The Syrian Coalition called upon the UN Security Council to condemn the recent escalation of aerial bombardment on Aleppo; break the sieges across Syria; protect civilians from indiscriminate aerial bombardment; and ensure accountability for war crimes.
The Coalition’s calls were made in a letter submitted to the UN Security Council on Wednesday by the Special Representative of the Syrian Coalition to the United Nations Dr. Najib Ghadbian. The letter was submitted ahead of the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Stephen O’Brien’s briefing to the UN Security Council on the situation in Syria.
Ghadbian called upon the UN Security Council’s Member States to “condemn the recent escalation of aerial bombardment on Aleppo by the Syrian regime and Russia, in addition to all indiscriminate aerial bombardment and attacks against civilians, civilian targets, and vital facilities.”
The letter also called for breaking the sieges across Syria, not only in the areas reached on 17 February, but across all of the areas currently being starved into submission. “If the achievement of humanitarian corridors is not possible because of Syrian regime intransigence, then it is imperative that Member States airdrop aid to Syria’s 46 besieged communities,” the letter added.
The Syrian Coalition’s UN Special Representative urged the UNSC member states to “protect civilians from indiscriminate aerial bombardment, including by enforcing a no-bombing zone to stop the indiscriminate airstrikes across Syria.”
Moreover, Ghadbian stressed the need for “ensuring accountability for war crimes, including those perpetrated by the Russian Federation, and take steps to establish a special international tribunal for Syria, should Security Council paralysis prevent the referral of the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court.” (Source: Syrian Coalition)