It is our great pleasure to introduce our new IntLawGrrls contributor Sareta Ashraph. From May 2012 to November 2016, Sareta served as the Chief Analyst on the Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic, documenting violations of international law in the context of the ongoing conflict. She was the primary author of the Commission’s June 2016 report “They Came to Destroy: ISIS’s Crimes Against the Yazidis”, which found that ISIS was committing the crime of genocide. From January to March 2017, Sareta served as the Practitioner-in-Residence in Stanford Law School, researching the role gender plays in the commission of the crime of genocide.

Immediately prior to working joining the Syria Commission, she served as the Analyst on the Commission of Inquiry on Libya. In 2010 and 2011, Sareta was the Legal Adviser to the Office of the Public Counsel for the Defence in the International Criminal Court. In 2009, Sareta worked as a Legal Consultant to the United Nations Fact-Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict. From 2004 to 2009, Sareta was based in Freetown, Sierra Leone where she was Co-Counsel representing Issa Sesay (the former interim Leader of the Revolutionary United Front) before the Special Court for Sierra Leone. Sareta is a member of Garden Court Chambers in London.

Heartfelt welcome!