US State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus called for the release of tens of thousands of arbitrarily detained people in the prisons of the Assad regime to in order to mitigate the disastrous spread of the coronavirus pandemic.
In a press release issued on Wednesday, Ortagus warned that “if the Assad regime maintains its current campaign against the Syrian people, it risks exacerbating the spread of the COVID-19 virus to epic proportions, endangering the lives of Syrians throughout the country.”
She also said that the regime must cease all hostilities and allow the unabated flow of humanitarian assistance to IDP camps within Syria.
“The regime should take immediate measures to protect the Syrian people, as well as U.S. citizens in Syria, from the devastating impacts of this pandemic.”
The Syrian Opposition Coalition earlier warned the international community of the danger of the spread of the coronavirus among detainees in the regime’s prisons, especially in light of the inhumane conditions in those prisons. It called for exerting pressure on the regime as key to saving the lives of tens of thousands of detainees and ensuring their immediate release. (Source: SOC’s Media Department)
