Member of the Syrian Opposition Coalition’s (SOC) political committee, Salwa Aksoy, stressed that what happened yesterday in The Hague regarding the condemnation of the Assad regime for the killing of journalist Nabil Sharbaji is an important achievement that confirms the importance of popular action at the international level. She said that the move will encourage the families of the victims to take action in various legal ways, especially in European countries.
Aksoy said that what happened in The Hague is a positive step towards consolidating the principle of achieving justice and condemning criminals. She pointed to the need for international bodies and human rights organizations to ensure that the perpetrators do not go unpunished for the violations being committed in Syria over the past several years.
An unofficial tribunal organized by a group of media freedom organizations declared the Assad regime guilty of violating international humanitarian law for failing to protect journalists.
The People’s Tribunal on the Murder of Journalists delivered a judgment Monday aimed at holding the governments accountable for the death of journalists.
The Tribunal held the Assad regime responsible for committing violations against the Syrian journalist, Nabil Sharbaji, who was arrested in 2012 by Air Force Intelligence and killed under torture in the notorious Sednaya Prison in 2015.
“In view of the overwhelming and compelling evidence … the states of Mexico, Sri Lanka and Syria are guilty of all the human rights violations brought against them in the indictment,” said Eduardo Bertoni, one of the tribunal’s nine self-appointed judges.
Bertoni pointed out that Syria is among the 173 signatories to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in force since 1976, which provides for the protection of civil and political rights of all individuals and the protection of human rights.
The People’s Tribunal in The Hague was established on the initiative of organizations active in the field of supporting journalists to achieve freedom of media and expression, namely Free Press Unlimited, the Committee to Protect Journalists, and Reporters Without Borders.
The tribunal aims to raise awareness, pressure governments and gather evidence through what it called its form of “grassroots justice.”
(Source: SOC’s media department)
