PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Syria: Armed Conflict (14 December 2016)

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure that people who have violated international humanitarian law in Syria will be brought to justice in the international courts.

Asked by:
Naz Shah (Labour)

The UK has a long-standing commitment to accountability, and believes that those responsible for war crimes in Syria - as elsewhere - must be held accountable.

The UK continues to make the case for referring the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court (ICC). In May 2014, the UK co-sponsored a UN Security Council resolution to refer all those responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Syria, regardless of affiliation, to the ICC. Russia and China chose to veto this resolution. Russia has vetoed six resolutions on Syria since the conflict began.

In support of a future process of justice, we have trained and equipped people in Syria to collect evidence of atrocities. We hope that this process, approximating to ICC standards, may form an important part of a future process to hold those responsible to account.

We have made clear our strong support for the work of the independent UN Commission of Inquiry. As a result of UK diplomacy through the UN Human Rights Council, the UN Commission of Inquiry is carrying out an investigation into events in Aleppo to ensure those responsible for human rights violations and abuses are held to account.

Answered by:
Mr Tobias Ellwood (Conservative)
19 December 2016