Media and human rights activists commemorated the 37th anniversary of the Hama Massacre which was committed by the Assad regime claiming the lives of tens of thousands of victims in 1982. They called for holding those responsible for war crimes in Syria to account and for the referral of Syria file to the International Criminal Court.
The Hama Massacre was one of the most horrible massacres committed in the time of Hafez al-Assad who launched a fierce 27-day assault on the city on February 2, 1982. Rights groups said that around 40,000 people were killed in the massacre.
President of the Syrian Coalition, Abdurrahman Mustafa, said that during the Hama Massacre the Assad regime used the same brutal, oppressive tactics it is using today. He told Anadolu Agency “since the Hama Massacre, the Assad regime’s brutality and terrorism has not changed a lot.”
“The only difference is that the world today is watching the massacres and crimes live on TV, while in the 1980s only the intelligence agencies knew what was happening on the ground.”
“The 1980s saw the first uprising to rid the country of the dictatorial rule that came through a military coup. A multi-faceted movement began to demand change and reform. The Assad regime responded with committing a massacre amounting to a genocide against people of the city of Hama,” President Mustafa said.
President Mustafa went on to say that “the Hama Massacre and the international silence surrounding it are to blame for the tragedy unfolding in Syria now.” He stressed that the regime of Bashar al-Assad is no different from the regime of his father Hafez.
President Mustafa addressed the world by saying: “This is the legacy of the regime you are extending your hands to,” adding that “Nothing will change. The criminality will be repeated and be re-produced once more. Terrorism will befall everyone unless we get rid of its breeding ground.”
Moreover, President Mustafa noted that the terrorism of the Assad regime did not affect the Syrian people alone, but also countries such as Iraq, Lebanon and Turkey.
“The Syrian people got to the point of no return,” he said, adding that the only solution in Syria is to commit to a political solution in accordance with the Geneva Communique of 2012 and UN Security Council resolution 2254. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department)
