Date: 30 September 2021
Huquqyat member Mariana Karkoutly delivered a speech at the Swiss Parliament on 30 September 2021, in which she addressed the continuation of grave violations in Syria more than ten years after the beginning of the revolution, including arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, torture, sexual and gender-based violence, siege and starvation, in addition to the risks of deportation faced by Syrian refugees.
The speech focused on the importance of accountability for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Syria, and on the role of Syrian civil society, lawyers, and survivors in documenting violations and building legal case files before European courts based on the principle of universal jurisdiction. It also shed light on the role of Syrian women as key actors in justice, documentation, and accountability processes, and on Huquqyat’s work in investigating the crime of starvation as a weapon of war in southern Damascus, and training Syrian women legal practitioners on investigating international crimes and building accountability case files.