IHRDC submits request for the International Criminal Court Prosecutor to examine Iran’s role in the Syrian conflict

(February 16, 2022) – Today, the Iran Human Rights Documentation Center (IHRDC) submitted a request to Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) of the International Criminal Court (ICC) for the opening of a Preliminary Examination to examine the role of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the armed groups in Syria it controls, supports and backs in crimes committed during the conflict in Syria.

The request was submitted in accordance with Article 15 of the Rome Statute, alleging that perpetrators from the Islamic Republic of Iran and its Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps have perpetrated as well as aided and abetted the commission of certain crimes against humanity against the Syrian civilian population which have forced them to flee into Jordan; including the crimes against humanity of deportation, persecution and ‘other inhumane acts’.  The request includes the evidence of Syrian victims directly impacted and forced to flee into Jordan by the actions of both the Syrian Government and the armed groups of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Although Syria is not a State Party to the ICC’s Rome Statute, jurisdiction for the OTP to consider the request and examine the alleged crimes is applicable because the victims were forced into Jordan, which is a State Party, and recent ICC case law has clarified that the Court has jurisdiction over certain crimes which are completed in the territory of a State Party.

IHRDC’s request adds to previous Article 15 communications sent to the Office of the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court, alleging responsibility of perpetrators from the Syrian Arab Republic for the deportation and persecution of Syrian civilians forced to flee into the neighboring country of Jordan.

“Up until now, little public attention has been paid to the legal responsibility of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the decade-long Syrian conflict, despite the significant intervention of Iranian officials in Syria and perpetration of atrocities,” said Gissou Nia, a lawyer on the legal team making the request and board chair of IHRDC. “The Islamic Republic of Iran has provided a vast range of military and non-military support to achieve its objectives, chiefly to prevent the fall of disgraced Syrian president Bashar al-Assad at any cost. Unfortunately, that goal has been fought at the cost of hundreds of thousands of killed, injured and displaced Syrian civilians.”

The Syrian war is a complex, protracted conflict that has lasted for more than a decade. What began as popular protests for reform in spring 2011 were met with state violence from Bashar al-Assad’s government, which then devolved into civil war.

The Islamic Republic of Iran’s contribution to the conflict has been substantial—with the state reportedly sending billions in financial aid, arms, technology and its own Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps to fight alongside Assad’s forces. The Quds Force—the external operations branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps—has trained Syrian paramilitary groups that have been linked to atrocities against civilians. It deployed thousands of Iranian soldiers and Shia paramilitary groups recruited primarily from Lebanon, Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan as boots on the ground. In several instances of forces led by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps exclusively carrying out large-scale operations, they too implemented a strategy of indiscriminately targeting civilians, for instance by starving them, and subsequently displacing them.

Forces led or supported by the Islamic Republic of Iran were involved in hostilities across the entirety of Syria, and had strong presence in battles in Southern Syria that led to the expulsion of thousands of Syrians, fleeing violence to Jordan. At last count, more than 650,000 Syrians are presently in Jordan, who fled violence during the war.

“As a direct consequence of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s involvement in Syria including in battles in southern Syria, the evidence indicates that Syrian civilians were subjected to crimes against humanity, such as deportation and persecution — crimes completed in the territory of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,” said Haydee Dijkstal, a lawyer on the legal team making the request and a barrister at 33 Bedford Row Chambers. “Given Jordan’s status as a state party to the Rome Statute since 2002, crimes completed in its territory fall within the jurisdiction of the Court and may therefore be examined and considered by the Prosecutor. This provides the jurisdictional basis for the Prosecutor to examine the alleged crimes and criminal responsibility detailed in our Article 15 communication submitted today.”

To read this press release in Persian, click here.
To read this press release in Arabic, click here.

For further inquiries in either English or Persian, or to arrange an interview, please contact the following at: inquiry@iranhrdc.org

For further inquiries in English:

Gissou Nia
Board Chair, Iran Human Rights Documentation Center

Haydee Dijkstal
Barrister, 33 Bedford Row Chambers

For further inquiries in Persian:

Shahin Milani
Executive Director, Iran Human Rights Documentation Center