The Netherlands takes first step in holding Syria’s torturers to account

The Dutch Foreign Ministry says it will hold Syria responsible for "gross human rights violations" in a process that could make its way to the UN's International Court of Justice.
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Attorney Patrick Kroker (C) and co-plaintiffs Wassim Mukdad (L) and Hussein Ghrer (R) answer journalists' questions outside the courtroom during a break in a trial against two Syrian defendants accused of state-sponsored torture in Syria, on April 23, 2020 in Koblenz, Germany. Prime suspect Anwar Raslan, an alleged former colonel in Syrian state security, stands accused of carrying out crimes against humanity while in charge of the Al-Khatib detention center in Damascus between April 29, 2011, and Sept. 7, 2012. Fellow defendant Eyad al-Gharib, 43, is accused of being an accomplice to crimes against humanity, having helped to arrest protesters and deliver them to Al-Khatib in the autumn of 2011. - THOMAS LOHNES/AFP via Getty Images
Elizabeth Hagedorn
Elizabeth Hagedorn
@ElizHagedorn

The Netherlands is laying the groundwork for a case against Syria at the United Nations' highest court, announcing today it will be holding the Syrian government responsible for the widely documented human rights violations carried out inside its torture chambers. 

“The Assad regime has committed horrific crimes time after time. The evidence is overwhelming. There must be consequences,” Dutch Foreign Minister Stef Blok said in a statement.

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