Statement by Mizan for Legal Research and Human Rights MHR NGO
On Assad’s Law Criminalizing Torture
30 March 2022
On 30 March 2022, Bashar al-Assad issued Law No. 16 criminalizing torture in Syria. This step came amid growing international efforts to hold the Syrian regime accountable for its violations of the Convention against Torture, including actions by the United Nations General Assembly and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, as well as in the context of discussions on establishing a new international mechanism to clarify the fate of the missing.
The issuance of this law also coincided with repeated demands by UN treaty bodies and special procedures urging the Syrian government to implement recommendations issued through the Universal Periodic Review and various UN human rights reports condemning the regime’s conduct.
Mizan for Legal Studies and Human Rights views this law as part of a pattern of deceptive measures adopted by the Assad regime to create a misleading impression of responsiveness to international demands, while continuing to pursue its long-standing strategy of systematic violations. In response to urgent consultations received from an international entity seeking Mizan’s legal opinion, the organization issued this concise commentary addressing the law from both a theoretical and practical perspective.
I. Theoretical Assessment
From a legal standpoint, the law suffers from fundamental shortcomings, including:
- The absence of any provision allowing international monitoring bodies to access official or secret detention facilities.
- The regime’s failure to lift its reservations to the Convention against Torture.
- The regime’s refusal to accede to the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, despite enforced disappearance constituting a form of torture for detainees and their families.
- The regime’s rejection of the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court and its failure to accede to the Rome Statute.
- The absence of provisions establishing command responsibility for security leadership based on the principle of knowledge, or collective responsibility of the regime for acts of torture.
- The continuation of legal immunities granted to State Security and intelligence personnel, which require special authorization from their superiors to initiate prosecution.
- The failure to impose an obligation on courts to initiate investigations into torture crimes ex officio.
II. Practical Assessment
From a practical perspective, Mizan has no confidence in Assad’s decrees or legislative measures. Ongoing developments continue to confirm the regime’s persistent commission of crimes against humanity—including arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, torture, extrajudicial killings, and other forms of inhuman treatment—as a systematic strategy of governance.
These practices are deeply entrenched in the conduct of the regime’s security apparatus, reflecting decades of institutionalized violence aimed at suppressing opposition and instilling fear among the population.
The Assad regime has consistently disregarded resolutions issued by the UN Security Council, the General Assembly, and the Human Rights Council, all of which have condemned its behavior and called for the release of detainees, particularly women, children, elderly persons, and the sick.
The regime’s attempt to close the detainees’ file through this law represents a deliberate effort to obstruct accountability, prevent normalization, and evade international justice. This maneuver coincides with international efforts to establish an independent mechanism with an international mandate to uncover the fate of the missing.
III. Legal Approach and Recommendations on the Detainees’ Issue
- The continued refusal of the regime to disclose the names of detainees, both living and deceased, necessitates genuine and sustained international pressure to allow independent international investigation mechanisms access to all official and secret detention facilities, hospitals, and mass burial sites in Syria.
- Such access should be comparable to international inspection mechanisms used in relation to chemical weapons sites.
- The international community must recognize that the Assad regime will not change its behavior voluntarily. Binding General Assembly measures, including coordinated unilateral sanctions by a coalition of like-minded States, are required to compel compliance, protect detainees from crimes of extermination, and preserve the credibility of international justice.
- In light of the failure of the Security Council to uphold international peace and security, the General Assembly bears responsibility to act under the “Uniting for Peace” framework to protect the Syrian people from ongoing crimes against humanity.
Authorship
Prepared on 30 March 2022
Written by Yaser Al-Rahan, Legal Advisor – MHR NGO
Mizan for Legal Studies and Human Rights