Press Statement
Khaled Khoja
President of the Syrian Coalition
February 21, 2015
Following the release of the 9th report by the United Nations Commission of Inquiry on Syria, President of the Syrian Coalition said:
“The latest report by the Commission of Inquiry (COI) outlining major human rights abuses perpetrated against civilians from March 2011 to January 2015 once again shows that the bulk of those abuses have been committed by the Assad regime and extremist groups like the Nusra Front and ISIS.
The report also demonstrates that the culture of impunity continues to prevail across Syria, with the civilian population bearing the brunt of the conflict. It describes how Assad forces have committed, as part of a state policy, all kinds of horrible atrocities against the civilian population, including murder, rape, torture, enforced disappearance, indiscriminate shelling, and use of chemical substances.
We encourage the COI to uphold its decision to make public the names of those involved in war crimes and crimes against humanity in Syria. We also call on the Security Council to act upon the COI findings to stop atrocities in Syria and bring their perpetrators to justice, including through the referral of Syria to the International Criminal Court, or the establishment of a special international tribunal. However, the fact remains that as the Security Council continues to be deadlocked by veto-wielding Russia and China, the Syrian people will only suffer and suffer more.”
