Canada fails to support rule of law for Syria

Canada failed yesterday to support a broad-based call for the UN Security Council to refer the serious crimes committed in Syria to the International Criminal Court (ICC).

In a letter sent on behalf of 57 states, including the United Kingdom and France (but not Canada), the Swiss Ambassador to the UN called on the Security Council to refer the situation in Syria to the ICC. Due to the lack of “credible and timely measures to establish accountability within the Syrian Arab Republic itself,” the letter stated, “The Security Council must ensure accountability for the crimes that seem to have been and continue to be committed in the Syrian Arab Republic and send a clear signal to the Syrian authorities.”

Syria is not a party to the Rome Statute, the treaty establishing the ICC. The ICC could only obtain jurisdiction over crimes in Syria if the Security Council refers the situation there to the court. Navi Pillay, the UN’s High Commissioner for Human Rights has called on numerous occasions over the last two years for the Security Council to refer the situation in Syria to the ICC. A UN Human Rights Council Commission of Inquiry also reported, in September 2011, on crimes against humanity and war crimes that had taken place in Syria.

However, the international community has been slow to call for international justice and accountability for crimes committed in Syria.

According to the UN, at least 60,000 persons have been killed in the Syrian conflict. Governments supporting the Swiss initiative included all European Union governments except Sweden, as well as states from all the world’s main regional groups.

“Canada’s failure to support the Swiss initiative calls into question this government’s commitment to the rule of law in Syria,” said Fergus Watt, Executive Director of the World Federalist Movement – Canada. “An ICC referral is important not only to bring a measure of accountability for the serious crimes that have been committed in Syria. An ICC referral also contributes to the rebuilding of the rule of law that will be so essential to a peaceful settlement, if Syria is to avoid protracted civil war.”

World Federalist Movement – Canada served from 1995 to 2003 as coordinating agency for a network of Canadian NGOs involved in UN efforts to create the ICC and continues to monitor the Court’s activities. WFM’s parent organization, the international World Federalist Movement, serves as host agency for the 2500-member NGO Coalition for the ICC.