Press release
Syrian Opposition Coalition – Syria
Department of Media and Communications
September 19, 2020
The Syrian Opposition Coalition (SOC) appreciates the Dutch government’s initiative to hold accountable those responsible for torture in Syria as it expresses its full support for the efforts to redress the victims; prevent impunity; and put an end to systematic, brutal torture and execution which represent pillars of the Assad regime’s strategy.
The involvement of the London-based lawyers Guernica 37 Chambers in the case, and its cooperation with the Dutch government to follow up on the issue represents an important addition that will have a major role in expediting the work and ensuring that the perpetrators are held accountable and that the victims obtain justice.
As the legitimate representative of the Syrian people, the SOC calls for the adoption of new mechanisms bypassing the Russian veto which blocked all efforts to refer crimes against humanity to the International Criminal Court. It reiterates its acceptance of the court’s jurisdiction to look into serious crimes being committed in Syria under Paragraph 3 of Article 12 of the Rome Statute.
The SOC also calls for stripping the Assad regime of representation in international forums or the freezing of the rights and benefits of membership in line with Articles 5 and 6 of the UN Charter.
The Assad regime continues to show total disregard for international resolutions, blatantly violating the UN Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the UN Convention against Torture which it ratified without committing to any of its provisions. The SOC, therefore, demands addressing the root cause of the problem as it calls on friendly states to take concrete action to bring about a real political transition in accordance with the Geneva Communique of 2012, UN Security Council Resolutions 2118 and 2254, and UN General Assembly Resolution 67/262.
