New York, 29 April 2025 – ASG Robert Petit delivered his first briefing to the UN General Assembly as Head of the IIIM. He presented the IIIM’s eleventh report to the GA and updated on progress since the historic events in Syria on December 8 last year.
“The end of more than 13 years of conflict and 50 years of authoritarian rule constitute an opportunity to build a future Syria on justice and the rule of law”.
ASG Petit expressed his appreciation for the constructive dialogue with the Syrian interim authorities during visits to Damascus. He reiterated the IIIM’s readiness to support Syrian-led transitional justice efforts and that the request to be granted authorization to operate in Syria was part of ongoing discussions with officials.
The UNGA session was notable for the presence of Syria’s interim Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Asaad Al-Shaibani who welcomed the IIIM’s work as “a key component of accountability in Syria,” emphasizing that “without accountability, we are unable to prevent future conflict.” He also praised the General Assembly for establishing the IIIM.
“That mechanism has kept Syria and the Syrian people in the minds of the world’s peoples…You’ve condemned the Assad regime’s crimes and ensured that the world hasn’t turned its back on our people.”
ASG Petit highlighted several significant organizational developments and achievements including:
- The IIIM’s first visit to Syria on 21 December 2024, eight years to the day from its creation
- In 2024 alone, the IIIM conducted 154 collection activities, expanding its central repository to 280 terabytes of data
- To date the IIIM has received 466 requests for assistance from 16 jurisdictions related to 321 distinct investigations
- The IIIM has directly contributed to successful justice developments, including landmark convictions for crimes against humanity, war crimes, and genocide across multiple jurisdictions
- The IIIM publicly released for the first time a redacted version of a comprehensive report on the former regime’s detention system, documenting patterns of torture across more than 100 government facilities
ASG Petit noted that the IIIM’s regular budget had not increased since 2020 despite an increase in demand for its assistance. The Mechanism’s now faces a funding gap of $7.5 million for 2025, which he emphasized could grow as “once we better understand the situation in Syria and have clarity on the extent to which we can conduct operations there”. He called for sustainable funding to meet rising demands and the new opportunities now emerging.
The majority of Member States gave strong statements of support for the IIIM, and the progress made by the organization to fulfill its mandate, specifically commended:
- The mechanism’s evidence collection and preservation work
- Its role in supporting investigations and prosecutions across multiple jurisdictions
- Its victim/survivor-centered approach, commitment to inclusive justice and effective engagement with civil society
- The coordination with other UN bodies including the Commission of Inquiry and the Independent Institution on Missing Persons
Many also called increased funding to meet rising demands and the new opportunities now emerging. The IIIM is deeply grateful for the contributions and pledges from Austria, Czech Republic, the European Union, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Qatar, Spain, Switzerland, and the USA.
In his remarks ASG Petit recognized Syrian civil society for its indispensable role in documenting and sharing evidence of crimes and violations. “At the heart of each document, each testimony, each analysis,” he noted, “are people – many lost, many who have survived – each with a right to justice.”
Watch the full briefing here
Read the IIIM’s briefing here
IIIM to Scale Down Support to Investigations Due to Funding Shortfall
The International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism (IIIM) is experiencing a significant budget shortfall this year which may hamper its work. The IIIM was established by the United Nationals General Assembly in December 2016 with the mission to assist in the investigation and prosecution of persons responsible for core international crimes committed in Syria since 2011. So far, it has provided assistance to 185 investigations worldwide.
Read the full article here.
IIIM Head presents tenth report to the General Assembly
New York, April 24th – In her final oral presentation to the General Assembly before stepping down as the Head of the International, Impartial, and Independent Mechanism for Syria (IIIM), Catherine Marchi-Uhel delivered a comprehensive report. Ms. Uhel highlighted the IIIM’s significant contributions to justice in Syria, detailing numerous concrete achievements.
During the presentation, she updated on the IIIM’s progress across its three main lines of inquiry. Ms. Uhel also expressed concerns regarding the financial challenges facing the IIIM, underscoring the urgent need for increased funding to maintain effective support for relevant jurisdictions.
You can read the speech here.
We invite you to watch the oral report and read Member States’ remarks.
Secretary-General appoints Mr. Robert Petit of Canada to Head the IIIM
New York, 22 March 2024 – United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced today the appointment of Robert Petit of Canada as Head of the International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism to Assist in the Investigation and Prosecution of Persons Responsible for the Most Serious Crimes under International Law Committed in the Syrian Arab Republic since March 2011.
Mr. Petit will succeed Catherine Marchi-Uhel of France, who was appointed as the first Head of the International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism in 2017. The Secretary-General expresses his gratitude to Ms. Marchi-Uhel for her dedicated service to the Mechanism and to the United Nations more broadly, as well as for her contributions to the advancement of international criminal justice.
