At Peace SOS we believe that everyone, including prisoners, should be treated with care and respect. Everyone’s life needs to be cherished.

Someone from Syria sent Peace SOS a press release of the International Court of Justice, the principal judicial organ of the United Nations. It mentioned that the International Court of Justice will be holding public hearings in the case concerning Application of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (Canada and the Netherlands v. Syrian Arab Republic), starting on Tuesday 10 October 2023 at the Peace Palace in The Hague, the seat of the Court.

The following is taken from the press releases of the International Court of Justice:

“On 8 June 2023, Canada and the Kingdom of the Netherlands filed a joint Application instituting proceedings against the Syrian Arab Republic before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), concerning alleged violations of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (the “Convention against Torture”).

In their Application, Canada and the Netherlands contend that “Syria has committed countless violations of international law, beginning at least in 2011, with its violent repression of civilian demonstrations, and continuing as the situation in Syria devolved into a protracted armed conflict”. According to the Applicants, “[t]hese violations include the use of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment . . ., including through abhorrent treatment of detainees, inhumane conditions in places of detention, enforced disappearances, the use of sexual and gender-based violence, and violence against children”. The Applicants claim that “[t]hese violations also include the use of chemical weapons which has been a particularly abhorrent practice to intimidate and punish the civilian population, resulting in numerous deaths, injuries and severe physical and mental suffering”.

Together with the Application, Canada and the Netherlands filed a Request for the indication of provisional measures, pursuant to Article 41 of the Statute of the Court and Articles 73, 74 and 75 of the Rules of Court, “to preserve and protect the rights owed to them under the Convention against Torture, which Syria continues to violate, and protect the lives and physical and mental integrity of individuals within Syria who are currently, or are at risk of, being subjected to torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment”.

At Peace SOS, we hope that everyone will be treated with dignity. Especially children need to be cared for.

Author: May-May Meijer, this article is mainly based on the press releases of the International Court of Justice

Photograph: Jeroen Bouman – Courtesy of the ICJ. All rights reserved.