Summary: Center for Justice and Accountability files lawsuit against Bashar al-Assad for murder of journalist Marie Colvin

11th July 2016: SRT grantee the Center for Justice and Accountability (CJA) and pro bono co-counsel Shearman & Sterling LLP have filed a lawsuit in a US court against the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for the murder of American journalist Marie Colvin. A veteran reporter for the UK Sunday Times, Colvin was killed by Syrian artillery while covering the siege of the city of Homs. CJA’s investigation has uncovered evidence suggesting she was deliberately targeted by the Assad regime.

Colvin travelled to Syria in February 2012 to cover the Assad regime’s siege of opposition neighbourhoods. Hours after her last broadcast, Syrian officials launched a targeted rocket attack on the media centre in Homs, killing Colvin and French photographer Rémi Ochlik. The attack wounded British photographer Paul Conroy, Syrian interpreter Wael al-Omar, and French journalist Edith Bouvier.

CJA and Shearman & Sterling have filed a lawsuit in the US District Court for the District of Columbia against the Syrian government, on behalf of Marie’s surviving family members-including her sister, Cathleen Colvin, and her niece, Justine Araya-Colvin. Cathleen Colvin said, “This case is about carrying on Marie’s work. We are seeking truth and justice not just for her, but for thousands of innocent Syrians tortured or killed under the Assad dictatorship. We hope our case will clear a path to bring those responsible to justice.”

Full coverage from CJA’s website: http://cja.org/what-we-do/litigation/colvin-v-syria