Accountability Pursuits in the Syrian Context: an r2p Success?

Abstract The Syrian conflict witnessed the emergence of novel mechanisms and approaches to advance accountability for international crimes committed, including the establishment of the International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism on Syria, the issuing of an arrest warrant against then-Syrian President al-Assad and others by France, a call for the establishment of a special international chemical weapons tribunal, and others. This article examines some of these accountability innovations, analysing both their significance as well as their shortcomings. It further discusses the wider implications, from an r2p perspective, of focusing international action on accountability initiatives in the context of the mass atrocity situation which was ongoing at the time.