Five jihadists found guilty of holding French journalists hostage
Sky News | Report on the conviction and life sentence of Mehdi Nemmouche, a terrorist linked to Daesh, by the Paris Special Court. Nemmouche and four others were convicted for kidnapping and holding four journalists hostage. CIJA played a vital role in securing this conviction by providing physical evidence and courtroom testimony.
Sky News | Report on the conviction and life sentence of Mehdi Nemmouche, a terrorist linked to Daesh, by the Paris Special Court. Nemmouche and four others were convicted for kidnapping and holding four journalists hostage. CIJA played a vital role in securing this conviction by providing physical evidence and courtroom testimony.
Canadian-led team is building a case against al-Assad over his regime’s war crimes in Syria
Globe and Mail | Detailed interviews with "Adel", CIJA’s Chief Investigator in Syria and Bill Wiley on the opportunities to preserve evidence now available across the country, by Mark Mackinnon
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/world/article-syria-bashar-al-assad-regime-war-crimes-case/
Globe and Mail | Detailed interviews with "Adel", CIJA’s Chief Investigator in Syria and Bill Wiley on the opportunities to preserve evidence now available across the country, by Mark Mackinnon
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/world/article-syria-bashar-al-assad-regime-war-crimes-case/
1 million files: How one group is helping expose Syrian regime’s war crimes
Andalou Agency | “There is hope that those future accountability and justice processes will be happening in Syria” Nerma Jelacic spoke to Rabia Ali
Andalou Agency | “There is hope that those future accountability and justice processes will be happening in Syria” Nerma Jelacic spoke to Rabia Ali
Syria Confronts an Immense Challenge: Justice for Assad Regime Crimes
New York Times |Nerma Jelacic and Stephen Rapp spoke with Vivian Yee about the accountability choices facing Syria:
"Syrians will need time and many discussions to design a sound accountability process, said Nerma Jelacic of The Commission for International Justice and Accountability, which has been gathering evidence against Syrian regime figures for years."
New York Times |Nerma Jelacic and Stephen Rapp spoke with Vivian Yee about the accountability choices facing Syria:
"Syrians will need time and many discussions to design a sound accountability process, said Nerma Jelacic of The Commission for International Justice and Accountability, which has been gathering evidence against Syrian regime figures for years."
Zij willen Assad vervolgen: ‘Zijn regime was vergelijkbaar met de goelags van Stalin’
Volkskrant | [Dutch] William Wiley spoke to Remco Anderson about the role of justice in ensuring accountability for the scale of the Syrian Regime’s crimes:
"Assad's Regime was comparable to Stalin's Gulags".
Volkskrant | [Dutch] William Wiley spoke to Remco Anderson about the role of justice in ensuring accountability for the scale of the Syrian Regime’s crimes:
"Assad's Regime was comparable to Stalin's Gulags".
Investigators race to secure evidence of atrocities by Syria’s Assad regime
Financial Times | William Wiley spoke to the Financial Times about the challenges Syrians face in preserving evidence for overall accountability efforts:
“While it’s perfectly understandable that distressed families rushed in to try and find their loved ones, it’s going to make it that much harder for the overall mission of accountability if we lose key pieces of evidence”.
Financial Times | William Wiley spoke to the Financial Times about the challenges Syrians face in preserving evidence for overall accountability efforts:
“While it’s perfectly understandable that distressed families rushed in to try and find their loved ones, it’s going to make it that much harder for the overall mission of accountability if we lose key pieces of evidence”.
What lies ahead for Assad loyalists?
TRT World | Nerma Jelacic spoke to TRT World about the importance of preserving the huge amounts of evidence that is now available, in order that it may support future accountability efforts.
TRT World | Nerma Jelacic spoke to TRT World about the importance of preserving the huge amounts of evidence that is now available, in order that it may support future accountability efforts.
Syrerne vil have al-Assad og andre dømt. Men vejen til retfærdighed kan blive lang og trang
Information | [Danish + English] Legal experts and human rights groups fear that documents from prisons and institutions could be compromised by the media and victims’ relatives. Uncertainty looms over a forthcoming legal reckoning.
Information | [Danish + English] Legal experts and human rights groups fear that documents from prisons and institutions could be compromised by the media and victims’ relatives. Uncertainty looms over a forthcoming legal reckoning.
English [AI translation] https://mburcharth.wordpress.com/2025/01/09/the-syrians-want-al-assad-and-others-held-accountable-but-the-road-to-justice-may-be-long-and-arduous/
Will Assad be brought to justice?
BBC | Owen Bennet Jones spoke to Stephen Rapp, CIJA Commissioner about the prospects of Assad facing justice: "We should never say never. Milosevic, Taylor, Mladic & others thought they would escape justice & eventually countries surrendered these butchers to face justice".
