Accountability for the Most Serious Crimes Committed in Syria
Handa Center Annual Lecture on International Justice: The IIIM’s Role in Promoting Accountability for the Most Serious Crimes Committed in Syria Since March 2011 Featuring Catherine Marchi-Uhel, Head of IIIM
Catherine Marchi-Uhel, the Head of the International, Independent and Impartial Mechanism to assist in the Investigation and Prosecution of Those Responsible for the Most Serious Crimes under International Law Committed in the Syrian Arab Republic since March 2011 (IIIM) will speak about the unique nature of the IIIM’s mandate. She will then share the main features of the vision the IIIM developed to bridge the gap between human rights fact-finding and criminal justice processes and explain how this vision is being tested and refined though engagement with key stakeholders, including national jurisdictions. She will then describe the specific steps taken to date by the IIIM to implement its mandate. Finally, she will address how the key challenges the IIIM is facing are informing the development of its strategies.
Ms. Marchi-Uhel is the first Head of the International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism on Syria established by the General Assembly on 21 December 2016. She brings to the position more than 27 years of experience in the judiciary and in public service — including with the United Nations — in the fields of criminal law, transitional justice and human rights. Since 2015, she has been the Ombudsperson for the Security Council Committee pursuant to resolutions 1267 (1999), 1989 (2011) and 2253 (2015) concerning Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Da’esh), Al-Qaida and associated individuals, groups, undertakings and entities. Previously a judge in France, Ms. Marchi-Uhel served in the same capacity with the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo and the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia. She was Senior Legal Officer and Head of Chambers at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and also held legal positions in France’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and with United Nations peacekeeping missions. Ms. Marchi-Uhel holds a Master’s degree in law from the University of Caen.