Borders on trial. 3 years of war in Ukraine. Voices from Syria.

We refuse to leave our world in the hands of demagogues, dictators and those who despise democracy

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BORDERS ON TRIAL. THREE YEARS OF WAR IN UKRAINE. VOICES FROM SYRIA.

February 2025 | NEWSLETTER 102

What is this world becoming? Worse or better? We are living in a time when we cannot yet make a definitive judgment. Right now, in the midst of what appears to be a growing darkness, we are also witnessing events of epochal significance – such as in Syria, where a bloody regime has collapsed after more than 50 years.

In these times of great searching, human rights and the progressive application of the law provide a good compass on our journey into the uncharted. History teaches us that without enshrined rights, other principles have no substance – without human rights, humanism and solidarity live only in the imagination. These rights are universal; they apply everywhere.

At ECCHR, we try to navigate a crisis-ridden world with these values – along with legal acumen, a sober eye, and solidarity with the disenfranchised of these times. We do not overestimate ourselves. We do not always win in court, but we persevere and refuse to leave our world in the hands of demagogues, dictators and those who despise democracy.

In the words of Samuel Beckett: “Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.”

Miriam Saage-Maaß at the annual kick-off meeting at ECCHR, January 2025.

The ECCHR Team

Every year on 6 February, relatives and friends remember the people who fell victim to Europe's deadly border regime. This picture was taken in Toulouse in 2024. © Alarmphone / Laure

Human rights do not require a passport

What is termed illegal at borders no longer has much to do with the law – but everything to do with political opportunism. In a race for votes, policies and practices which trample over national, EU and international law are being re-packaged as legal, while people arriving at borders are willfully labeled as illegal. Not only does Germany’s outgoing chancellor boast about the numbers of people turned away from entering Germany (including asylum seekers), but the possible future chancellor has styled his whole campaign around a push for permanent border controls and even stricter migration control, relying on the support of far-right votes in parliament to do this. However, the law is clear on this point: it prohibits states from automatically turning away asylum seekers at their borders.

The term “illegal migration” suggests it is grounded in the law, but it is not. It is a political term which criminalizes situations where people enter a state without the necessary passport, visa or documentation. However, the undocumented nature of travel does not strip people of their rights. In fact, the law foresees exactly this pathway, where asylum can only be applied for once one enters a state’s territory. States' obligations at the border are clarified by the Refugee Convention, EU law, the European Convention of Human Rights, as well as in our constitutions and national laws. European states have the duty to provide individual processes and access to legal procedures, and protect people from ill-treatment, arbitrary detention and pushbacks.

The use of the term “illegal” seeks to deny these obligations. Historically – just like today – ruling parties calling targeted groups “illegal” has accompanied the greatest atrocities committed in human history. For this reason, international human rights and EU institutions have consistently opposed the use of the term.

Read our Q&A on automatic removals at EU internal borders (only available in German)

Read “Chronicles of Blackness: Surviving the Shadows of Libya and Europe”, an essay by our partner Refugees in Libya

The same rights for everyone

Even at Europe's external borders! Nevertheless, refugees are forcibly pushed back every day, often without the chance to apply for asylum. With those affected, we contest the illegal pushbacks, detention and violence of the European border regime in court.

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INTERNATIONAL CRIMES AND ACCOUNTABILITY

Italy defies justice: ICC warrant for Libyan officer ignored

Libyan head of judicial police Osama Elmasry Njeem is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for murder, torture, rape and other crimes against humanity and war crimes. After an ICC warrant was issued for his arrest on 18 January, he was apprehended in Turin, Italy. Yet, only a few hours later, the Italian government freed him and flew him out of the country in a blatant act of disregard for international law. Failure to execute ICC arrest warrants by state parties in Europe is a worrying trend that threatens to undermine international criminal justice. This case is yet another example of the cooperative ties between Libyan and European officials. ECCHR’s 2022 submission to the ICC presented evidence of European responsibility for crimes against humanity against migrants and refugees in Libya and the Mediterranean, pointing to clear indications of a joint criminal plan by Libyan and European actors to contain migrants in Libya.

In a joint letter with other human rights organizations, ECCHR calls on the Italian government to clarify these events.

