United Nations Appoints Head for War Crimes Investigation in Syria

The United Nations has appointed a French judge to lead a team tasked with gathering evidence related to war crimes in Syria. However, the designated group has yet to secure more than half of its budget for the first year of operations. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has chosen French judge Catherine Marchi-Uhel for the UN-appointed legal team. The UN team consists of nearly fifty staff members and is based in Geneva, Switzerland. Last January, 105 UN member states voted in favor of forming a body to collect evidence and documentation from the Syrian civil war regarding what may be considered 'war crimes.' The formation of this group faced opposition from Iran, Russia, and 13 other countries that voted against it. Efforts to gather evidence of war crimes date back to previous years and are not new in the context of the six-year civil war in Syria. For instance, in February 2013, UN inspectors stated they had compiled a list of individuals and groups accused of war crimes in Syria. Russia is among the countries that have opposed the designated team and has repeatedly used its veto power in the UN Security Council to prevent the passage of resolutions against the Syrian government. Moscow has also intervened militarily in the Syrian civil war and supports a government accused of using chemical weapons against its own people. Additionally, the selection of a French judge has faced protests, as France is also a permanent member of the UN Security Council, and its previous government was active in opposing Bashar al-Assad and was a major supporter of several of the current Syrian government's opponents. However, Judge Marchi-Uhel is a well-known figure among international lawyers and activists. She has served as a senior advisor to the International Criminal Tribunal during the proceedings regarding events in Yugoslavia and has also been a UN judge in the case of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia. She has played a role in serious criminal cases in France and has advised the French Foreign Ministry. Despite all this, the UN legal team has so far only managed to raise half of its annual budget needed for the Syrian events. These costs are estimated at least at $13 million and have primarily been funded through European countries, especially Germany and the Netherlands. Among regional countries, only Qatar and Kuwait have taken on part of this cost. However, the investigation into the Syrian civil war has not remained stagnant; Sweden has prosecuted a member of the Syrian rebel groups, and France, the Netherlands, Germany, and Switzerland have also opened investigative files related to Syria. The UN team is expected to not only collect evidence from the Syrian civil war but also provide its analysis of events in relation to the laws and standards established by the UN and international bodies.