Syria Justice and Accountability Centre

The Syria Justice and Accountability Centre (SJAC) is a nonprofit justice, legal documentation, and human-rights organization focused on violations committed during the Syrian conflict. It was established in 2012 by Friends of the Syrian People with the stated purpose of preserving evidence and building a centralized source of information that could support future accountability processes. Rather than operating as a commercial brand, SJAC functions as a specialist civil-society organization whose work combines field documentation, legal analysis, evidence preservation, training, and public reporting. SJAC documents alleged abuses attributed to a range of actors, including the Syrian government, opposition forces, ISIS, and foreign actors. Its work covers war crimes, crimes against humanity, enforced disappearance, unlawful detention, torture, attacks on civilians, and other human-rights violations. The organization maintains staff and analysts in the United States and Europe, while documenters and partner teams work in and around Syria and in neighboring countries. Its activities also involve collaboration with justice organizations, researchers, human-rights groups, and international accountability mechanisms. A major part of SJAC’s work is the collection and preservation of evidence. The organization has preserved thousands of Syrian government documents recovered from former intelligence offices in Raqqa and Homs. These materials reportedly include records concerning surveillance, torture, detention, and authorization for security forces to use force against peaceful protests during the early stages of the Syrian uprising. SJAC has argued that such documents may help establish responsibility for international crimes, although their use in criminal proceedings requires further legal and evidentiary assessment. The organization also works on missing-persons cases and mass graves. Its teams and responders in Syria help exhume and investigate mass graves, record information about human remains, and gather evidence relating to people who disappeared during the conflict. SJAC has worked with the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team to provide training on the careful recovery, examination, and documentation of remains. Related training is offered in Arabic through in-person and virtual materials, including videos, fact sheets, and quizzes intended to improve the collection of evidence concerning disappearances and other crimes. SJAC maintains a legal and analytical presence in European accountability proceedings. Its team in Germany has monitored trials involving individuals accused of crimes connected to Syria, including the proceedings against Anwar Raslan and Eyad Al-Gharib, as well as the case involving a Syrian doctor identified as Alaa M. Eyad Al-Gharib received a four-and-a-half-year prison sentence for knowingly transporting detainees to locations where they were subjected to systematic torture and abuse. Trial monitoring enables SJAC to explain proceedings, preserve institutional knowledge, and connect courtroom developments with wider documentation efforts. The organization also publishes reports, articles, and analysis on transitional justice, international law, refugee protection, war crimes, human-rights abuses, and international responses to Syria. In January 2021, SJAC submitted a communication to the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court concerning alleged crimes against Syrian refugees attempting to cross into Greece. The filing followed accusations that Frontex and other actors had endangered migrants or pushed boats away from Greek territorial waters. The communication was subject to review by the ICC and did not itself constitute a decision to open a full investigation. Technology is another component of SJAC’s model. In 2014, it developed Bayanat, a relational database designed to organize large quantities of open-source digital information concerning violations in Syria. The system reportedly contains more than 1.8 million data points and was made publicly available through GitHub in December 2020. SJAC shares relevant information with the International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism and other justice actors that use documentation of violations. Overall, SJAC’s positioning is that of an evidence-centered accountability institution: it seeks to turn dispersed testimony, documents, digital material, forensic information, and trial observations into structured resources for truth-seeking and criminal justice.

The Syria Justice and Accountability Centre emerged in 2012, during the early period of the Syrian uprising and the conflict that followed. It was initiated by Friends of the Syrian People, which sought to prevent the loss of records and testimony and to create a centralized basis for documenting abuses. The organization’s founding purpose reflected a concern that evidence produced during a rapidly changing conflict could be destroyed, dispersed, or rendered unusable unless collected and preserved systematically. SJAC developed as a Washington, D.C.–based organization with staff and analysts in the United States and Europe and field-oriented documenters working through Syria and neighboring countries. Its documentation scope has included alleged violations by the Syrian government, opposition groups, ISIS, and foreign actors. This broad attribution model has allowed SJAC to approach the conflict through an accountability framework rather than limiting its work to a single political faction. Over time, SJAC expanded beyond basic incident recording. Its programs came to include witness statements, the preservation of government records, research on transitional justice, legal analysis, monitoring of war-crimes trials, training for people documenting disappearances, and work connected to mass graves. The organization has reported preserving 5,003 documents recovered from former Syrian intelligence facilities in Raqqa and Homs. The records reportedly contain information about surveillance, detention, torture, and government responses to protests during the early conflict. SJAC has presented these materials as potentially important for future investigations, while recognizing that additional analysis and legal procedures would be required before they could support prosecutions. The organization’s missing-persons work developed around teams and responders in Syria who investigate mass graves and collect information about people who disappeared. Cooperation with the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team supported training in the recovery, examination, and recording of human remains. SJAC also created Arabic-language instructional materials for people involved in evidence collection, using online and in-person formats to address the practical problems of documenting forced disappearance and other crimes in an active or recently active conflict environment. SJAC increasingly connected its documentation to courts and international legal institutions. Its Germany-based legal team has monitored universal-jurisdiction proceedings involving Syrian suspects. Among the cases it followed was that of Eyad Al-Gharib, who was sentenced to four and a half years in prison for his role in transporting detainees to sites where they faced systematic torture and abuse. SJAC has also monitored proceedings involving Anwar Raslan and a Syrian doctor identified as Alaa M. Trial reporting became a way to make complex proceedings accessible and to preserve information about how national courts process Syrian international-crimes cases. Technology became a further element of the organization’s evidence infrastructure. SJAC developed Bayanat in 2014 as a relational database for organizing open-source digital information about violations. The system reportedly grew to contain over 1.8 million pieces of data. Public release through GitHub in December 2020 made part of the project accessible to outside users, while SJAC has also shared data with the International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism and other accountability bodies. SJAC’s analytical output has covered war crimes, human-rights abuses, refugees, international law, transitional justice, and international policy toward Syria. In January 2021, it submitted a communication to the International Criminal Court concerning alleged crimes against Syrian refugees attempting to cross into Greece, including allegations related to dangerous maritime pushbacks. The communication was presented for prosecutorial review and was not itself a determination that an ICC investigation would proceed. Today, SJAC is best understood as a specialized nonprofit accountability institution rather than a conventional consumer-facing brand. Its continuing model combines field evidence, digital organization, forensic documentation, legal monitoring, training, and public research. The organization’s principal contribution is to preserve and structure information that may assist truth-seeking, criminal accountability, missing-persons investigations, and future transitional-justice processes concerning Syria.

