World
Can toppled Syrian president Bashar al-Assad be brought to justice?
Despite the legal and political barriers to prosecution, human rights experts are optimistic that al-Assad and regime officials could one day be held accountable for their crimes in a court of law.
In Syria, celebrations of the fall of Bashar al-Assad have been mingled with a sense of horror, as gruesome evidence of the atrocities committed by his regime emerge.
Mass graveyards and the infamous prisons that were central to the deposed dictator’s coercive rule have been uncovered.
They bear traces of the brutal suffering inflicted by the regime.
Chaotic scenes of former detainees, their relatives and journalists trawling through paperwork in the detention centres have sparked international pleas on Syria’s new de facto leaders to ensure evidence is preserved for future criminal prosecutions.
Al-Assad and his father, Hafez, have been accused of a litany of crimes and abuses over the past 54 years, including torture, rape, mass executions, enforced disappearances and chemical attacks.
The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) estimates that at least 15,000 Syrians have been tortured to death since the civil war broke out in 2011.
But with al-Assad in exile in Russia and many of his entourage suspected to be in Iran, there are several legal and political obstacles that stand in the way of criminal accountability.
The Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC) is the most obvious international court of law for prosecuting individuals for such serious crimes. But the ICC does not have jurisdiction over Syria as the country is not a state party to the court’s treaty, the Treaty of Rome.
The UN Security Council can in principle refer a case to the ICC, granting it jurisdiction. But that would certainly be vetoed by the Kremlin, given its alliance with al-Assad and its own complicity in the crimes.
Both Russia and China blocked such a referral ten years ago.
Speaking to Euronews, Balkees Jarrah, associate director for international justice at Human Rights Watch (HRW) called on Syria’s new de facto authorities to consider granting jurisdiction to the ICC: “We believe Syria’s new leadership should immediately make clear its commitment to justice and accountability,” she said.
“This includes ratifying the Rome Treaty and giving the International Criminal Court retroactive jurisdiction so that the prosecutor can examine crimes committed over the last years.”
All eyes on de facto Syrian leaders
A more viable option in the current political climate is for trials to be held in criminal courts both within and outside Syria.
Experts say it’s too soon to tell whether the new de facto rulers will be able to ensure any Syrian criminal proceedings are carried out safely and in line with international standards.
“We don’t know what the future state of Syria will look like, how the different institutions will work and how well they will cooperate with each other. So this is just something we cannot predict,” according to Elisabeth Hoffberger-Pippan of the Leibniz Peace Research Institute Frankfurt (PRIF).
“The ideal option is to have criminal proceedings in Syria itself that meet fair trial standards, without use of the death penalty. And there is a need to ensure the safety for witnesses and victims to come forward with testimonies,” Vito Todeschini, legal advisor for Amnesty International, told Euronews.
The main rebel group in the new administration is the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), designated a terrorist group by the UN Security Council and formerly linked to al-Qaeda.
Its leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, formerly known as Abu Mohammed al-Jolan, has vowed to “pursue” the regime’s henchmen in Syria and has called on countries to “hand over those who fled” so that justice can be served.
The rebel fighters have also spoken of an amnesty for all military personnel conscripted into service under al-Assad.
But it is currently inconceivable for al-Assad himself to be extradited to stand trial in either a Syrian or non-Syrian court, as there is no political appetite or motive for Moscow to hand him over. Iran is also unlikely to extradite regime officials who have fled there.
Yet, experts consulted by Euronews have expressed hope that al-Assad and the regime’s high-level torturers can one day be held accountable, if the geopolitical conditions change.
“If the sudden fall of the al-Assad regime has shown us anything it is that things can change quite rapidly,” Human Rights Watch’s Jarrah said. “We can’t predict what happens in the future nor preclude the possibility of Assad answering for his crimes one day in a court of law.”
“What we also need to consider right now is how intense and how strong the bond is between Vladimir Putin and Bashar al-Assad,” Hoffberger-Pippan of PRIF said. “I do think that there is a chance Russia might not be as interested in al-Assad in the future because the geopolitical environment is changing in a way that makes it less important for Russia to protect him.”
Calls for international collaboration and preservation of evidence
Universal jurisdiction also allows non-Syrian courts to prosecute Syrians for crimes against humanity, war crimes, and torture.
Criminal cases against regime officials have already been filed in Austrian, French, German, Norwegian, Swedish and US courts, many of which have already successfully pressed charges.
The first international trial on torture in Syria was heard before the Koblenz Higher Regional Court in Germany in 2020. Two former high-level officials of the al-Assad regime were charged, one of whom was found guilty of crimes against humanity and handed a life-long sentence.
In November 2023, a French court issued international arrest warrants for Bashar al-Assad, his brother and two officials over an attack against civilians using chemical weapons in 2013.
According to the Berlin-based European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR), universal jurisdiction carries promise but should be a “fall-back option” if processes within Syria fail.
The push towards justice should be “Syrian-led”, it says.
For any trials, well-preserved evidence is crucial.