BBC | Owen Bennet Jones spoke to Stephen Rapp, CIJA Commissioner about the prospects of Assad facing justice: "We should never say never. Milosevic, Taylor, Mladic & others thought they would escape justice & eventually countries surrendered these butchers to face justice".
Mass graves found near Syria’s capital could contain thousands of bodies
Mass graves found near Syria’s capital could contain thousands of bodies
Al Jazeera | As the magnitude of the Regime's violence begins to emerge Nerma Jelacic spoke to Al Jazeera on the importance of securing Regime-produced evidence, the readiness of CIJA's Syrian investigators to do so & their contribution to Syrian justice.
Watch at 2'20:
Justice for the victims of Assad’s atrocities in Syria
Financial Times | Recognition on the importance of the ground presence of CIJA’s Syrian investigators in securing evidence of the Regime’s criminality, spanning over 50 years.
Financial Times | Recognition on the importance of the ground presence of CIJA’s Syrian investigators in securing evidence of the Regime’s criminality, spanning over 50 years:
https://www.ft.com/content/f1f342b7-9258-4034-af08-6cb20c57e673
“In Bananenkisten versteckt und zur Grenze gefahren“: Wie Anwälte in Syrien Assads Verbrechen dokumentieren
Tagesspiegel | [German] A CIJA investigator and Director of External Relations spoke with Tagesspiegel on the work to secure evidence of Regime command and control structures.
Tagesspiegel | [German] A CIJA investigator and Director of External Relations spoke with Tagesspiegel on the work to secure evidence of Regime command and control structures:
"As an investigator, I conducted interviews with defectors from the regime and those affected" writes Mohammed an investigator for CIJA.
‘Bigger than Nuremberg’: the secret files that could jail Assad
The Times | Christina Lamb spoke to William Wiley on the scale of the Assad regime’s machinery of death, spanning more than 50 years.
The Times | Christina Lamb spoke to William Wiley on the scale of the Assad regime’s machinery of death, spanning more than 50 years:
“This is the most documented repression in history... Like the Nazis but with computers.”
https://www.thetimes.com/article/939efdbb-e1e8-44e2-9ad1-2eef7eeeb87a
Rights Groups See a Chance to Seek Justice for Syrian Regime’s Victims
New York Times |Nerma Jelacic, Director of External Relations spoke with Mathew Mboke Bigg about the documents collected by CIJA that link Assad’s senior-most officials to the prisons and detention centres operating across the country.
New York Times |Nerma Jelacic, Director of External Relations spoke with Mathew Mboke Bigg about the documents collected by CIJA that link Assad’s senior-most officials to the prisons and detention centres operating across the country:
“Even before he fell from power, we already had enough documents to show beyond reasonable doubt his real power over the machinery of death that the Syrian state was”.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/12/world/middleeast/syria-assad-regime-crimes.html
‘The worst atrocities of the 21st century’ were committed in Syria, says former U.S. war crimes official
CNN | Stephen Rapp, CIJA’s Chairperson, spoke to Bianna Golodryga on the importance of achieving justice in Syria, including through the millions of documents produced by the Regime.
CNN | Stephen Rapp, CIJA’s Chairperson, spoke to Bianna Golodryga on the importance of achieving justice in Syria, including through the millions of documents produced by the Regime:
Sky News | Mark Austin interview with CIJA Executive Director
William Wiley spoke to Sky News following the fall of the Syrian Regime and the flight of Assad and his senior-most officials from Syria.
William Wiley spoke to Sky News following the fall of the Syrian Regime and the flight of Assad and his senior-most officials from Syria.
Syrian leader offers reward for details of Assad officials involved in war crimes
The Guardian | Julian Borger and Harry Davies spoke with William Wiley, CIJA Executive Director on the justice opportunities and challenges in collecting evidence in Syria following the Regime’s fall.
The Guardian | Julian Borger and Harry Davies spoke with William Wiley, CIJA Executive Director on the justice opportunities and challenges in collecting evidence in Syria following the Regime’s fall:
“It’s a situation much like Germany in 1945 or Iraq in 2003. You have a sudden availability of all state records”.
CIJA’s Annual Report 2023-24 Published
The Annual Report charts CIJA’s contribution to the identification, apprehension and trial of eleven Syrian Regime and Da’esh suspects and the OPCW investigative report into the use of chemical weapons by Da’esh in Marea in 2015.
The Annual Report charts CIJA’s contribution to the identification, apprehension and trial of eleven Syrian Regime and Da’esh suspects and the OPCW investigative report into the use of chemical weapons by Da’esh in Marea in 2015.