More about our work on Libya here and here

Ukraine war enters 4th year amid geopolitical uncertainties

The 24th of February marks three years since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine – three long years of unrelenting air strikes, sustained destruction and calculated terror. The atrocities committed by Russian troops in Mariupol, Bucha and Irpin are singed into memory, even if these cities are but a few examples of the war’s many theaters of injustice.

With the start of the second Trump presidency, the threat of a “sham peace” is now on the horizon. Populist parties in Europe that call for an end to warmongering typically do not mean the fascist Russian war machine but, rather, the defense of Ukraine. Clearly, there is nothing the people of Ukraine want more than peace. But peace without freedom, security and justice – which Ukrainian civil society has pushed for tirelessly and courageously since 2014 – is not worthy of the name. Amid all uncertainty, our work with Ukrainian NGOs to support those affected continues.

More about our work on Ukraine

Genocide in Gaza: Time to open German discourse

Time and again during Israel’s recent military campaign in Gaza, intense political discourse has impeded a sober acknowledgment of the facts on the ground. Efforts to legally analyze the situation receive significant political pushback and sweeping allegations of antisemitism. This response has been particularly strong in Germany, where the political concept of “Staatsräson” colors current perceptions of Israel’s actions in Gaza.

Genocide is a legal category that necessitates stringent investigation and assessment in light of defined legal criteria. If those criteria are not met, then a finding of genocide will not be made under international law. Yet, as the South African case before the International Court of Justice has laid bare, there are undeniable indicators of a potential genocide committed by Israeli forces against the Palestinians in Gaza. As the facts receive their due scrutiny, it is essential that German society genuinely engages with the possibility that Israel could ultimately be found guilty of this crime – a category of crime that came into being in response to the horrors of the Nazi regime.

Read Wolfgang Kaleck’s essay

Read our Q&A “Gaza and the matter of genocide”

Listen to the podcast “Genocide allegations against Israel” with Alexander Schwarz (only available in German)

Joumana Seif's legal practice in Damascus under 12 years of dust. The offices of human rights defenders in Syria are now open again. © Joumana Seif

Returning to Syria after 12 years in exile

At the end of December, human rights lawyer and ECCHR advisor Joumana Seif was able to return to Syria for the first time after 12 years in exile. In her first “Letter from Damascus,” she gives an account of everyday life after the fall of Assad, the discussion-filled evenings of those who recently returned to the city, forms of transitional justice, and the challenges the country is now facing.

Syrian civil society and the international community are now discussing what a legal reckoning with 54 years of dictatorship and 13 years of civil war could look like. All agree on one point: the Syrians themselves must decide on the process which best suits them, since it was Syrian activists, lawyers and – most importantly – survivors and those affected, who fought tirelessly for change during the past 13 years.

ECCHR seeks to accompany them on their journey toward justice and coming to terms with past crimes, as well as provide support where it is deemed useful. In Germany, in Europe, and on the ground in Syria.

Read Joumana Seif’s “Letter from Damascus”

If you don't want to miss out on the next letter, click here

“Universal Jurisdiction in Practice” – An ECCHR guide

As part of our work within the Global Initiative Against Impunity, ECCHR recently launched a "Universal Jurisdiction in Practice" video series, to help local and grassroots organizations gain access to essential knowledge about international justice. The videos offer a clear guide on how to bring universal jurisdiction cases before the courts of another country.

More information here

FOR GLOBAL JUSTICE

The world can only be just when human rights are universally recognized and guaranteed for everyone. This is what we are fighting for across the globe:
with those affected, with partners, with legal means.
Thank you for helping us in our efforts to make this happen.

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BUSINESS AND HUMAN RIGHTS

Delayed court decisions will not delay the climate crisis

Two years ago, residents of the Indonesian island Pari filed a lawsuit against the Swiss cement company Holcim, demanding climate justice for the company’s outsized CO2 emissions. But thus far, at Holcim’s behest, only procedural matters in the case have been addressed. The company’s attempt to delay a court ruling clearly shows that time is on their side. The climate crisis, on the other hand, marches onward, granting no respite to communities like Pari that are forced to bear the consequences: in this case, drastic degradation of the island’s ecosystems and fish stocks, on top of an existential loss of territorial land-mass to rising sea levels. For Pari residents, climate change is not a forthcoming disaster to be reckoned with in the future, but a crisis unfolding before their eyes. Climate justice cannot be just if it comes too late.

