Can German Courts Bring Accountability for Torture in Syria?

An interesting article from "Lawfare" with insights on the crucial question where syrian perpetrators of war crimes and crimes against humanity can possibly be tried:

"Germany’s 2002 Code of Crimes Against International Law (CCAIL) (see here for unofficial English translation) incorporates the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court into German domestic law. CCAIL Section 1 provides German courts “pure” universal jurisdiction over the crimes enumerated in the code, which include genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. Germany, Sweden and Norway are the only European countries that recognize “pure” universal jurisdiction, meaning universal jurisdiction that requires no specific link to those countries in order for them to prosecute certain crimes, even if the crimes were committed outside those countries’ territories and neither the alleged perpetrator nor the victims are nationals of those countries nor present in those countries’ territories. This allows countries with “pure” universal jurisdiction to exercise jurisdiction over war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide even when there is no link between those countries and the crime. Investigations into these cases can even take place when the suspect is neither present in their territory nor a resident. Notably, Belgium and Spain once had statutes recognizing “pure” universal jurisdiction that their governments have since narrowed."

You can read the rest of the post via the below link: 

https://www.lawfareblog.com/can-german-courts-bring-accountability-torture-syria