Syrian lawyers and law experts in Austria are preparing to file lawsuits against the Assad regime, having succeeded in their efforts in other European countries such as France, Germany and Sweden.
Victims of torture in Syria as well as Syrian and international human rights organizations will file a complaint with the Austrian government to launch investigations into systematic torture that the Assad regime has used since the outbreak of the Syrian revolution.
These human rights groups will hold a briefing in Austria on torture in Syria and will discuss ways to help Austria investigate and prosecute war crimes being committed by Assad’s intelligence services.
Director of the Syrian Center for Legal Studies and Research, Anwar al-Bunni, said that the lawsuits would focus on torture as a crime against humanity and a war crime that is being committed in Assad government-run detention centers.
The Center stressed that the Assad regime is responsible for systematic, widespread torture against political opponents and activists. It noted that no international mandate has been issued yet to prosecute crimes against international law committed in Syria.
The Center succeeded along with Syrian and international human rights organizations in filing lawsuits in France, Sweden and Germany in 2017 and 2018 under personal and public causes of action against Assad regime officials who committed war crimes in Syria.
Along with victims of torture, the Syrian Center for Legal Studies and Research, the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression, the International Center for the Application of Human Rights, and the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights will file criminal complaint before the federal prosecutor in Vienna. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department + Agencies)
