SNHR: Report about Targeting Hospitals in Syria, Facts and Figures
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Syria Watch
Chemical Weapons Team Set to Begin Syrian Disarmament
By Thomas Murphy
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East
DAMASCUS, Syria – The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), the global agency charged with enforcing the Chemical Weapons Convention, is preparing to send a team of twenty to Syria on Monday. The team will be responsible for setting up a base of operations, secure communications, and other basic necessities to begin the process of destroying Syria’s chemical weapons stockpiles. Another team will follow a week later to begin the inspection process.
On Saturday, the OPCW agreed to a very ambitious schedule set forth by the United States and Russia, along with their Security Counsel counterparts, to destroy Syria’s chemical weapons. The plan sets a 1 November deadline for the dismantling of all chemical weapons production facilities and a 1 July deadline to destroy all chemical weapons stockpiles. Plans of this nature typically take years to complete, but under such pressing circumstances the OPCW hopes to complete the process in just nine months.
The OPCW, headquartered in The Hague, has handled the destruction of all chemical weapons under the Chemical Weapons Convention since it inception in 1997. Syria’s membership has been accelerated and it will become the 190th party to the Convention on 14 October. The speed of situation presents a challenge for the OPCW, which typically deals with the disarmament of well-known quantities of US and Russian Cold War stockpiles.
“It’s kind of a 9-to-5 organization, in a way. It’s not a 24-7 organization, and it’s going to have to adapt to that,” said Faiza Patel, a former senior policy officer at the OPCW. “The organization is not really set up to be an investigative organization,” unlike the U.N. investigators who were sent to Iraq in the 1990s, she said. “It’s set up to do routine inspections that are based on the declarations that the states provide.”
Fortunately, most of Syria’s chemical weapons stockpiles are “unweaponized”, according to US and Russian intelligence and Syrian statements submitted to the OPCW thus far. Essentially, the “vast majority” of nerve agent is in a liquid bulk form and much easier to dispose of compared to battlefield ready liquid or loaded warheads.
For further information, please see:
Washington Post – Inspectors from obscure agency ready to destroy Syrian chemical weapons – 28 September 2013
Wall Street Journal – Weapons Teams Get Set to Tackle Syria’s Chemical Arsenal – 28 September 2013
Time – U.S. and Russia Say Majority of Syrian Chemical Arsenal Is “Unweaponized” – 27 September 2013
Washington Post – Most of Syria’s toxins can be destroyed more easily than officials initially thought – 26 September 2013
Blue Ribbon Panel of Experts to Unveil Draft Statute for Syrian Tribunal on October 3, 8:30-9:30 AM, at the National Press Club in Washington D.C.
Event open to the Press and Public
The government of Syria has admitted possessing chemical weapons; the United Nations has confirmed that their use killed more than 1,400 people in the outskirts of Damascus last month; and an international process for ridding the country of such weapons has just commenced. But what about holding the perpetrators accountable for violating the Geneva Conventions and the 1925 Chemical Weapons Treaty?
A blue ribbon panel of former international tribunal chief prosecutors, international judges, and leading experts has prepared a Draft Statute for a Syrian Extraordinary Tribunal to Prosecute Atrocity Crimes. It’s being called the “Chautauqua Blueprint” because it was finalized on the margins of a recent conference of several of the chief prosecutors of the various international criminal tribunals at the Chautauqua Institution. The initiative was organized by Case Western Reserve Law Professor Michael Scharf, who is Managing Director of the Public International Law & Policy Group (PILPG); and David Crane, former Chief Prosecutor of the Special Court for Sierra Leone, who is a member of PILPG’s Board.
The members of the blue ribbon panel believe the time is particularly ripe for this initiative. According to Scharf: “It can help the Syrian opposition demonstrate its commitment to the rule of law, ensure that accountability plays an appropriate role in peace negotiations, put Syrian officials and military commanders on all sides on notice of potential criminal liability, and lay the groundwork for justice rather than revenge in the immediate aftermath of transition.” Crane adds, “It is a useful framework for not only the Syrians but regional and international organizations to assist in the creation of an appropriate justice mechanism.”
The Chautauqua Blueprint will be publicly unveiled and discussed at a special event at the National Press Club, 8:30-9:30 AM, on October 3. A preview copy of the document is available at http://publicinternationallawandpolicygroup.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Chautauqua-Blueprint1.pdf. Speakers will include Scharf, Crane, members of congress, and other experts. Paul Williams, President of the Public International Law & Policy Group, will chair the event, which is open to the press and public. Breakfast will be provided.
The National Press Club breakfast event precedes Congressional hearings scheduled to consider Congressman Chris Smith’s Concurrent Resolution #51 on establishing accountability for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Syria. Congressman Smith’s resolution recommends establishment of an international tribunal to prosecute top figures. The Chautauqua Blueprint recommends an “internationalized domestic tribunal” as a complement or alternative to an international tribunal.
