Brussels, 14/03/2012 (Agence Europe) - France has sent its human rights ambassador, François Zimeray, to neighbouring countries of Syria to gather evidence of atrocities committed by the Syrian regime for a dossier to be passed on to the International Criminal Court (ICC), diplomatic sources said on Wednesday 14 March. One diplomat explained to AFP that the aim is to gather tangible testimony that will prevent anyone brought before the court from being acquitted. Referral to the Court for the prosecution of those presumed guilty of genocide currently remains impossible. As Syria is not a member of the Court's founding treaty, only referral by the United Nations Security Council is possible, but, for now, this is hardly foreseeable due to the Russian and Chinese positions. Over 8,500 people are said to have died in the past year, according to the Syrian Human Rights Observatory.
Italy, for its part, decided on Wednesday, to suspend the activity of its Embassy in Damascus, and to bring home part of its personnel. It stated that, “partly as a result of the serious security conditions, together with our main European Union partners, we have decided to reiterate our strongest condemnation of the violence by the Syrian regime against its own citizens”. Spain, France and the United Kingdom have already closed down their embassies in Syria but no consensus has yet been reached at European level. (CG/transl.jl)