Syria must stop the torture program that has killed, according to researchers, tens of thousands of people since the civil war broke out in 2011, the International Court of Justice in the Hague (ICJ) has ruled.

The judges call on Damascus to take all measures within its powers to prevent acts of torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment as well as to prevent the destruction and ensure the preservation of any evidence related to torture.

It is the trial of the first international case for the brutal civil war that began in 2011. Canada and the Netherlands had asked the ICC to urgently order an end to torture in Syrian prisons, arguing that every day counts for those still in detention.

Victims suffer unfathomable physical and mental pain and suffering as a result of acts of torture, including abhorrent treatment in detention and sexual and gender-based violence, the filing added.

Tens of thousands have died, or are presumed dead, as a result of torture, the two countries added, citing a UN Human Rights Council report.

The decision comes a day after France issued an international arrest warrant for Syrian President, Bashar al-Assad, who is accused of complicity in crimes against humanity over a 2013 chemical attack.

Source: Euronews

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