More than 200 attendees look for solutions to hold states and individuals accountable for human rights violations.
Seeking to find ways to hold individuals and countries accountable for war crimes and human rights violations around the world, speakers at a conference here recommended the establishment of an international mechanism to combat impunity and the disregard of international law by
powerful nations.
The problem is particularly acute in the Arab world, where devastating atrocities during civil wars and widespread human rights abuses are committed by regimes and armed groups alike, speakers said on Monday.
A lack of regional legislation and mechanisms to deter such violations bring the problems to crisis levels with hundreds of thousands killed in Syria, the world’s worst humanitarian crisis in Yemen, and a burgeoning conflict in Libya.
The international conference on “national, regional, and international mechanisms to combat impunity and ensure accountability under international law” was sponsored by Qatar’s National Human Rights Committee.
Its president, Ali Bin Samikh Al Marri, noted the lack of a proper criminal justice system in the Arab world to deal with war crimes and rights abuses, and said the road to addressing violations must come through “fostering national, regional and international criminal justice mechanisms”.
