International and Syrian human rights organizations have launched a fundraiser campaign to fund investigations into war crimes in Syria following the failure of UN member states to secure adequate funding, organizers of the campaign said.
In a statement released on Monday, the organizers said that campaign aims to raise 1.9 million euros.
“More than five months ago, the United Nations General Assembly decided to launch an investigation into war crimes in Syria. However, nothing has happened since then,” said Mazen Darwish head of the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression (SCM).
Elias Berabo, of the Adopt a Revolution organization, said that “criminal trials in Syria should not be allowed to fail because of the lack of funding. Every donation made by citizens must make the governments of these countries feel shame.”
In addition to SCM and Adopt a Revolution, organizers of the campaign include Medico International and the Syrian Center for Legal Studies and Research.
Organizers also said that the campaign is an important step as it “sends a strong message to governments that civil society will not accept their failure to prosecute human rights violations and war crimes in Syria.”
The campaign has received the support of many politicians and celebrities, including the German-Iranian writer Navid Kermani, member of the European Parliament Marietje Schaake along with 34 of her colleagues, Head of the German Parliamentary Committee for Foreign Affairs Norbert Röttgen, Spokesman for the Social Democratic Party of Germany Niels Annen, and member of the Green Party and MP Franziska Brantner.
The United Nations has issued a total of 20 reports accusing mainly the Assad regime, ISIS, and other groups of mass murder, rape, detention, and child recruitment. However, the UN has not yet taken any legal action and only classified them as “war crimes,” stating it will turn all the evidence collected since 2011 into “legal action.” (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department + Agencies)
