The Bashar al-Assad CaseInvestigation Regarding the Use of Chemical Weapons

Against Syrian Civil Society

International Criminal CourtMarch 2019

CONTENT

I. INTRODUCTION

II. OVERVIEW

A. COMMITTEE’S BACKGROUND

B. INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT’S ACHIEVEMENTS

III. THE BASHAR AL-ASSAD CASE: INVESTIGATION

REGARDING THE USE OF CHEMICAL WEAPONS AGAINST

SYRIAN CIVIL SOCIETY

A. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

B. BASHAR AL-ASSAD

C. SYRIAN CIVIL WAR

IV. KEY POINTS FOR DEBATE

V. ANNEXES

A. SOURCES OF INFORMATION

B. VISUAL AID

C. LIST OF JUSTICES

Dear members of The International Criminal Court,

During the course of this debate, either as an Agent or a Justice, you will be dealing

with a topic of paramount importance: The Bashar al-Assad Case, the Investigation

Regarding the Use of Chemical Weapons Against Syrian Civil Society.

The debate requires a vast set of skills such as diplomacy, your power

of analysis, innovative ideas, persuasiveness and above all, your willingness to reach

a viable and unprejudiced verdict. We, as your staff, encourage you to put forth

these abilities throughout the debate as well as fully master the protocol. We are

certain that your participation is vital and will enhance the outcome of our

committee.

Welcome to the Olinca Model United Nations (Olinmun) 2019.

Yours sincerely,

Natalia Bishop Lezama Deputy Chair of the International Criminal Court

José Miguel Saavedra RuizHead of Committee and President of the International Criminal Court

Carolina González SuasteguiModerator of the International Criminal Court

Rodrigo Villareal WittChair of Committee and Vice President of the

International Criminal Court

NOTE: We highly recommend you thoroughly read the following

document, as well as the Delegate Handbook, which we hope will be

useful in order to have an overview of the topics we will be debating

and crucial information about the rules of procedure.

I. INTRODUCTION

II. OVERVIEW

A. Committee’s Background

On July 17, 1998, 120 states adopted

the Rome Statute, establishing the

International Criminal Court for the

prosecution of perpetrators of serious

crimes committed in their territories or

by their citizens after July 1st, 2002.

The Court can only intervene when a

State is unable or unwilling to

investigate and prosecute

perpetrators. Its headquarters are

located in The Hague, Netherlands.

The Court’s mission is to help to end

impunity for the perpetrators of the

most serious crimes that concern the

international community as a whole,

preventing these crimes from ever

happening again. The Court

investigates and, where necessary,

tries individuals charged with the

severest crimes of concern to the

international community: genocide,

war crimes, crimes against humanity

and the crime of aggression.

The Court is an independent body;

however, it maintains an institutional

relationship with the United Nations.

The Court has jurisdiction over the

perpetrators if the crime was

perpetrated by a State Party national,

committed in a State Party territory or

the State Territory has accepted the

Court’s jurisdiction, and if the crimes

were referred to the Court’s

Prosecutor by the Security Council.

The trial in the ICC has six stages:

- Preliminary examinations. The

Office of the prosecutor must

determine if the opening of the

case is viable by gathering

evidence and identifying the

suspect.

- Investigations. The Prosecution

requests for the judges an arrest

warrant or an order to appear in

front of the Court.

- Pre-Trial. The suspect is

presented in front of the Court and

three judges make sure that the

suspect understands the charges.

Subsequently, and after hearing

both the Prosecution and the

Defense, the judges decide if the

case goes to Trial based on

evidence.

- Trial. The Prosecution and

Defense present arguments and

evidence to demonstrate or deny

the suspect’s implication with the

crime. After the judges consider all

evidence, they issue a verdict (up

to 30 years of imprisonment or a

life sentence).

- Appeal. The Prosecution or the

Defense have the right to appeal

the Court’s decision.

- Enforcement. The sentences are

carried out in countries that have

agreed to enforce the Court’s

sentences.

B. ICC Achievements

The creation of the Court and the

Rome Statute have changed the way

the world thinks and responds to

grave international crimes. The

Court’s judicial interventions help to

establish long-lasting peace as an

element of paramount importance in

ending the cycle of violence and

reconciling society.

