Follow-up report on the ruling sessions in the Dabbagh family case
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Welcoming and Appreciation
- The Mizan Organization for Legal Studies and Human Rights attended and followed the trial sessions from May 21 to May 24, 2024, through its Executive Director, Lawyer Yasser Al-Farhan. The organization welcomes the court’s decision, considering it a precedent and tangible achievement in the paths of justice, holding senior leaders of the Assad regime accountable. It provides a glimmer of hope for the victims, preserves the truth from distortion with the documents, testimonies, and evidence it contains, and sends legal and humanitarian messages opposing political normalization.
- The Mizan Organization highly appreciates the courage and determination demonstrated by Obeida and Hanan Dabbagh during their arduous journey in search, complaint, prosecution, and testimony, which showcased the nobility of their cause. This was reflected in Obeida’s statement, “We are here for justice, not revenge,” and Hanan’s, “We are here for all the victims in Syria.”
- The organization also highly values the essential role of Lawyer Mazen Darwish and the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression team. His expert testimony displayed high professionalism that contributed to proving the command chain within the regime’s structure and the systematic nature of crimes against humanity. His personal testimony as a victim revealed how the atrocities of torture, he endured increased his perseverance in defending those still missing.
- Mizan expresses the highest appreciation to the experts, witnesses, and victims’ associations. They were unjustly pursued by the regime in their homeland, and they are now justly pursuing it worldwide. As Thuraya Hijazi, a member of the Truth Charter, aptly said, which we adopted as the title of our report, “We feel hope after the court’s decision, and the regime’s illusion of impunity is collapsing. We can succeed.”
- Given the high commitment to fair trial standards observed in the court procedures and the prosecutors’ and civil party representatives’ pleadings,
- Considering the pleadings of the Public Prosecution and the civil parties as judicial documents that hold more weight than any narrative,
We attach to our statement both the judgment and the main points of the pleadings, concluding with a summary of conclusions and recommendations.
