Is The Syrian Regime Committing Crimes Against Humanity?

Geoffrey Robertson:

The [Syrian] regime’s actions do not attract the duty to intervene to stop genocide, as the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood has claimed, because they are directed against political dissidents, not opponents exterminated on account of their race or ethnicity.

However, a persistent brutal crackdown on a protest movement does amount to a crime against humanity, contrary to Article 7 of the ICC Treaty, if multiple acts of murder or persecution are committed, pursuant to state policy, ‘’as part of a widespread or systematic attack against any civilian population’’. The deliberate decision to use tanks, machine-guns and snipers against unarmed crowds, repeatedly over seven weeks, is clear evidence of the commission of exactly such a crime.

The last thing on the Syrian regime’s mind now is the remote possibility of international legal action. In fact, the harder the regime cracks down and maintains control on the country, the more difficult it will be to prosecute anyone from that regime. This leads to a paradoxical situation: Threats of legal action will actually incentivize the regime to crack down even harder on its opponent, not, as those who threaten legal action wish, relax its clenched fist..