Mr. Petit brings to the position 35 years of criminal justice experience in both national and international settings. Since 2017, he has been the senior United Nations official to lead the United Nations Follow-On Mechanism on the Democratic Republic of the Congo in relation to the murders of two members of the Group of Experts in March 2017. Mr. Petit also served as Senior Counsel and Team Leader in the Crimes against Humanity and War Crimes Section of Justice Canada.
Previously a Crown Attorney in Canada, Mr. Petit has held various international senior prosecutorial positions, including as International Co-Prosecutor of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, Senior Trial Attorney at the Special Court for Sierra Leone, and Prosecutor of the Serious Crimes Unit, United Nations Mission in East Timor.
Mr. Petit holds an Advanced University Law Degree from the University of Montreal, Canada, as well as a Bachelor of Arts in History from the same university. He is fluent in English and French.
IIIM urges for sustained financing to preserve its impact
Brussels, June 15 – During the seventh edition of the EU’s Brussels Conference on the future of Syria, Catherine Marchi-Uhel, the Head of the IIIM, called for Member States to reinforce their support for the IIIM’s work.
In her remarks at the Ministerial Day of the conference, Ms. Marchi-Uhel highlighted the welcome rise in jurisdictions prosecuting core international crimes, with the IIIM providing support for 143 separate investigations across 15 such competent jurisdictions. She expressed gratitude to Member States for enabling this work through their voluntary contributions, but also indicated a critical trend: with requests for assistance to the IIIM tripling annually since 2018, the organization’s capability to continue to respond to the incoming number of requests, while also engaging in proactive substantive work to anticipate the needs of competent jurisdictions, is at risk without a proportional increase in funding.
“If we are to maintain the pace, volume, and quality of our support to jurisdictions and our two-way engagement with our many civil society partners, victims and survivors, additional voluntary contributions are necessary,” said Ms. Marchi-Uhel
She specifically called for “predictable, multi-year funding commitments” to ensure the sustainability of the IIIM’s successful justice facilitation approach, and that its expertise and mission is not compromised.
You can read Ms. Marchi-Uhel’s full remarks as delivered here.
IIIM’s 9th annual report presented to the UN General Assembly
New York, April 25th – The Head of the IIIM, Catherine Marchi-Uhel, gave an oral presentation of our 9th annual report to the UN General Assembly. The presentation updated on the progress of the IIIM’s work and achievements as a justice facilitator over the past year.
During the presentation, Ms. Marchi-Uhel, highlighted the tangible contributions the IIIM had made to promote inclusive justice referencing recent cases where our assistance supported the work of national jurisdictions.
We express gratitude to Member States for their ongoing support and also to Syrian Civil Society, particularly victim/survivor association, for their continued engagement, which is invaluable to the development of the IIIM’s work.
We invite you to watch the oral report and read Member States’ remarks in the link below.
You can read Ms. Marchi-Uhel’s full remarks as delivered here.
Head of IIIM’s remarks at the Brussels VI Conference
In the course of the Brussels VI Conference on Supporting the Future of Syria and the Region (9-10 May 2022), Head of IIIM Catherine Marchi-Uhel delivered a speech delineating the support provided by IIIM to justice actors.
The text of the speech can be accessed through this link.
The video of the speech can be accessed through this link.
Head of IIIM’s speech at the Brussels VI side event
In the course of the side event “Moving Forward on Truth and Justice: Addressing the crisis of missing persons and detention in Syria”, Head of IIIM Catherine Marchi-Uhel delivered a speech on the intersection between criminal accountability and the search for missing persons.
The side event was held on May 6th, 2022, on the margins of the Brussels VI Conference on Supporting the Future of Syria and the Region.
The text of the speech can be accessed through this link.
IIIM Head presents eighth report to the General Assembly
Text of the address by Catherine Marchi-Uhel, the Head of the IIIM, presenting the IIIM’s 8th report to the UN General Assembly on April 1, 2022. Ms. Marchi-Uhel gave the oral report, at the 65th plenary meeting in New York, under the agenda item “Prevention of Armed Conflict” and was followed by a debate of Member States.
The text of the address can be accessed through this link.
The records of the meeting and the UN summary can be accessed through this link.
Read member states’ remarks here.
United Nations Security Council Arria-formula meeting on accountability in the Syrian Arab Republic
Head of the IIIM briefs the UN Security Council Arria Formula. Sponsored by Council members, Estonia, France, United Kingdom and the United States, with additional co-sponsors Belgium, Canada, Germany, Georgia, Liechtenstein, the Netherlands, Qatar, Sweden and Turkey. On the need for increased efforts by the Council to establish full accountability for the most serious international crimes committed in the Syrian Arab Republic.
For the concept note of this event, click here.
To watch the event’s video, click here.