Press release
Syrian Opposition Coalition
Department of Media and Communications
March 10, 2021
The Assad regime’s proven track record of massacres, mass forced displacement, torture, and the use of sarin to suffocate children, women and the elderly is what prevents Syria from returning to its Arab, regional and international folds, as well as prevents any cooperation, coordination or joint action.
For many years, the Syrian people have been looking forward to the moment when Syria will return to its Arab fold and regain its seat in the Arab League. This will require the removal of the reasons that cast Syria out of its Arab and international folds. Attempts to rehabilitate the Assad regime or find a cover to do so can never be accepted.
The Assad regime’s crimes that have been ongoing for the past ten years: the killing of one million Syrians, the displacement of half of Syria’s population, the destruction of the country’s infrastructure, pillaging the country’s resources for over fifty years make the Caesar Act, along with the European and US sanctions on the regime, far below the level of responsibility that rests with the international community.
Indeed, the US Caesar Act came as response to the shock caused by the 55,000 photos of 11,000 detainees who were killed under torture by the Assad regime. Everyone today must take a look at a sample of these photos before deciding to rehabilitate the perpetrator of these heinous crimes.
The return of Syria to its Arab and international folds as well as the return of coordination and joint work with Syria must begin with implementing UN resolutions, holding war criminals accountable, and ensuring that they do not escape punishment in parallel with achieving a transition to a new civil political system in accordance with the Geneva Communique of 2012 and UN Security Council’s resolution 2254.
We call on our brothers in the Arab states to support international action to hold the Assad regime accountable for its crimes and violations. We also call on them to assume their responsibilities with regard to pressing the international community, the UN Security Council and international actors to establish an effective international mechanism in which sanctions are combined with practical measures with a specific timeframe to ensure an end to the ongoing carnage in Syria, an end to the suffering of tens of thousands of detainees in the Assad regime’s prisons, the safe return of refugees and IDPs, and the implementation of international resolutions calling for bringing about a political transition.
