Action Must be Taken by International Community & UNSC after Amnesty’s ‘Human Slaughterhouse’ Report

Press Statement Original in arabic

Syrian Coalition

Media Department

February 7, 2017

A chilling new report by Amnesty International exposed some of the Assad regime’s crimes against detainees at Saydnaya Prison. The report, “Human Slaughterhouse”, confirmed that a campaign of extrajudicial executions by mass hangings have been carried out by the Assad regime at Saydnaya Prison since 2011.

The Syrian Coalition emphasizes its support for the set of recommendations put forward by Amnesty’s report, particularly with regards to calling on the International Syria Support Group (ISSG) to force the Assad regime to immediately cease extrajudicial executions against detainees; allow access for independent monitors to all places of detention; and to immediately and unconditionally release all those arbitrarily detained.

The report makes it imperative that the UN Security Council takes immediate action to put an end to such atrocious crimes. The Council members need to shoulder their responsibilities towards the continuing crimes in the prisons of the Assad regime and the besieged areas as well as the ongoing killings in Syria despite the ceasefire agreement. The Coalition stresses the need to refer Amnesty’s report to the International Criminal Court to ensure accountability for crimes against humanity and war crimes as well as and put an end to impunity as crucial steps to put an end to violence in Syria.

The Coalition, furthermore, stresses the need for the UN Security Council to initiate judicial proceedings based on the mechanism adopted by the UN General Assembly on December 21, 2016 which called for an investigation of war crimes in Syria and the prosecution of those responsible for the most serious crimes since 2011.

The Coalition calls upon all rights groups and human rights activists to shed light on the horrible details the report laid out and to consider every possible means to help save hundreds of thousands of detainees in Assad’s prisons.

May our wounded recover; our detainees be free; and our fallen heroes rest in peace.

Long live Syria and its people, free and with honor.