Press release
Syrian National Coalition – Syria
Department of Media and Communications
May 25, 2020
Today marks the eighth anniversary of Houla Massacre which was committed by the Assad regime’s forces and shabiha paramilitary militants on May 25, 2012 in Houla region of rural Homs. The massacre claimed the lives of 108 civilians, mostly women and children.
The massacre represented a watershed moment in terms of the extent to which the regime’s brutality reached. It also represented a blatant defiance of the international community and an escalation that also sought to test the world’s readiness to act to save civilians and put an end to the ongoing atrocities against them.
Several states condemned the massacre and expelled the regime’s ambassadors. However, no concrete action was taken to ensure that the perpetrators are held accountable or to prevent the recurrence of those massacres that have continued to this day and involved the use of various methods of killing and destruction, including chemical weapons.
The failure to punish the perpetrators of this heinous crime represents a disgrace to all states that claim to uphold human rights or respect international law.
The Syrian Coalition’s Legal Committee, along with several independent Syrian bodies and international human rights organizations, continues to raise the issue of crimes being committed against the Syrian people. They are also gathering evidence and testimonies to achieve justice as well as pressing for the referral of this issue to the International Criminal Court as soon as possible.
It is imperative that the international community shoulder its responsibilities with regards to the massacres and the situation in Syria. All parties must do what is necessary to push for the enforcement of international resolutions and achieving a political solution that is based on the Geneva Communique of 2012.
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