During the decades-long regime, offenses were documented by international organisations and Syrian civil society with the help of whistleblowers. The so-called ‘Caesar’ photos, taken by a Syrian military police officer who defected a decade ago, are perhaps the most well-known evidence of torture which has led to criminal proceedings in European courts.
The UN’s International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism (IIIM) has a mandate to collect, preserve and analyse evidence to be used in criminal proceedings and supports Syrian civil society in judicial processes.
Its lead investigator Robert Petit has described “papers strewn all over the floor, people leaving with computers, hard drives burned and smashed” in regime centres during the rebels’ offensive.
“Those in control of these prisons need to safeguard materials in these facilities so that the truth can be told and so that those responsible are held accountable,” HRW’s Jarrah explained.
Euronews reached out to the UN to ask whether its investigators have yet been authorised by Syria’s de facto leaders to gain access to the ground, but has not yet received a reply.
According to the ECHHR, there is also real risk that evidence can be confiscated “to be used as political or commercial capital” or be compromised by secret services agents from countries “interested in destroying evidence and archives.”
World
Minnesota braces for what’s next amid immigration arrests and in the wake of Renee Good shooting
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Already shaken by the fatal shooting of a woman by an immigration officer, Minnesota’s Twin Cities on Sunday braced for what many expect will be a new normal over the next few weeks as the Department of Homeland Security carries out what it called its largest enforcement operation ever.
Protesters screamed at heavily-armed federal agents and honked car horns, banged on drums and blew whistles in attempts to disrupt their operations in one Minneapolis neighborhood filled with single-family homes.
There was some pushing and several people were hit with chemical spray just before agents banged down the door of one home on Sunday. They later took one man away in handcuffs.
“We’re seeing a lot of immigration enforcement across Minneapolis and across the state, federal agents just swarming around our neighborhoods,” said Jason Chavez, a Minneapolis city councilmember. “They’ve definitely been out here.”
Chavez, the son of Mexican immigrants who represents an area with a growing immigrant population, said he is closely monitoring information from chat groups about where residents are seeing agents operating.
People holding whistles positioned themselves in freezing temperatures on street corners in the neighborhood where 37-year-old Renee Good was shot and killed Wednesday, watching for any signs of federal agents.
More than 20,000 people have taken part in a variety of trainings to become “observers” of enforcement activities in Minnesota since the 2024 election, said Luis Argueta, a spokesperson for Unidos MN, a local human rights organization .
“It’s a role that people choose to take on voluntarily, because they choose to look out for their neighbors,” Argueta said.
The protests have been largely peaceful, but the Twin Cities remained anxious. Minneapolis public schools on Monday will start offering remote learning for the next month in response to concerns that children might feel unsafe venturing out while tensions remain high.
Many schools closed last week after Good’s shooting and the upheaval that followed.
While the enforcement activity continues, two of the state’s leading Democrats said on Sunday that the investigation into Good’s shooting death shouldn’t be overseen solely by the federal government.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and U.S. Sen. Tina Smith said in separate interviews Sunday that state authorities should be included in the investigation because the federal government has already made clear what it believes happened.
“How can we trust the federal government to do an objective, unbiased investigation, without prejudice, when at the beginning of that investigation they have already announced exactly what they saw — what they think happened,” Smith said on ABC’s “This Week.”
The Trump administration has defended the officer who shot Good in her car, saying he was protecting himself and fellow agents and that Good had “weaponized” her vehicle.
Todd Lyons, acting director of ICE, defended the officer on Fox News Channel’s “The Sunday Briefing.”
“That law enforcement officer had milliseconds, if not short time to make a decision to save his life and his other fellow agents,” he said.
Lyons also said the administration’s enforcement operations in Minnesota wouldn’t be needed “if local jurisdictions worked with us to turn over these criminally illegal aliens once they are already considered a public safety threat by the locals.”
The killing of Good by an ICE officer and the shooting of two people by federal agents in Portland, Oregon, led to dozens of protests across the country over the weekend.
Thousands of people marched Saturday in Minneapolis, where Homeland Security called its deployment of immigration officers in the Twin Cities its biggest ever immigration enforcement operation.
___
Associated Press journalists Giovanna Dell’Orto in Minneapolis, Thomas Strong in Washington, Bill Barrow in Atlanta, and John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio, contributed.
World
Netanyahu and Rubio discuss US military intervention in Iran amid ongoing nationwide protests: report
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Secretary of State Marco Rubio discussed the possibility of U.S. intervention in Iran, according to a report.
The two leaders spoke by phone Saturday as Israel is on “high alert,” preparing for the possibility of U.S. military intervention in Iran, according to Reuters, citing multiple Israeli sources. A U.S. official confirmed the call to Fox News Digital but did not provide additional details.
The report comes as nationwide anti-regime demonstrations across Iran hit the two-week mark.
On Saturday, the Iranian regime triggered an internet “kill switch” in an apparent effort to conceal alleged abuses by security forces and as protests against it surged nationwide, according to a cybersecurity expert. The blackout reduced internet access to a fraction of normal levels.
