the war who have committed terrible crimes, ” she says when the TT reaches her on the phone.”
“During his time as an investigator at the UN’s commission of inquiry for Syria has Lina Biscaia interviewed hundreds of syrians affected by the war. The commission has never gained access to Syria, but had to rely on the testimony and information from within the country, and from those who have fled.”
“Crime from multiple parties.”
“the Commission’s job is extensive – the eight year long conflict has led to an unimaginably large civilian suffering. Civilian targets have been bombed ruthlessly, and chemical weapons have been used in at least 34 cases, according to the commission’s calculations; others speak of a hundred. Civil and opposition activists have been arrested and tortured, and the sexual violence has been systematic and comprehensive.”
“Around 370 000 people have been killed, and tens of thousands disappeared without a trace.”
” Several FSA groups have besieged cities, and then prevented the civilians from escaping during the attack. They have also used the fighting weapon with bad accuracy, which in some cases have hit homes and other civilian targets, says Lina Biscaia.”
“Even the US-led international alliance is put under the microscope. In the summer of 2017, forcing coalition forces out the ICE out of the terrorgruppens the then stronghold of al-Raqqa. A new report from Amnesty international and the organization Airwars shows how the offensive killed 1 600 civilians in the city – a figure ten times higher than the coalition themselves have provided.”
“– After the UN security council voted down the proposal to give the International criminal court, ICC, a mandate to examine war crimes in Syria, we saw how the coalition increased its activity in Syria. Raqqa is a pile of rubble today, ” says Lina Biscaia.”
“the Absence of a mandate for the ICC to try crimes committed in Syria, although not to all go free. Several charges have been brought against individual criminals in european courts, which, with the so-called universal jurisdiction to prosecute even those crimes committed outside their country’s borders.”
“Such charges have been filed in Sweden, Germany and France.”
“– But those who prosecuted have often found themselves far down on the beslutskedjan. It has been about the soldiers or the guards of the low or medium rank, while the makers go free, ” says Lina Biscaia.”
“Lina Biscaia, who today works to preserve and analyze the evidence within the UN mechanism for grave international crimes in Syria, believes that the chances of the serious crimes in the conflict to be tried in the future is small. It is not because the evidence situation is difficult, ” she says – on the contrary. Syria is an exceptionally well-documented conflict.”
” the Press and international organizations interested in early Syria since the war began in connection with the arab spring. Many of my colleagues have studied Arabic in Damascus and has contacts on the inside. The evidence is there, it is just a matter of collecting and preserving them.”
“the Problem lies in the political deadlock,” says Lina Biscaia.”
“– the Optimist in me says that anything can happen. Such processes can take ten or 20 years, we have seen many times. But when there is not even a UN mandate, I find it hard to believe it. Inspired in me does not see how any real accountability to happen.”
“in 2014, Sweden introduced a new law which meant that Sweden has a so-called universal jurisdiction over war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity. This means that Sweden must investigate and prosecute these crimes if the suspected perpetrators are in Sweden, regardless of where the offences are committed, or what the ethnicity of the perpetrators.”
“Crimes are governed by international law, which rests on the UN charter and a variety of UN treaties.”
“war Crimes or war crimes, was summoned before international law. It is a collective term for the offences that can be committed during war or armed conflict, for example, torture, rape, looting or attacks against civilians. The offences are similar to ones that fall under the term crimes against humanity, which can also be committed in peacetime. That’s the case, if widespread or systematic attack against a group of civilians.”
“to the documents shall be considered an act of genocide to have been committed with a view to totally or partially eradicate an ethnic, national or religious hatred.”
“Sources: the Prosecutor’s office”
