Syria: War Crimes

(asked on 15th March 2021) - View Source

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps the Government plans to take to ensure that the perpetrators of war crimes in Syria are held to account.


Answered by
James Cleverly Portrait
James Cleverly
Home Secretary
This question was answered on 18th March 2021

The UK strongly supports efforts to hold perpetrators of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Syria to account. Since 2012 we have provided over £13m to support Syrian and international efforts to gather evidence of human rights abuses and violations perpetrated during the Syrian Conflict. This includes over £1.2m in support to the UN International Impartial and Independent Mechanism for Syria (IIIM). We will shortly complete an information sharing agreement with the IIIM to strengthen accountability for crimes and abuses committed in Syria. This month I hosted an event at the 46th Human Rights Council focused on accountability, where I reiterated the UK's commitment on the issue and explored next steps with partners.

The UK has also supported the Commission for International Justice and Accountability to collect evidence and build cases for prosecution of perpetrators of war crimes and crimes against humanity. These efforts played a critical role in achieving the first conviction of a former member of Daesh, and the first court ruling worldwide over state-sponsored torture by the Assad regime in Koblenz, convicting Eyad al-Gharib for complicity in crimes against humanity in Syria. This sends a clear message that abuses in Syria will not go unpunished.

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