International experts call for post-conflict Syrian war crimes tribunal

AMSTERDAM – A group of international war crimes experts is calling for the creation of a war crimes court in Damascus to try top-ranking Syrian politicians and soldiers when the country’s civil war ends.

Professor Michael Scharf of Case Western Reserve University, acting as spokesman, told The Associated Press Friday that a draft for such a court been quietly under development for nearly two years by many of the key figures from other national and international war crimes tribunals, as well as Syrian jurists, politicians and leaders.

Scharf said the group is going public now to push the issue of accountability for war crimes into the ongoing international discussions over Syria, and in hopes the prospect will deter combatants from committing further atrocities such as the Aug. 21 use of chemical weapons.