In this article, K.J.Heller refers to Beth van Schaack’s analysis and shares the recognition of the importance of the Syria War Crimes Accountability Act of 2017.

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However, examining the Section 7 of the proposed bill, he highlights one important limit. While this Section ‘authorises US technical assistance to certain non-US accountability mechanisms’, the article emphasises the lacuna of such assistance, that can only be provided when the investigations pertain to crimes committed by ‘the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, all forces fighting on its behalf, and violent extremist groups in Syria’.

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Thus, the author points out that the wording of this section, read in the light of the section 5(a) and of the section 3, indicates that the US cannot assist any investigations about acts perpetrated by Syrian rebel groups.