The Middle East Institute (MEI) is pleased to host a joint panel with the Pro-Justice to launch the new book, Blacklist: Violations Committed by the Most Prominent Syrian Regime Figures and How to Bring Them to Justice.
Blacklist identifies and provides detailed information on nearly 100 individuals accused of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in Syria over the past eight years. The book also sheds light on the crimes themselves and outlines potential political and judicial avenues available to bring the perpetrators to justice.
A panel of experts will delve into prospects for promoting transitional justice and accountability in Syria as part of any post-conflict scenario.
Co-Sponsor:
The Middle East Institute (MEI) is pleased to sponsor this event in conjunction with Pro-Justice.
Speaker Biographies:
Anne Barnard is a New York Times journalist who covers climate and environment for the Metro desk. She was Beirut bureau chief from 2012 to 2018. She joined The Times in 2007 after covering the Middle East and the Iraq war for The Boston Globe. Earlier this year, Barnard authored Inside Syria’s Secret Torture Prisons: How Bashar al-Assad Crushed Dissent, a detailed report on the Syrian government’s sprawling system of secret prisons, through which hundreds of thousands of people have passed since the Syrian uprising began in 2011.
Wael Sawah is the president and director of Pro-Justice. He is also the former executive director of The Syrian Centre for Media and Freedom of Expression and editor-in-chief of The Syrian Observer. Sawah has authored a number of research papers and books on Syrian civil society issues in both Arabic and English. Sawah is a member of the Annual Middle East Legal Studies Seminar at Yale University, former Director for the Day After Association, a founding member of the Arab Rationalists League, based in Paris, and editor of the website Al-Awan.
Charles Lister is a senior fellow and director of the Countering Terrorism and Extremism program at the Middle East Institute. His work focuses primarily on the conflict in Syria, including as a member of the MEI-convened Syria Study Group; and on issues of terrorism and insurgency across the Levant. Prior to this, Lister was a visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution in Qatar and a senior consultant to the multinationally-backed Syria Track II Dialogue Initiative, where he managed nearly three years of intensive face-to-face engagement with the leaderships of over 100 Syrian armed opposition groups. Lister is a frequent source of briefings on the Syrian insurgency to political, military and intelligence leaderships in the United States and across Europe and the Middle East.
Joyce Karam (moderator) is the Washington Correspondent for The National, a leading English daily based in Abu Dhabi, and an adjunct professor at George Washington University, school of Political Science. She is a native of Lebanon and has covered US politics and American foreign policy in the Middle East since 2004. Joyce has interviewed regional decision-makers, former US presidents and vice presidents including George W Bush and Joseph Biden. Prior to covering the US, Joyce worked as a Journalist in Lebanon covering the post-war period. She holds a BA in Journalism and a Masters in International Peace and Conflict Resolution.
Photo Courtesy of Anadolu Agency via Getty Images