In 8th November 2017 the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights, ECCHR, together with 13 Syrian men and women and the lawyers Anwar Al-Bunni and Mazen Darwish filed two criminal complaints to the German Federal Public Prosecutor addressing crimes against humanity and war crimes in Syria.

ECCHR in cooperation with SCLSR, SCM, Amnesty International Germany, and Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung, brought together torture survivors, activists and lawyers from Syria as well as researcher and investigators from the national and international level including Catherine Marchi-Uhel, Head of the UN International Impartial Independent Mechanism Investigating Serious Crimes in Syria. Together, they reflected on the ongoing and possible future efforts for accountability in Syria. One panel was lead by Syrians, who are at the heart of the criminal complaints in Germany against high ranking officials of the Assad government. The second discussion shed light on gaps in documentation and challenges of preserving evidence.