Marie Colvin's family says the Assad regime tracked and killed her to silence her voice
The Syrian government deliberately targeted prominent war correspondent Marie Colvin, according to a lawsuit filed last Saturday on behalf of her sister and other family members.
Colvin died in an artillery attack in February, 2012 in Homs, Syria along with French photojournalist Remi Ochlik.
The suit is built on evidence painstakingly gathered over four years with testimony from civilian witnesses, defectors, and state insiders who had direct knowledge of the attack that killed Colvin.
The suit alleges high-ranking Syrian authorities -- including President Bashar Al Assad's brother, Maher al-Assad -- orchestrated the attack on Colvin as part of a campaign to assassinate journalists covering the conflict.
Tracked for weeks
"The regime's efforts to monitor Western journalists as they entered the area of Homs really began weeks before the attack on the media centre," Scott Gilmour, the lead attorney on the case and a lawyer with the Center for Justice and Accountability in Washington, tells guest host Josh Bloch on CBC Radio's Day 6.
The night before the attack Colvin gave a series of interviews with the BBC and CNN about civilian casualties in Homs.
"The Syrian army is simply shelling a city of cold and starving civilians," she told the CNN and then went on to describe witnessing a two-year old take her last breaths.
According to Gilmour, the Syrian authorities used electronic surveillance from these broadcasts as well as informants on the ground to pinpoint Colvin's exact location. The pattern of the artillery strikes that killed Colvin indicate Syrian forces were systematically honing in on her location, says Gilmour.
This week, Bashar al-Assad told NBC News that "it's a war and she [Colvin] came illegally to Syria, she worked with the terrorists, and because she came illegally, she's been responsible of everything that befall on her."
A systematic campaign
The suit goes further to say that Colvin's death was part of a systematic campaign run by high ranking Syrian officials to track, target, and kill journalists covering the conflict in Syria.
The lawsuit has been filed in a US district court in the District of Columbia under a statute that allows American citizens to sue foreign government's that are considered responsible for acts of terrorism.
The suit was filed on behalf of Marie Colvin's heirs including her sister Cathleen Colvin.
"I'm in a unique position to be able to use the court to bring Marie's killers to justice," says Cathleen Colvin. "But I want to give a voice to the Syrian people. I want them to know we haven't forgotten them. So that's a really important aspect of bringing this lawsuit."
Marie Colvin reported from some of the most dangerous conflicts around the world including Iraq, East Timor, and Bosnia. She wore a signature black patch over her left eye which she lost when she was hit by a rocket propelled grenade fired by Sri Lankan military in 2001.
"I have no doubt that this is just the first case of many that will follow in the coming years," says Gilmour. He says he hopes the evidence compiled in this case will help the families of other journalists killed by Syrian forces find justice.