Caesar is an American economic sanctions Law. U.S. President Donald Trump signed this bill to become law in late 2019. This law put into practice on June 2020 for a period of five years after its effective date.
The Law gets its name from the alias of a Syrian defector in 2013 who leaked 55,000 photographs of 11,000 prisoners who were killed by torture in Assad regime prisons.
This law aims:
- Using economic sanctions to force the Syrian Regime to stop his attacks and protect civilians.
- Supporting the transition to a Syrian government that respects Law and Human Rights.
Sanctions include the support of the following sectors:
- Military and Security.
- Oil and Gas industry and Aircrafts parts.
Sanctions target individuals and Syrians, foreign and government entities (Iran & Russia) who provide funding or assistance to the Syrian Regime of the mentioned sectors and persons who are responsible for Human Rights Violations.
- Sanctions Suspension:
Caesar Law outlines seven requirements to lift U.S. sanctions on Syria:
- End to Syrian and Russian aircraft bombing civilians.
- No restrict humanitarian access to the besieged areas from the regime.
- All political prisoners are released.
- Bombing of “medical facilities, schools, residential areas, and community gathering places, by Syrian, Russian, Iranian forces, as well as entities connected to them, ceases.
- Commitment to the Treaty on the Prohibition of the use and destruction of Chemical Weapons.
- The possibility for the “safe, voluntary, and dignified return of Syrians displaced by the conflict” is achieved.
- Accountability for “perpetrators of war crimes in Syria and bring them to justice.
- Excluded from the Law Application
International institutions and non-governmental organizations that provide humanitarian assistance per to international standards.