Does Syria Need a UN Missing Persons Mechanism?

  In February of this year, a coalition of Syrian organizations led by survivors and families of the missing in Syria released the new Truth and Justice Charter, laying out their vision for a just peace. The first demand in the document is “the immediate release of detainees, and revealing the fate of the forcibly […]

UPDATE: German Prosecutor indicted Syrian Doctor for Crimes Against Humanity

  Caution: This blog post includes descriptions of torture. After one year of pre-trial detention, the German Federal Prosecutor General filed the public indictment against Alaa M. at the Higher Regional Court of Frankfurt on July 15, 2021 [GER only]. Once the court confirms the opening of the main trial within a few weeks’ time, […]

The “Post-War” Tour: How Tourism is Empowering the Syrian Government

  The Syrian government’s latest national budget paints a grim picture of the country’s finances. With mounting war debt and a 400% decrease in GDP, the government is facing a dire food crisis and may be unable to pay military wages by 2022. Bashar Al-Assad’s government is desperate to open new revenue streams that can […]

Inside the Raslan Trial: Guard: “there is no God, just Bashar Al-Assad.”

  TRIAL OF ANWAR RASLAN Higher Regional Court – Koblenz, Germany Trial Monitoring Report 37 Hearing Dates: June 16 & 17, 2021 A full PDF of this report is available, here. All reports and witness lists are available, here.   CAUTION: Some testimony includes descriptions of torture.   Summaries/Highlights:[1] Trial Day 75 – June 16, 2021 P34, […]

Greece and Denmark Outsource Human Rights: Back door returns of Syrian refugees

  Since 2015, waves of displacement around the world have led thousands of refugees to Europe’s borders, putting a strain on its asylum system and creating a humanitarian crisis. Consequently, several European states have recycled proposals to offshore their responsibility to protect refugees under international and European law. This article examines the latest attempts by […]

Inside the Raslan Trial: A Facebook chat opens a window to the disappeared

TRIAL OF ANWAR RASLAN Higher Regional Court – Koblenz, Germany Trial Monitoring Report 36 Hearing Dates: May 19 and 20, 2021 A full PDF of this report is available, here. All reports and witness lists are available, here.   CAUTION: Some testimony includes descriptions of torture.   Summaries/Highlights:[1] Trial Day 73 – May 19, 2021 The witness […]

Press Release: Historic Syria trial in Koblenz: Academics call for audio recordings

  Berlin/Koblenz, 1 July 2021 – Despite the historic significance of the world’s first trial on state-organized torture in Syria, there is no official documentation of the proceedings at the Higher Regional Court in Koblenz. To change this, several German, Syrian, and international academic and research institutions filed a motion to the court today. They […]

German Prosecutor about to indict Syrian Doctor for Crimes Against Humanity

  Caution: This blog post includes descriptions of torture. After one year of pre-trial detention [GER only], the German Federal Prosecutor General will soon file the public indictment against Alaa M. Once the relevant court confirms the opening of the main trial, the trial will be the second trial of a Syrian government affiliate to […]

Inside the Raslan Trial: “Even Anwar Raslan was a victim.”

  TRIAL OF ANWAR RASLAN and EYAD AL-GHARIB Higher Regional Court – Koblenz, Germany Trial Monitoring Report 35 Hearing Date: May 5, 2021 A full PDF of this report is available, here. All reports and witness lists are available, here.   CAUTION: Some testimony includes descriptions of torture.   Summaries/Highlights:[1] On day 72 of trial, the Court […]