The Syrian-European Democratic Forum organized a special meeting with the United States’ Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes, Stephen Rapp, in cooperation with civil society organizations and rights group. The meeting discussed transitional justice and prosecuting perpetrators of crimes in Syria.
Member of the political committee Nora al-Ameer, who was present at the meeting, stresses the need to stop the war crimes committed by the Assad regime and its allied foreign militias, noting that the international community must react to these militias just as it dealt with ISIS.
“The failure to hold the Assad regime accountable has contributed to the proliferation of ISIS ideology and further impedes restoring stability to Syria and the region,” Al-Ameer said.
She calls for finding alternatives to the International Criminal Court which is disabled by Chinese and Russian vetoes.
Rapp emphasized the need to continue with the documentation of violations and crimes in Syria, pointing to difficulties in reaching places where violations and crimes are committed. He expresses sadness over the scale of these crimes and the high number of victims.
He also regrets the international community’s failure to act against Assad, stressing that the crimes committed by the Assad regime and its allied militias are as atrocious as those committed by ISIS.
Rapp stresses the importance of holding all war criminals accountable no matter how long it might take. (Source: Syrian Coalition)