More about the case

BORDER JUSTICE

Survivor files complaint after deadly Spanish border operation

Over a decade after the deadly border operation at El Tarajal beach in the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, survivors and families of the victims continue to seek justice. Now living and studying in Canada, Brice O. has finally been able to file a complaint with the UN Committee Against Torture with the support of ECCHR and Iridia, Center for the Defence of Human Rights. The complaint challenges Spain’s failure to investigate its use of anti-riot material on 6 February 2014, which caused him permanent loss of sight in one eye. At least 14 died and countless were injured or disappeared on that day at the border between Morocco and Ceuta on the beach of El Tarajal.

Watch video

More about the case

EVENTS

Too late again: War crimes and the fight for justice

As part of the convention “Living humanity – On war crimes, universal rights and the future of justice,” organized by the Federal Agency for Civic Education, Wolfgang Kaleck, ECCHR will participate in this panel discussion on the lack of effective initiatives by major international organizations to put a stop to war crimes in real time.

18 – 19 February, 6:00 pm, Justizpalast Saal 600, Bärenschanzstraße 72, Nuremberg

Watch livestream

More info

Understanding Prison – MENA Prison Forum in Berlin #2

“From Abu Ghraib to Sednaya: A discussion about prisons and accountability in the MENA-Region”

Even before the fall of the Assad regime, the investigation and prosecution of human rights crimes in Syrian prisons was being discussed internationally. ECCHR has also been working intensively for over 10 years to prosecute the perpetrators. Wolfgang Kaleck and Katja Maurer (medico international) look back at these efforts and address the upcoming process of coming to terms with crimes in Syria.

25 February, 7:00pm, HAU1, Hebbel am Ufer, Stresemann Str. 29, Berlin

More info

PAST EVENTS

Reviewing the ICC’s Jurisdiction over the Crime of Aggression: Addressing a Double Standard in International Law

As part of the 23rd Assembly of States Parties to the ICC, ECCHR and the Global Institute for the Prevention of Aggression organized a side event to identify ways to reform the Rome Statute with respect to the crime of aggression. Under the moderation of Isabelle Haßfurther, a panel of legal experts discussed the importance of expanding the ICC's jurisdiction to prosecute this crime to the same extent as the other core international crimes – genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

More info

On Justice #2: Authoritarian temptations: Using the law against the right?

The second event in the HAU “On Justice” series, in cooperation with ECCHR, focused on the possibility of using the law to take action against right-wing movements. The panelists addressed questions such as: What happens to the rule of law when fundamental rights enshrined in the constitution are pushed aside? And what does all this mean for those affected by right-wing violence and repression?

More info

Listen to recordings of the “On Justice” series here

PUBLICATIONS

Andreas Schüller

"If necessary, the German government must stop its support” (Only available in German)

LTO, 15 December 2025

Patrick Kroker

Look at these pictures (Only available in German)

Süddeutsche Zeitung, 18 December 2025

Joumana Seif

“A person who has no home cannot forgive” (Only available in German)

Tagesspiegel, 29 December 2025

Patrick Kroker

In Justice Efforts for Syria, “Universal Jurisdiction is not Disappearing”

OpinioJuris, 29 January 2025

Joumana Seif

“The tensions are still isolated cases”: Where Syria’s democratic future could fail (Only available in German)

Tagesspiegel, 29 January 2025

Helena Krüger

The al-Khatib Trial: International Law Judgement on State Torture in Syria

Dis:orient, 30 January 2025

Wolfgang Kaleck / Miriam Saage-Maaß /Andreas Schüller
Open letter to the Chancellor and Foreign Minister of the Federal Republic of Germany: Call to strengthen the International Criminal Court (ICC) (Only available in German)

7 February 2025

Wolfgang Kaleck (now open access)

Between colonial amnesia and coming to terms with German and European colonial crimes: The genocide of Herero, Nama and other Namibians in German Southwest Africa from 1904 – 1908 (Only available in German)

Book chapter in: The right to reparations: Germany’s handling of profound experiences of injustice in German history, S. 67 - 84, Valentin Aichele (Hrsg.), 2023