Event: Accountability for Torture in Syria – Sweden’s Role in the Struggle against Impunity

(The event is currently fully booked, but you can still register if you want to be on the waiting list. The information can be found further down)

Torture, enforced disappearances and extrajudicial executions of political opponents, journalists, and other civilians are only some of the grave human rights violations committed by all parties throughout the Syrian war.

These grave crimes widely go unpunished in Syria. Therefore, torture survivors, relatives, human rights defenders, and lawyers have been documenting the crimes in order to bring justice outside of Syria – for example by using legal means in Europe.

Welcome to an event that will focus on which role Sweden can play in the international efforts to hold to account those responsible for some of the most egregious crimes of our times. Among the speakers are torture survivors and representatives from Syrian and European human rights organisations.

Read more about the event here (Swedish).

When: Wednesday, 20 February 2019, 6pm (reception from 5.30pm)
Where: Medelhavsmuseet, Fredsgatan 2, Stockholm
Language: The event will be held in English and Arabic with simultaneous translation
Livestream: There will be a livestream of the event in English via our Facebook page and in Arabic via ECCHR’s Facebook page.
Arabic: Please find the invitation in Arabic here
Please register via: rsvp@crd.org

Program

5.30pm – 6pm:
Reception with drinks and snacks

6pm – 6.20pm:
Legal action in the Swedish context
John Stauffer, Civil Rights Defenders
Anwar al-Bunni, Syrian Center for Legal Research and Studies

6.20pm – 6.40pm:
Experiences from Syria
Syrian torture survivors and human rights activists in conversation with Antonia Klein, ECCHR

6.40pm – 7.30pm:
Panel discussion:
The struggle against impunity in Syria, the role of Sweden and other jurisdictions

Catherine Marchi-Uhel, Head of the International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism (IIIM)

Mazen Darwish, Head of the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression (SCM)

Inger Österdahl, Professor in Public International Law, Uppsala University

Patrick Kroker, Head of Syria-Project, European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR)

Moderator: Lotte Leicht, EU-Director, Human Rights Watch (HRW)

The event is organised by Civil Rights Defenders and the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights.