The Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS), the Euro-Mediterranean Network for Human Rights (EMHRN) and number of Syrian Human Rights Organizations presented an oral intervention on the ongoing atrocities in Syria to the UN Human Rights Council today, 17 September 2013. The intervention came in the framework of the 24th session of the Council, which is currently convened in Geneva and which is scheduled to continue until 27 September 2013.
The organizations began their intervention by condemning the unprecedented chemical assault which was launched on 21 August 2013 on the Damascus suburb of Al-Ghouta, calling this assault a blatant crime against humanity. The organizations expressed their grave concern over the brutal killing of hundreds of civilians in this attack, among them dozens of women and children.
However, the organizations urged that the international community should not focus exclusively on this chemical attack at the expense of dealing with the multitude of other grave violations – often amounting to war crimes and crimes against humanity – which continue to be perpetrated on the ground in Syria. Among these violations are indiscriminate shelling, extrajudicial executions, widespread torture, sexual violence, arbitrary detention, rape, and enforced disappearances.
In light of these violations, the organizations called on the Council to take the lead in combating impunity in Syria by resolutely asking the UN Security Council to refer Syria to the International Criminal Court. They emphasized that all actors responsible for committing grave violations in Syria must be brought to justice.
Finally, the organizations urged the international community to recall in the context of the upcoming talks over a peace process for Syria that justice must be achieved along with peace, for any political process that does not guarantee accountability and an end to impunity will lead only to further instability and continued violations in Syria and the broader region.
Share this Post