By Natasha Chabbra
The ongoing civil war in Syria has come at a great cost to the people of Syria who have been subjected to atrocities and violence. To date, there has been limited recourse for crimes against humanity committed by the Assad regime. This article assesses whether the International Criminal Court Pre-Trial Chamber statement of September 2018 that the Court may exercise jurisdiction over the alleged deportation of the Rohingya people from Myanmar to Bangladesh has created a precedent for jurisdiction over crimes committed at least partially in the territory of a State party by nationals of a State not party to the Statute. By comparing the legal elements of the crime of deportation as it has affected the Rohingya and Syrian populations, this article suggests that precedence could exist for the International Criminal Court to exercise its jurisdiction over responsible senior officials in Syria.
Keywords: International Criminal Court, Rohingya, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Syria, deportation, genocide, crimes against humanity, international criminal jurisdiction.
