Referral of the Syrian Arab Republic to the International Criminal Court (2016)

On 19 December 2016, the GA adopted resolution 71/203, “expressing outrage at the continuing escalation of violence in the Syrian Arab Republic” (A/RES/71/203). The resolution was passed amid escalating violence in eastern Aleppo resulting from the offensive launched by Syrian authorities and their allies that year, leading to hundreds of civilian casualties and repeated attacks against medical and civilian infrastructure. Resolution 71/203 noted the concerns raised by the (HRC-created) Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic and its observation that “since March 2011, the Syrian authorities have conducted widespread attacks against the civilian population as a matter of policy” (ibid.). It also expressed “deep concern” for the findings of the 2016 reports of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons–UN Joint Investigative Mechanism, notably that “the Syrian Arab Armed Forces were responsible for the use of chemical weapons in at least three attacks … and that so-called ISIL-Da’esh was responsible for one mustard gas attack in the Syrian Arab Republic” (ibid.).

While the GA resolution did not explicitly request a referral of the situation in the Syrian Arab Republic to the ICC, it implicitly did so by encouraging the SC “to take appropriate action to ensure accountability, noting the important role that the International Criminal Court can play in this regard” (ibid., para. 42). In condemning the use of toxic chemicals, including chlorine, the GA argued that “those individuals responsible for the use of chemical weapons in the Syrian Arab Republic should be held accountable” (ibid., para. 5). Further, the GA regretted that an SC draft resolution in 2014 that would have enabled a referral (S/2014/348) was not adopted “notwithstanding broad support from Member States”.¹ As a further measure, only two days later, the GA established the IIIM (A/RES/71/248), an investigatory body mandated to support criminal proceedings through collection and analysis of evidence of violations of IHL and human rights law.

Subsequently, from late 2014, the GA almost annually adopted resolutions that “regretted” that the draft resolution was not adopted and noted the important role that the ICC could play in ensuring accountability.²