Today the Syrian British Consortium’s Investigations Team joined a coalition of 53 Syrian, Yezidi, American, and international civil society organisations and individuals in issuing an open letter urging the U.S. Department of Justice to direct funds held in the landmark criminal case against Lafarge S.A. and its Syrian subsidiary to benefit victims and survivors of serious international law violations in Syria. Victims and survivors from Syria continue to suffer the impacts of past and ongoing violations committed over the course of the thirteen-year crisis and conflict, including medical, psychological, and economic harms resulting from war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The letter sets out potential pathways for disbursing the Lafarge funds to benefit the underlying victims and survivors, including through the establishment of an intergovernmental fund that would pool and disburse the U.S. and other countries’ forfeiture orders, monetary judgments, damages, fines, and penalties linked to international law violations in the conflict in Syria, as recently recommended by the European Parliament.
Read the full letter here.
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