Despite years of documentation of Russia’s targeted attacks on hospitals in Syria and the recent repetition in Ukraine, the international community has done little to deter the criminal practice of targeting healthcare in conflict, resulting in the continued deaths of health workers and civilians. Although this problem extends beyond Syria and Ukraine, there has been no prominent criminal prosecution of alleged perpetrators of such attacks in any conflict, no establishment of a UN mandate dedicated to this issue, and no task force created by national governments specifically aimed at prevention of and accountability for attacks on healthcare in conflict. The perpetrators of these attacks remain free and able to commit the same crimes with impunity in Ukraine and beyond.

The Atlantic Council’s Strategic Litigation Project and Eurasia Center invite you to a discussion about the well-documented pattern of Russian attacks on healthcare facilities in Syria and Ukraine, to explore legal and policy paths for preventing future attacks and advancing accountability measures. The discussion will be based on a new issue brief by the Strategic Litigation Project’s Gissou Nia and Elise Baker, entitled Attacks on Hospitals from Syria to Ukraine: Improving Prevention and Accountability Mechanisms. 

The discussion will be held via Zoom on Thursday, June 16, 2022 at 10:00 AM ET. The event is open to press and on-the-record.

Featuring

Carmen Cheung Ka-Man
Executive Director
Center for Justice and Accountability

Pavlo Kovtoniuk
Co-founder
Ukrainian Healthcare Center

Amany Qaddour
Regional Director
Syria Relief & Development

Len Rubenstein
Professor
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

Moderated by

Kareem Chehayeb
Beirut-based Journalist

Opening remarks by

Follow the conversation on Twitter with @ACMidEast and @ACEurasia using #ACStrategicLitigation