The Syrian civil war is an ongoing multi-sided armed conflict in which international interventions have taken place. The war grew out of the unrest of the Arab Spring and escalated to armed conflict after Bashar al-Assad’s government violently repressed protests calling for his removal. Violence in Syria has escalated amid an absence of meaningful efforts to end the war. A confidential list of individuals and units are believed to be responsible for crimes against humanity, breaches of international humanitarian law and gross human rights violations.

World War II was the global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving two opposing military alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history. In a state of “total war,” the participants placed their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities at the service of the war effort. Marked by significant events involving the mass death of civilians, including the Holocaust and the only use of nuclear weapons in warfare, it was the deadliest conflict in human history.