The report also tracks CIJA’s efforts to provide credible narratives of alleged criminality by the Syrian Regime, through the publication of three evidence-based reports as well as various media engagements and strategic initiatives. The 2023-2024 investigative cycle in Syria was funded by the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund of the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, and the Office of Global Criminal Justice of the US Department of State.
Reflecting on the Yezidi Genocide: A Decade Later
The Commission for International Justice and Accountability joins with its partners, former Iraqi team members and affected communities to commemorate the horrific attack unleashed by Da’esh against the Yezidi minority and their ancestral homeland of Sinjar, in Northern Iraq, which began ten years ago today.
The Commission for International Justice and Accountability joins with its partners, former Iraqi team members and affected communities to commemorate the horrific attack unleashed by Da’esh against the Yezidi minority and their ancestral homeland of Sinjar, in Northern Iraq, which began ten years ago today.
On 03 August 2014, Da’esh forces launched a systematic military operation, resulting in the mass killing of Yezidi men, the enslavement of women and children, and the forced conversion of countless individuals. Captured female Yezidi’s were forcibly transferred to several detention centres and ultimately to individual slaveowners where they became the victims of sexual slavery, forced marriage, forced pregnancies, abortions, and contraception, forced labour, arbitrary detention and other forms of inhuman and cruel treatment. Many Yezidi children were separated from their mothers and indoctrinated into becoming child soldiers, while Yezidi girls as young as seven were reportedly taken as sex slaves. Many did not survive. This coordinated assault also effected the displacement of over 830,000 people and the destruction of cultural and religious sites.
The Commission of International Justice and Accountability (CIJA) has been instrumental in documenting these atrocities. Between 2015 and 2021, CIJA's team, composed of nearly 30 Iraqi investigators and international mentors, meticulously gathered over 59,000 Da’esh documents and more than 5,300 electronic files. They conducted 1,544 witness interviews as well as 1,065 interviews with suspected Da’esh members, building a comprehensive body of evidence on the command structures and operations of the group, including their organised slave trade.
This evidence has been crucial in bringing perpetrators to justice. Of the nine Da’esh arrests, trials, convictions and acquittals that CIJA has supported, three have involved crimes against members of the Yezidi community. Notable cases include the convictions of Sarah O., who received a 6.5-year sentence in Germany for her involvement in the enslavement of Yezidi women, and Taha al-J., who was sentenced to life imprisonment for genocide and other crimes. Additionally, CIJA supported the rescue of a thirteen-year-old Yezidi girl, facilitating her safe return from Syria after nearly four years of captivity.
Since 2018, CIJA has responded to at least 16 Requests for Assistance from law enforcement agencies working on cases directly related to Yezidis and the Da’esh slave trade. In these, CIJA has been able to assist investigations relating to 44 suspects and 11 victims with analytical reports, documents and interviews.
Under strict measures of confidentiality and future-use policies, CIJA also transferred relevant materials to UNITAD and KRG, to assist in their own investigations, analysis, case-building and RFA programmes:
As we honour the resilience of the Yezidi community, we are reminded of the importance of justice and accountability. CIJA's ongoing work with international partners continues to shed light on the atrocities committed by Da'esh, ensuring that the voices of the victims are heard, and that justice prevails.
For more information about CIJA’s Da’esh investigations, please visit:
https://cijaonline.org/daesh-islamicstate
Image credits: Mother and Justice, mobile memorial by Rebecca Hawkins, unveiled by Nadia’s Initiative, July 2024. See: https://www.nadiasinitiative.org/mother-and-justice
Senior Regime figure arrested by US authorities
Samir Ousman al-Sheihk ran the notorious Adra prison (2005-2008) before Assad appointed him Governor of Deir ez-Zor and Head of its Security Committee (2011).
Samir Ousman al-Sheihk ran the notorious Adra prison (2005-2008) before Assad appointed him Governor of Deir ez-Zor and Head of its Security Committee (2011). US authorities arrested him in mid-July for attempted naturalization fraud, where he is understood to have falsely described if he had persecuted or killed anyone for their political beliefs. He was arrested in Los Angeles before fleeing the country with a one-way ticket. CIJA has assisted US investigations into Samir Ousman al-Sheikh since 2021, providing analysis, regime documents and witness interviews on his roles as Head of Adra Prison, Governor of Deir ez-Zor and Head of the Deir ez-Zor Security Committee. Al Adra remains a notorious prison, where many hundreds of Syrians were imprisoned and subjected to torture, sexual violence or death during his time as its Head. As Governor of Deir ez-Zor and head of its Security Committee, al-Sheikh would have been responsible for coordinating the ever-more brutal responses of the four security agencies to the growing numbers of protests.