In a session held congruently to the 29th UN Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva titled “Syria after Tyranny,” Vice-President Hisham Marwa stressed that the continued failure of the UN Security Council to refer the Syrian file to the International Criminal Court (ICC) gives the Assad regime a green light to shed more blood in Syria.
“A quarter of a million people have been killed this far, another quarter million are detained in Assad’s prisons, millions of people are injured and millions more have been displaced. Moreover, large segments of Syrian society have been deprived of their rights for decades as the Assad regime denied them their basic rights such as the right to nationality and jobs, let alone prosecution and harassment of dissidents. All of those are looking forward to a future where justice is served and wounds are healed.”
Marwa reiterated the Syrian Coalition’s vision for the transitional period, the principles of a political settlement and the formation of a transitional governing body to hold perpetrators of war crimes, crimes against humanity and violations of human rights to account. These are crucial prerequisites to achieve justice and to promote the transition towards peace and stability.
Furthermore, decades of tyranny under the rule of the Assad regime had left a vacuum in civilian life and thwarts any recovery inside civic society. The Syrian Revolution turned from peaceful to armed because of the Assad regime’s use of violence to crush the revolution. Creating the appropriate conditions for the resumption of civilian life is the most important factor to promote stability and peace in the country after the tyrannical regime is overthrown. This requires well-established policies and integrated procedures to create confidence among the Syrian people and fight the culture of violence caused by war.
Marwa also said that “we aspire in post-despotism Syria to make Syrian citizens an active partner in political, economic and societal decision-making. This needs creating a legislative environment to govern the role of civil society and guarantees its independence and also need mechanisms to ensure integration between state institutions and civil society organizations. (Source: Syrian Coalition)
