The report of the Fact Finding Mission, published on 17 August, described the severe violations committed by the regime: mistreatment, enforced disappearances, extra judiciary executions, tortures. In her speech before the Council, High Commissioner Navi Pillay deplored : "As of today, over 2200 people have been killed since mass protests began in mid-March, with more than 350 people reportedly killed across Syria since the beginning of Ramadan".
Following the conclusions of the mission, the Council expressed its concerns about the extent of these violations that amount to crimes against humanity under the terms of Article 7 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.
Rachid Mesli, Alkarama's legal director, expressed himself on behalf of the Amman Center for Human Rights Studies during this session and declared that "Syria is not party to the Rome Statute; however, the International Criminal Court may exercise its jurisdiction under Article 13 if a situation in which one or more of such crimes appear to have been committed is referred to the Prosecutor by the Security Council". He added: "there is no doubt that the violations taking place in Syria are this serious and (...) justify a referral to the ICC".
Alkarama calls on the Syrian authorities to allow the Commission of Inquiry sent by the Council to investigate the violations that are perpetrated in the country.
We also request the Security Council to refer the crimes reported by the Fact Finding mission and the new Commission of Inquiry to the ICC Prosecutor.