On 3 April 2018, Syrians for Truth and Justice was one of the 28 Syrian NGO to sign a protocol of cooperation with the International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism (IIIM), with the aim to establish a framework for their collaboration. The mechanism will, indeed, greatly rely on evidence collected over the past seven years by local organisations, and it was essential to establish a clear relationship between stakeholders.
The meeting was also the opportunity to better reflect on the role of the Mechanism and to discuss practical implications of the cooperation formalised by the protocol.
Syrians for Truth and Justice commends the tremendous expertise at the service of the Mechanism. At its head, Catherine Marchi-Uhel is an experimented judge who served in United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo and the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, and became a Senior Legal Officer and Head of Chambers at the International Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. Her experience in peacekeeping missions with the UN will also be valuable to her work within the IIIM.
Michelle Jarvis, IIIM’s Deputy Head, is a highly qualified lawyer with fifteen years experience working with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, including as Deputy to the Prosecutor. She also authored a range of books and articles dedicated to international criminal law, with a particular emphasis on gender perspective.
Syrians for Truth and Justice commits to collaborate with the Mechanism as it has with the Commission of Inquiry, by providing data essential to its mandate, and to raise its standards to merge with those of international prosecutions.