Al-Monitor - Former US ambassador: There won't be peace in Syria without prosecution of Assad

Barbara Slavin talks to Stephen Rapp, former US ambassador-at-large and chief of the U.S. State Department’s Office of Global Criminal Justice about how peace in Syria will not be achieved without a justice process that holds perpetrators of atrocities accountable for their crimes.

Syria Justice and Accountability Centre (SJAC) Executive Director Mohammad Al Abdallah praises Rapp for his outreach to Syrian opposition groups, providing technical assistance, and pushing for documentation of atrocities to be put to use in justice processes. Al Abdallah, however, laments that despite all of Rapp’s efforts, the Obama Administration has not articulated a comprehensive strategy for accountability in Syria. “The less push for accountability, the more tendency to be violent,” says Al Abdallah of the Syria conflict.

Read more: Al-Monitor