Canada and the Netherlands are taking Syria to the International Court of Justice over allegations of torture, the court said on Monday, marking the first such case against Damascus over the country's 12-year-long civil war.
The two countries filed a case against Syria on Thursday “concerning alleged violations of the [UN's] Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment,” the ICJ said in a press release.
Damascus has committed “countless violations of international law” since the civil war began, the court quoted them as saying, beginning with the “violent repression” of civilian protesters.
Canada and the Netherlands decided to act in 2020 after Russia blocked multiple efforts in the United Nations Security Council to refer a case on human rights violations in Syria to the International Criminal Court, which prosecutes individuals for war crimes and is also based in The Hague.
If the ICJ is found to have jurisdiction, it would be the first international court to rule on the alleged use of torture during Syria's brutal civil war.
In their application, Canada and the Netherlands claim that “Syria has committed countless violations of International law, beginning at least in 2011,” and they ask for emergency measures to be taken to protect those at risk of being tortured, the ICJ said in a statement.
It detailed allegations of torture, enforced disappearances and sexual violence, among other crimes, including the use of chemical weapons “which has been a particularly abhorrent practice to intimidate and punish the civilian population.”
Damascus ratified the UN's Convention Against Torture in 2004.
The government of Syrian President Bashar Al Assad has been accused of torturing and killing thousands of civilians during the lengthy civil war, which erupted after the government's repression of mass street protests in 2011.
Syrian officials have been found guilty of torture in Germany.
In January, a former Syrian intelligence officer was sentenced to life in prison after being convicted of crimes against humanity by a German court.
The trial of Anwar Raslan was the first to prosecute over Syrian state-sponsored abuse.
He was found guilty of overseeing the murder of 27 people and the torture of 4,000 others at the Al Khatib detention centre in Damascus between April 2011 and September 2012. More than 80 people testified in the trial.
In April, a Syrian-American filed a civil lawsuit against Damascus in a US court for allegedly detaining and torturing him.
Obada Mzaik said he filed the case “in the name of all the many Syrians who were tortured in detention centres but who don’t have the opportunity to obtain justice.”
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Company%20Profile
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The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl
Power: 153hp at 6,000rpm
Torque: 200Nm at 4,000rpm
Transmission: 6-speed auto
Price: Dh99,000
On sale: now
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, Leon.
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
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Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
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Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
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RESULT
Los Angeles Galaxy 2 Manchester United 5
Galaxy: Dos Santos (79', 88')
United: Rashford (2', 20'), Fellaini (26'), Mkhitaryan (67'), Martial (72')
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
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Results
Women finals: 48kg - Urantsetseg Munkhbat (MGL) bt Distria Krasniqi (KOS); 52kg - Odette Guiffrida (ITA) bt Majlinda Kelmendi (KOS); 57kg - Nora Gjakova (KOS) bt Anastasiia Konkina (Rus)
Men’s finals: 60kg - Amiran Papinashvili (GEO) bt Francisco Garrigos (ESP); 66kg - Vazha Margvelashvili (Geo) bt Yerlan Serikzhanov (KAZ)
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Company%20Profile
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Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
U19 WORLD CUP, WEST INDIES
UAE group fixtures (all in St Kitts)
- Saturday 15 January: UAE beat Canada by 49 runs
- Thursday 20 January: v England
- Saturday 22 January: v Bangladesh
UAE squad:
Alishan Sharafu (captain), Shival Bawa, Jash Giyanani, Sailles
Jaishankar, Nilansh Keswani, Aayan Khan, Punya Mehra, Ali Naseer, Ronak Panoly,
Dhruv Parashar, Vinayak Raghavan, Soorya Sathish, Aryansh Sharma, Adithya
Shetty, Kai Smith
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The five pillars of Islam
FA CUP FINAL
Manchester City 6
(D Silva 26', Sterling 38', 81', 87', De Bruyne 61', Jesus 68')
Watford 0
Man of the match: Bernardo Silva (Manchester City)
BACK%20TO%20ALEXANDRIA
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Company%20Profile
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The%20specs
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E4.0-litre%20twin-turbo%20V8%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E640hp%20at%206%2C000rpm%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E850Nm%20from%202%2C300-4%2C500rpm%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E8-speed%20auto%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFuel%20consumption%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E11.9L%2F100km%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDh749%2C800%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Enow%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
MATCH DETAILS
Liverpool 2
Wijnaldum (14), Oxlade-Chamberlain (52)
Genk 1
Samatta (40)
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre 4-cyl turbo
Power: 194hp at 5,600rpm
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Transmission: 6-speed auto
Price: from Dh155,000
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Difference between fractional ownership and timeshare
Although similar in its appearance, the concept of a fractional title deed is unlike that of a timeshare, which usually involves multiple investors buying “time” in a property whereby the owner has the right to occupation for a specified period of time in any year, as opposed to the actual real estate, said John Peacock, Head of Indirect Tax and Conveyancing, BSA Ahmad Bin Hezeem & Associates, a law firm.