Member of the Syrian Coalition’s political committee Muhammed Jojah renewed calls to refer the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court and to hold Assad and his clique accountable for war crimes, especially after further evidence on the scale of torture and murder perpetrated by the regime against civilian detainees has emerged.
“The report, ‘Human Slaughterhouse,’ which was released by Amnesty International on Monday must not go without strong reaction as was the case with previous reports by rights groups,” Jojah stressed. He called on the UN Secretary-General to refer Bashar Al-Assad and his inner circle to the international Criminal Court.
The report received widespread attention in media and political circles. It relied on testimonies from defected regime officers and judges as well as former detainees who recounted harrowing details of secret executions taking place in regime-run detention centers. Amnesty suggested that the executions are still being carried out until today.
According to the report, as many as 13,000 prisoners were secretly hanged in Saydnaya Prison between 2011 and 2015. Amnesty called on the United Nations to intervene immediately to stop these executions.
France said it was “outraged by the facts contained in the report,” and strongly condemned “these appalling acts.”
“The report is damning for the Syrian regime and once again proves that it did not hesitate to commit the worst atrocities against its population in order to remain in power,” the French foreign ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.
The statement added: “The revelations by Amnesty International also underscore the need for the international community to continue its efforts to combat impunity in Syria. The work of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry chaired by Paulo Sergio Pinheiro is more necessary than ever, just like the work – which is complementary – of the International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism to Assist in the Investigation established by the UN General Assembly on December 21, 2016.”
British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson tweeted: “Sickened by reports from Amnesty International on executions in Syria. Assad responsible for so many deaths and has no future as leader.”
According to the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR), there are an estimated 215,000 detainees in the prisons of the Assad regime. The Network said it has documented the detention of over 117,000 people since March 2011, many of whom are women and children. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Office)
