Filing of application at the ICJ

Canada has supported accountability and transitional justice initiatives that aim to hold the Assad regime and other parties in the conflict accountable for the countless human rights violations it has inflicted on the Syrian people since at least 2011.

Canada, the Netherlands and the Syrian Arab Republic are amongst 173 States parties to the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT) that prohibits the use of torture and other forms of ill-treatment.

On March 3, 2021, the Government of Canada announced that it had invited the Syrian Arab Republic to enter into negotiations pursuant to Article 30 (1) of the CAT in order to find a means of addressing Syria’s treaty violations.

These violations also formed the basis of a similar request by the Netherlands in September 2020 and have been well documented by the UN Human Rights Council’s Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic, among others.

Canada and the Netherlands thus pursued joint negotiations with the Syrian Arab Republic, which unfortunately did not resolve the dispute. Given that the parties were also unable to agree to arbitration, Canada and the Netherlands have filed an application to start proceedings at the International Court of Justice (ICJ). They have also asked the Court to order interim measures, including for Syria to cease torture, release persons arbitrarily detained, and improve conditions of detention, in order to reduce the risk and incidence of torture by Syria while the case is being decided.

Article 30 of the Convention Against Torture

Article 30 (1) of the CAT provides signatory countries a three phase dispute settlement process. This involves States’ attempt to resolving the dispute first through negotiation and then arbitration. If this does not resolve the dispute, either party can then refer the dispute to the ICJ under the Convention.

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