• 2021

  ICC communication submitted

  [1]Syria Justice and Accountability Centreen.wikipedia.org

  SJAC submitted a communication to the ICC Prosecutor concerning alleged crimes against Syrian refugees attempting to cross into Greece.

• 2020

  Bayanat released publicly

  [1]Syria Justice and Accountability Centreen.wikipedia.org

  SJAC made Bayanat publicly available through GitHub and continued sharing relevant information with international and other justice mechanisms.

• 2014

  Bayanat developed

  [1]Syria Justice and Accountability Centreen.wikipedia.org

  SJAC developed Bayanat, a relational database intended to organize large volumes of open-source information about violations in Syria.

• 2012

  Organization established

  [1]Syria Justice and Accountability Centreen.wikipedia.org

  Friends of the Syrian People established SJAC to preserve documentation of the Syrian conflict and build a centralized resource for evidence and accountability work.

An evidence-focused Syrian justice and accountability organization that links field documentation, digital data management, forensic practice, legal analysis, and international criminal proceedings.

• Evidence and data-management platform · 2014

  Bayanat

  Bayanat is a relational database created by SJAC to sort and organize open-source digital information concerning human-rights violations in Syria. Developed in 2014, it reportedly grew to contain more than 1.8 million pieces of data. SJAC made the platform publicly available through GitHub in December 2020 and shares relevant information with international and other justice mechanisms.

• Legal documentation and research

  Trial monitoring

  SJAC’s legal team monitors proceedings involving people accused of crimes connected to the Syrian conflict, particularly cases heard in Germany under universal-jurisdiction principles. The work records courtroom developments, explains legal issues, and connects individual trials with wider documentation and accountability efforts.

• Forensic and human-rights documentation

  Missing-persons and mass-grave documentation

  SJAC works with responders and field teams in Syria to investigate mass graves, recover and document human remains, and collect information about people missing during the conflict. Its work has included cooperation with the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team on training and forensic practices.

• Professional training

  Documentation training

  SJAC provides Arabic-language training for people documenting forced disappearances, mass graves, and other crimes. Materials include videos, fact sheets, quizzes, and instruction delivered in person or virtually, with an emphasis on accurate and usable evidence collection.

• Archival and evidence preservation

  Government document preservation

  SJAC preserves and analyzes Syrian government records recovered from former intelligence offices. The organization has reported preserving 5,003 documents that include information about surveillance, torture, detention, and official responses to protests during the early stages of the conflict.

• 2021

  Communication to the International Criminal CourtOther

  Background

  SJAC reported allegations that Syrian refugees attempting to cross into Greece had been exposed to dangerous maritime pushbacks and other conduct potentially implicating international law.

  Action taken

  SJAC filed a communication with the Office of the ICC Prosecutor requesting consideration of the alleged conduct.

  Aftermath

  The communication entered prosecutorial review; the material did not establish that the ICC had opened a full investigation.

  Source

• 2020

  Public release of BayanatProduct launch

  Background

  SJAC had developed Bayanat to manage extensive open-source documentation of violations in Syria and to support evidence sharing with justice mechanisms.

  Action taken

  The organization made the database publicly available through GitHub while continuing to share relevant information with accountability institutions.

  Aftermath

  The release increased public access to SJAC’s data-management work and reinforced its role as an evidence-infrastructure organization.

  Source

1. 1Syria Justice and Accountability Centreen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Syria Justice and Accountability Centre official websitesyriaaccountability.org