Between Hope and Despair A Way Forward after the Koblenz Trial

“Between Hope and Despair - A Way Forward after the Koblenz Trial” is a report by the Syria Justice and Accountability Centre which critically assesses the participation of survivors in the trial of Anwar Raslan and Eyad Al-Gharib. The Trial started on April 23, 2020 and was the first trial against former affiliates of the Syrian government. It highlighted the bravery of survivors who testified about their traumatic experiences and the importance of witness testimonies in bringing to justice perpetrators of atrocity crimes in Syria. Just as SJAC’s interim report on the Trial, the present report relies on SJAC’s detailed monitoring of the trial. In addition, information provided by the public through an online survey supports the assessment and concrete findings in this report in regard to public perception and experiences of the Syrian community. This report presents lessons learned and makes recommendations relating to overall effective participation of survivors in universal jurisdiction proceedings: