US Holds Syrian Regime Responsible for Journalist Colvin’s 2012 Death

The United States held the Syrian regime responsible for the 2012 death of American journalist Marie Colvin, slapping it with a $302 million judgment.

In a verdict unsealed late Wednesday night, US District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson concluded the Syrian military had deliberately targeted the makeshift media center in the city of Homs where Colvin and other journalists were working.

Sustained artillery barrages against the apartment building housing the media center killed Colvin and French photographer Remi Ochlik on February 22, 2012.

The civil lawsuit filed in US federal court by Colvin’s family in 2016 accused officials in Bashar Assad’s regime of deliberately targeting rockets against a makeshift broadcast studio where Colvin and other reporters were living and working.

Colvin’s family was represented by the San Francisco-based Center for Justice and Accountability, which focuses on human rights litigation.

The group’s executive director, Dixon Osburn, said the lawsuit was the first seeking to hold the Syrian regime liable for war crimes. Since it was filed, there has been some similar legal action in Europe, including Germany.

“It’s the first proving ground that the Assad regime has engaged in war crimes. He has engaged in a brutal set of crimes against humanity,” Osburn said in an interview.

The judge wrote that “a targeted attack on a media center hosting foreign journalists that resulted in two fatalities and multiple injuries ... is an unconscionable act.” The judge ruled that additional damages would be calculated at a later date.

Colvin’s sister, Cathleen Colvin, said in a statement she hoped the ruling will “serve as a deterrent against future attacks on the press and on civilians.”

“Marie dedicated her life to fighting for justice on behalf of the victims of war and ensuring that their stories were heard. This case is an extension of her legacy, and I think she’d be proud of what we achieved,” she added.

The lawsuit described the attack as part of a plan orchestrated at the highest levels of Assad’s regime to silence local and international media “as part of its effort to crush political opposition.” Some of the evidence supporting the lawsuit was provided by two defectors from the regime.

Lawyers for the family included as evidence a copy of an August 2011 fax that they said was sent from Syria’s National Security Bureau instructing security bodies to launch military and intelligence campaigns against “those who tarnish the image of Syria in foreign media and international organizations.”

Jackson wrote in the ruling that the day before the attack, an informant provided the location of the media center to the Syrian regime. That night, Colvin had given live interviews to CNN and two British broadcasters, the BBC and Channel 4.

There is evidence that Syrian officials celebrated after the attack, Jackson added.

In a 2016 interview with NBC News quoted by CNN, Assad said Colvin herself was at fault in her death. “It’s a war and she came illegally to Syria, she worked with the terrorists, and because she came illegally, she’s responsible of everything that befell her,” Assad said.

Colvin, who had covered conflicts around the world for Britain’s Sunday Times, wore a signature black patch over her left eye after being blinded by a grenade in Sri Lanka in 2001. The 2018 film "A Private War" was based on her life.

Technically foreign governments are immune from jurisdiction in US courts through the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act. However, that immunity is lifted for crimes against American citizens by governments classified as a "state sponsor of terrorism."

Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian is using a similar approach to sue the Iranian government, which jailed him for more than 500 days on espionage charges.