Date: February 2025
Hoqoqyat, in cooperation with Team Horan, Imdad Network, and Wasl Network, organized a specialized training workshop for lawyers at the Bar Association building in the city of Daraa on Tuesday, February 18, 2025, entitled: “Universal Jurisdiction and Documentation and Archiving of Evidence.”
The workshop aimed to strengthen lawyers’ knowledge of the legal frameworks related to universal jurisdiction, as one of the important tools for combating impunity and prosecuting perpetrators of international crimes, regardless of where the crime was committed. It also focused on the importance of documenting, preserving, and archiving evidence according to legal and professional standards, in a way that ensures the possibility of using it within accountability and justice pathways.
The workshop was led by legal expert Dania Qabil, a graduate of the Faculty of Law at Damascus University, a researcher at the University of Vienna, a legal consultant at the Austrian Trade Union Federation, and a member of Hoqoqyat. During the session, she addressed the types of national, regional, international, special, and mixed courts, the concepts of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide, as well as criminal and non-criminal litigation.
The workshop also reviewed practical examples of the use of universal jurisdiction, including the cases of Anwar Raslan, Eyad al-Gharib, Alaa Mousa, Mowaffaq Daawah, Rifaat al-Assad, and cases related to the use of chemical weapons and grave violations in Syria. The session also addressed Hoqoqyat’s work in documenting the cases of the Ali al-Wahsh checkpoint massacre and the Beit Sahem massacre, and the steps followed in handling evidence within the International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism.
The workshop included a practical component on the guiding principles for collecting, protecting, and preserving evidence, including documentary evidence such as papers, official records, and registry books. Hoqoqyat’s evidence documentation file was also presented and explained to the participants, alongside a practical activity to analyze two cases and identify the information and evidence required to document them.
The workshop concluded by emphasizing the importance of supporting lawyers in southern Syria with the legal knowledge and practical tools necessary to document international crimes, and to contribute to accountability and justice efforts and the protection of victims’ rights.