Since its foundation in 2002, the

Court has dealt with 26 cases, some

of them involving more than one

suspect and a former head of state.

32 arrest warrants have been issued

and, thanks to cooperation from

Member States, 9 suspects have

been detained and appeared before

the Court. 15 suspects remain at

large and 3 charges have been

dropped because of a suspect’s

death.

III. THE BASHAR AL-ASSAD CASE: INVESTIGATION REGARDING THE

USE OF CHEMICAL WEAPONS AGAINST SYRIAN CIVIL SOCIETY

A. Historical Background

Syria became independent from France

in 1946. Until 1958, Syrian politics were

turbulent, following various coups

d’états. From 1958 to 1961 Syria joined

Egypt to form the United Arab Republic,

however, Syrian population disliked this

and resulted in another coup which

separated both countries. The Arab

Socialist Resurrection Party (Baath

Party) which had a secular, socialist,

Arab nationalist orientation, took

decisive control in the Baath Revolution

(the March 1963 coup).

The Minister of Defense, Hafez al-

Assad, took power after the 1970 coup.

He was approved as president following

a referendum in 1971 and he

established an authoritarian regime with

all the powers falling into his hands.

Hafez took Syria to war against Israel,

to recover the Golan Heights, which

were lost before his administration, but

failed to do so. Syria also intervened in

other conflicts, such as the Lebanese

Civil War. Syria also joined the US and

their coalition to fight against Iraq when

it invaded Kuwait.

His regime lasted for 30 years and

was characterized as maintaining

control over the population and

providing cohesion and stability to the

government.

After Hafez’s death in 2000, his son

Bashar, who was studying medicine,

took office as president. The Congress

had to reduce the minimum age

requirement from 40 to 34 (Bashar’s

age at the time). Bashar’s elder

brother, Basil al-Assad, was supposed

to take over the presidency of Syria

after his father, but he died in a car

accident in 1994.

His administration has had various

problems, including the uprising of the

Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS)

following the Civil War movement in

2011 and the refugee crisis following

the conflict.

B. Syria under Bashar al-Assad’s

regime

Following in his father’s footsteps, one

of the first actions Bashar Al-Assad

took was to make conciliatory actions

towards the government’s enemies.

He allowed the “Muslim Brotherhood”

to resume political actions and

withdrew troops from Lebanon.

While Bashar al-Assad was reuniting

and peacefully solving long-standing

problems in Syria, he was building an

authoritarian government like his father.

Thanks to the Bashar al-Assad

government, Syria had a $ 5,000 GDP

per capita which meant they were

economically speaking equal to Jordan

and above almost all neighboring Arab

countries. The economy was compared

to Saudi Arabia, Iran and Libya and

managed to compete with fewer

resources.

One of Bashar al-Assad problems was

that he sought to legitimize his regime

through elections and the people’s

decision, but he never had or intended

a big political participation. Bashar al-

Assad´s government also failed to

solve or find a way to make the gap

smaller between the demands of Islam

and the Alawi community, which

created division inside the country, in

addition to the lack of political

participation, fear of public demands,

and severe police measures.

After 2003, the US charged Syria with

supporting terrorism and occupying

much of Lebanon as well as seeking

chemical weapons. Diplomatic actions

reduced the tension in 2006 when

relations were resumed between Syria

and Iraq. Israel bombed Syria again in

2007 with the support of France and the

US but after that, the French president

invited Bashar al-Assad to Paris to talk

about re-establishing diplomatic ties.

However, tension grew once more

when in 2010 the US sent an

ambassador to Syria and then imposed

new sanctions and tariffs against this

country.

C. Syrian Civil War

The Syrian conflict started in 2011, after

the peaceful protests that occurred

during the “Arab Spring” were violently

stopped by Bashar al-Assad´s

government. Since this event, many

rebel groups, which the president

considers terrorists, formed and spread

throughout the country with the

objective of overthrowing al-Assad. The

problem worsened when external

countries interfered in this internal

dispute, which resulted in a two-sided

division: on the one hand there is the

government of Bashar al-Assad

supported by Russia and Iran; on the

other hand, there are the rebel groups

supported mainly by the United States.

