Hazm Movement Commits Against Anti-Personnel Mines And Sexual Violence

Hazm Movement, a major brigade of the Free Syrian Army (FSA), signed Geneva Call’s Deeds of Commitment banning anti-personnel mines, and prohibiting sexual violence and against gender discrimination. The Secretary General of the Hazzm Movement – Khalid Saleh – signed the Deeds in Geneva today. Hazm Movement was founded in 2014 as a result of the alliance of 22 moderate Syrian armed groups and is composed of around 5,000 combatants according to recent estimates. Many of its combatants are defected officers and former soldiers of the governmental armed forces who joined the opposition. It is currently fighting both governmental forces and “Islamic State” in Western Syria. By signing these two Deeds of Commitment, Hazm Movement pledges to respect the norms contained in the Ottawa Convention as well as the highest international standards related to the prohibition of sexual violence in armed conflict. Over the next few months, Geneva Call and its local partners will be conducting training sessions for several hundred combatants to disseminate the obligations of the Deeds of Commitment and educate them on the rules of International Humanitarian Law. “Landmine use has been reported in a number of areas in Syria and recent investigations have showed that sexual violence is widespread in the Syrian conflict. Any engagement to prevent landmines from being laid and to protect civilians from atrocities such as sexual violence must be encouraged and we congratulate Hazzm Movement for its commitments” said Elisabeth Decrey Warner, Geneva Call’s President. “We are greatly concerned by the huge toll paid by the civilian population since the beginning of the war. By signing these humanitarian agreements, we affirm our commitment to conduct our armed struggle in compliance with International Humanitarian Law” added Khalid Saleh. He also stresses that the signing of the deeds “we reaffirm the commitment of the Syrian Revolution to resisting tyranny and topple the authoritarian and illegitimate Assad regime in order to enable the various components of the Syrian society to build a democratic civil state, and to achieve the Syrian people’s aspirations for freedom, equality, dignity and respect for human rights. Osama Abu Zeid, Executive Director of Horizons Academy that oversaw the signing of the deeds, said that “we are moving forward important step, noting that other militant factions will sign the agreement in the next few months. “We must not respond to Assad’s brutality and his crossing of all red lines with similar acts; on the contrary, we believe that the only way for the victory of the revolution is through promoting everyone to abide by international laws, as this the only way to build a state of law and justice that all Syrians aspire to build. (Source: Syrian Coalition)