Time to refer war crimes to ICC-UN inquiry

United Nations investigators said yesterday that Syrian leaders they had identified as suspected war criminals should face the International Criminal Court (ICC). The investigators urged the UN Security Council to “act urgently to ensure accountability” for violations, including murder and torture, committed by both sides in a conflict that has killed an estimated 70,000 people since a revolt against President Bashar al-Assad began in March, 2011. “Now really it’s time...We have a permanent court, the International Criminal Court, who would be ready to take this case,” Carla del Ponte, a former ICC chief prosecutor who joined the U.N. team in September, told a news briefing in Geneva. The inquiry, led by Brazilian Paulo Pinheiro, is tracing the chain of command to establish criminal responsibility and build a case for eventual prosecution. “Of course we were able to identify high-level perpetrators,” del Ponte said, adding that these were people “in command responsibility...deciding, organising, planning and aiding and abetting the commission of crimes”. She said it was urgent for the Hague-based war crimes tribunal to take up cases of “very high officials”, but did not identify...