It is also considered that there is a third

faction made up of the Kurds, who

demand sovereignty and fight against

ISIS.

The continuous fighting has caused

364,371 deaths and 156,900 missing.

Also, more than half of the Syrians

have been displaced. And even though

there have been lots of UN-mediated

peace talks, like the Geneva II process,

the conflict has not been resolved. Al-

Assad has shown unwillingness to

negotiate with the opposition and the

rebels have refused to become part of

any settlement as long as the president

does not step down.

IV. KEY POINTS OFDEBATE

• Bashar al-Assad’s war crimes:

He has been accused of war crimes

and of using deadly weapons against

his people. His forces are believed to

be responsible for most of this

conflict’s deaths; nonetheless, he has

repeatedly denied it.

• Human Rights violations:

In July 2014, a Syrian government

defector code-named Caesar gave

international investigators evidence of

abuses to prisoners and citizens

during the Bashar al-Assad regime.

Caesar reported that more than

10,000 people had died in government

custody. These human rights

violations, including torture, were not

just reserved for a single city or prison,

it appears as if torture was the general

regime policy. During his regime, the

Kurdish were denied basic human

rights such as the right to assembly

and religious freedom.

• The possession of Chemical

weapons and the Geneva

Protocol:

On November 22, 1968, Syria joined

the Protocol for the Prohibition of the

use in War of Asphyxiating, Poisonous

or Other Gases and of Bacteriological

Methods of Warfare (better known as

the Geneva Protocol), which prohibits

the use of chemical and biological

weapons in war. By possessing them,

al-Assad would be violating the

Protocol.

• Rome Statute:

Al-Assad is accused of breaking the

laws stated by the Rome Statute,

specifically for crimes against

humanity (murder, torture, persecution

against any identifiable group among

others) and war crimes (willful killing,

torture and inhuman treatment,

willfully causing great suffering).

NOTE: Even if a State did not ratify the

Statute, the Security Council can intervene

alongside the ICC under the principle of the

International Community’s responsibility to

protect.

V. ANNEXES

A. Sources of Information

History of Syria. (n.d.). Retrieved October 11, 2018, from https://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/History/Syria-history.htm

Polk, W. R. (2013, December 10). Understanding Syria: From Pre-Civil War to Post-Assad. Retrieved October 11, 2018, from https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2013/12/understanding-syria-from-pre-civil-war-to-post-assad/281989/

International Criminal Court. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.icc-cpi.int/

Britannica, T. E. (2018, September 05). Syrian Civil War. Retrieved October 11, 2018, from https://www.britannica.com/event/Syrian-Civil-War

¿Quién es el presidente de Siria Bashar al Assad? (2017, April 11). Retrieved October 11, 2018, from https://cnnespanol.cnn.com/2017/04/10/quien-es-el-presidente-de-siria-bashar-al-assad/

1925 Geneva Protocol – UNODA. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.un.org/disarmament/wmd/bio/1925-geneva-protocol/

Victims of a chemical strike

Map of the Disputed Territories in Syria

B. Visual Aid

Bashar al-Assad

C. List of Justices

1.Justice Péter Kovács (Hungary)

2.Justice Antoine Kesia-Mbe Mindua (Democratic Republic of the Congo)

3.Justice Chang-ho Chung (Republic of Korea)

4.Justice Bertram Schmitt (Germany)

5.Justice Silvia Alejandra Fernández de Gurmendi (Argentina)

6.Justice Kuniko Ozaki (Japan)

7.Justice Joyce Aluoch (Kenya)

8.Justice Sanji Mmasenono Monageng (Botswana)

9.Justice Christine Baroness Van den Wyngaert (Belgium)

10.Justice Cuno Jakob Tarfusser (Italy)

11.Justice Howard Morrison (United Kingdom)

12.Justice Olga Venecia del C. Herrera Carbuccia (Dominican Republic)

13.Justice Robert Fremr (Czech Republic)

14.Justice Chile Eboe-Osuji (Nigeria)

15.Justice Geoffrey A. Henderson (Trinidad and Tobago)

16.Justice Marc Perrin de Brichambaut (France)

17.Justice Piotr Hofmanski (Poland)