KEANE WARNS IRANIAN REGIME TO TAKE TRUMP ‘DEAD SERIOUS’ ON PROTEST KILLING THREAT AMID ONGOING DEMONSTRATIONS
Secretary of State Marco Rubio holds his end-of-year press conference at the State Department in Washington, D.C., Dec. 19, 2025. (Kevin Mohatt/Reuters)
On Sunday, Iran’s parliament speaker warned that the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America strikes the Islamic Republic.
Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf issued the threat as lawmakers rushed the dais in the Iranian parliament, shouting, “Death to America!” according to The Associated Press.
President Donald Trump offered support for the protesters on Saturday, writing on Truth Social that “Iran is looking at FREEDOM, perhaps like never before. The USA stands ready to help!!!”
IRANIAN MILITARY LEADER THREATENS PREEMPTIVE ATTACK AFTER TRUMP COMMENTS
In this frame grab from video obtained by the AP outside Iran, a masked demonstrator holds a picture of Iran’s Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)
At a news conference Friday, Trump said Iran was facing mounting pressure as unrest spreads across the country.
“Iran’s in big trouble,” he said. “It looks to me that the people are taking over certain cities that nobody thought were really possible just a few weeks ago. We’re watching the situation very carefully.”
The president said the U.S. would respond forcefully if the regime resorts to mass violence.
“We’ll be hitting them very hard where it hurts. And that doesn’t mean boots on the ground, but it means hitting them very, very hard where it hurts,” he said.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
Protests in Iran intensify for the 12th day. (The National Council of Resistance of Iran)
Fox News Digital reached out to the State Department and White House for comment.
Fox News Digital’s Emma Bussey, Brie Stimson and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
World
Four killed, 20 injured in overnight Russian strikes across Ukraine
Published on
Russia fired more than 150 drones overnight into Sunday targeting close to two dozen locations across Ukraine, killing at least four people and injuring 20 more.
Ukraine’s Air Forces say they intercepted 125 drones aerially but confirmed that at least 25 strike drones struck their targets.
They added that Moscow’s latest barrage mainly targeted Kharkiv, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia and Dnipropetrovsk, all of which were targeted in Saturday’s overnight strikes as well.
Local officials in the southern region of Zaporizhzhia say the strikes targeted residential areas and energy infrastructure. More than 385,000 homes were affected by electric, gas or water outages, at a critical time as temperatures plunged to 10 degrees below Celsius.
Regional lawmakers say service was restored to most of the affected households and areas by Sunday morning, but added that emergency work was still being carried out to restore power to the remaining homes.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia of timing their attacks with the cold peaks of winter as to maximise civilian suffering.
“They struck targets that have no military purpose whatsoever – energy infrastructure, residential buildings. They deliberately waited for freezing weather to make things worse for our people. This is deliberate, cynical Russian terror specifically against civilians,” wrote Zelenskyy in a post on X.
He also noted that this week had seen heightened Russian assault on Ukrainian cities, announcing that his country’s defence forces recorded thousands of attacks using a variety of different weapons.
“Over the course of this week, Russia launched almost 1,100 attack drones against Ukraine, more than 890 guided aerial bombs, and over 50 missiles of various types – ballistic, cruise, and even the Oreshnik medium-range ballistic missile.”
The Ukrainian leader thanked all units responsible for protecting the country and responding to attacks, and praised their tireless efforts and resilience.
He also called on allies to ensure his embattled country maintains “stable support”, in defence and diplomatic fields as coordinated dialogue efforts continue in search of peace.
Meanwhile, Russia says that one person was killed in Ukrainian strikes on the western city of Voronezh. Officials say a young woman succumbed to her wounds at an intensive care unit of a local hospital after debris from a drone fell on her house during Saturday’s attacks.
They added that at least three others were injured in the attacks which targeted more than 10 residential apartment buildings, private homes and a high school.
The city of Voronezh lies just 250 kilometres from the Ukrainian border and is home to approximately one million people. The attacks, which Kyiv have yet to confirm, came after the Kremlin’s major offensive on Ukraine in the early hours of Saturday.
Additional sources • AP
-
Detroit, MI1 week ago2 hospitalized after shooting on Lodge Freeway in Detroit
-
Technology5 days agoPower bank feature creep is out of control
-
Dallas, TX3 days agoAnti-ICE protest outside Dallas City Hall follows deadly shooting in Minneapolis
-
Delaware3 days agoMERR responds to dead humpback whale washed up near Bethany Beach
-
Dallas, TX7 days agoDefensive coordinator candidates who could improve Cowboys’ brutal secondary in 2026
-
Iowa5 days agoPat McAfee praises Audi Crooks, plays hype song for Iowa State star
-
Health1 week agoViral New Year reset routine is helping people adopt healthier habits
-
Montana1 day agoService door of Crans-Montana bar where 40 died in fire was locked from inside, owner says