The Chautauqua Blueprint reflects insights gained from a series of meetings and workshops over the past two years led by the Public International Law & Policy Group, which brought together Syrian lawyers, jurists, and civil society leaders with international experts to discuss an approach to transitional justice uniquely tailored to Syria. It also reflects comments received from the distinguished members of the Blue Ribbon expert drafting committee whose names and affiliations are listed below.
The Blue Ribbon Panel consists of:
- M. Cherif Bassiouni, Emeritus Professor of Law at DePaul University, who chaired the Drafting Committee at the United Nations Diplomatic Conference on the Establishment of an International Criminal Court
- David Crane, Professor, Syracuse University College of Law, who was the first Chief Prosecutor of the Special Court for Sierra Leone
- Sir Desmond de Silva, QC, former Chief Prosecutor of the Special Court for Sierra Leone
- Mark Ellis, Executive Director of the International Bar Association
- Justice Richard Goldstone, former Justice of the Constitutional Court of South Africa, and former Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda
- Larry Johnson, Adjunct Professor at Columbia Law School, former U.N. Assistant Secretary-General for Legal Affairs who drafted the Statutes for the Yugoslavia Tribunal, the Cambodia Tribunal, and the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.
- Gregory Noone, Director of the Fairmont State University National Security and Intelligence Program and Assistant Professor of Political Science and Law, and former head of the International Law Branch in the International and Operational Law Division at the Pentagon
- Michael Newton, Professor, Vanderbilt University Law School, and former Deputy to the Ambassador at Large for War Crimes Issues, U.S. Department of State
- William Schabas, Professor, Middlesex University Faculty of Law, and former Member of the International Truth Commission for Sierra Leone
- Michael Scharf, Associate Dean, Case Western Reserve University School of Law, Managing Director of the Public International Law & Policy Group, and former Attorney-Adviser for United Nations Affairs, U.S. Department of State
- Paul Williams, President of the Public International Law & Policy Group and Rebecca Grazier Professor of Law and International Relations, American University
In addition the following experts provided comments on the draft Statute but have asked to be listed as “contributors” rather than members because of their official positions:
- David Scheffer, Director of the Center for International Human Rights at Northwestern University School of Law, U.N. Special Expert on United Nations Assistance to the Khmer Rouge Trials, and former US Ambassador at Large for War Crimes Issues.
- Judge Patricia Wald, former Judge of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
A Diplomatic Solution to the Crisis in Syria: Remembering the 1930s, an Op-Ed by Professor David Crane
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U.N. Weapons Inspectors Return to Syria Wednesday
By Thomas Murphy
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East
DAMASCUS, Syria – U.N. chemical weapons inspectors are expected to return to Syria on Wednesday according to Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov. Ryabkov addressed the inspector’s return on Tuesday when he spoke to the Russian parliament regarding the unfolding situation in Syria.
“We are satisfied that our persistent calls for the return of the UN inspectors for an investigation of the previous episodes have finally borne fruit,” said Ryabkov.
The weapons experts will be the same team that visited the country during August to investigate the reports of chemical weapons use. The team, led by Ake Sellstrom, presented their report to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon just over a week ago. The report confirmed that a ‘large scale’ sarin gas attack occurred on 21 August just outside of Damascus.
Before the 21 August attack, the UN weapons inspectors were tasked to investigate several other reports of chemical weapons attacks in Syria. However, when the 21 August attack occurred, the team delayed their research and was relocated to focus exclusively on the Damascus attack.
In a statement Tuesday, the U.N. said the investigation will include gathering evidence specifically from the village of Khan al-Assal. The village, just outside of Aleppo, was reportedly the target of a chemical weapons attack on 19 March of this year. Not surprisingly, the rebel opposition and the Assad government adamantly deny responsibility and blame the other.
There have been a total of fourteen alleged chemical weapons attacks in Syria since the revolution against the Assad government began in 2011. Two locations of particular interest to United Nations chemical weapons inspectors are Sheikh Maqsoud and Saraqeb. Inspectors received permission from the Assad government to visit the sites back in July, but have been unable to inspect the sites yet.
In late August, the inspectors were to continue there research at sites other than just the Damascus location, but inspectors left the country as the threat U.S. military intervention increased. Since, the U.S. and Russia have come to a general agreement regarding the removal of all chemical weapons from Syria. The passage of an official resolution via the United Nations is expected soon.
For further information, please see:
BBC – UN chemical weapons inspectors ‘to return to Syria’ – 24 September 2013
Huffington Post – UN Chemical Weapons Inspectors Returning To Syria – 24 September 2013
RT – UN chemical weapons experts to return to Syria Wednesday – Moscow – 24 September 2013
Voice of America – Russia: UN Investigators Heading Back to Syria – 24 September 2013