--- description: Find out why Mazen Darwish and Anwar Al Bunni is one of the 100 most influential people of 2022. title: Mazen Darwish and Anwar Al Bunni: The 100 Most Influential People of 2022 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf1adf70504061e7c/698a3215b21a9cb0b25060d8/syria-Anwar-Al-Bunni-Mazen-Darwish-time100-2022.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- May 23, 2022 # Mazen Darwish and Anwar Al Bunni by Kenneth Roth  Illustration by Brian Lutz for Time (Source Photos: Marzena Skubatz—laif/Redux; Hannes Jung—laif/Redux) In 2014, Russia and China used their U.N. Security Council veto to block the referral of [atrocities in Syria](https://time.com/3057092/syrian-government-increases-barrel-bombing-rights-group-claims/ "undefined") to the International Criminal Court, which would have allowed for prosecution of those crimes. The veto moved justice even [further out of reach for victims](https://time.com/6147821/syrian-torture-victims-justice/ "undefined"). So Syrian lawyers Anwar Al Bunni and Mazen Darwish took action. Both had been imprisoned in Syria and subsequently fled to Europe. There, they supported German prosecutors who, using the legal concept of universal jurisdiction, pursued a former Syrian military intelligence officer who had fled to Germany. In January, a court in the German city of Koblenz convicted former intelligence officer Anwar R., the most senior Syrian official to be put on trial, of crimes against humanity for over­seeing the systematic torture of detainees. He was sentenced to life in prison. Al Bunni and Darwish not only testified at the trial but also led efforts to gather evidence and witnesses that were vital for this historic case. This dent in the impunity behind [so many atrocities in Syria](https://time.com/3386155/syria-civil-war-united-nations/ "undefined")—one of several similar prosecutions under way—pays a measure of respect to the victims and provides hope for further justice. These prosecutions can help to deter further atrocities, in Syria and elsewhere. _Roth is executive director of Human Rights Watch_ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2022/6177855/anwar-al-bunni-mazen-darwish/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2022/6177855/anwar-al-bunni-mazen-darwish/"},"headline":"Anwar Al Bunni and Mazen Darwish: TIME100 2022","datePublished":"2022-05-23T10:03:55.000Z","dateModified":"2026-07-21T07:22:11.659Z","description":"Find out why Anwar Al Bunni and Mazen Darwish are on TIME's list of the 100 most influential people of 2022.","url":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2022/6177855/anwar-al-bunni-mazen-darwish/","keywords":["TIME 100","franchise","TIME100 2022"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf1adf70504061e7c/698a3215b21a9cb0b25060d8/syria-Anwar-Al-Bunni-Mazen-Darwish-time100-2022.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf1adf70504061e7c/698a3215b21a9cb0b25060d8/syria-Anwar-Al-Bunni-Mazen-Darwish-time100-2022.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2022/6177855/anwar-al-bunni-mazen-darwish/","name":"Anwar Al Bunni and Mazen Darwish: TIME100 2022"}}]}] ```