World Court to hear Syria torture claims on Oct. 10-11

The World Court will hear on Oct. 10 and 11 a request by the Netherlands and Canada that it orders Syria to cease all acts of torture and arbitrary detention, as part of a case alleging the country has breached a U.N. anti-torture treaty.

The hearing at the Peace Palace, the court's seat in The Hague, will mark the first time an international court has looked at alleged abuses committed in Syria during 12 years of conflict.

Syria's government and President Bashar al-Assad have rejected accusations of torture and extrajudicial killings in a war that the United Nations has said claimed hundreds of thousands of lives.