Press Statement

Syrian Coalition

Media Office

February 8, 2016

The Syrian Coalition warns of an imminent massacre by regime forces with the support of the Russian invaders and the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) against the town of Darayya in Rural Damascus. The Coalition holds the UN Security Council responsible for any crimes against the nearly 12,000 civilians trapped inside the town, half of whom are women and children.

Regime forces backed by the Russian invaders and foreign militias have been perpetrating crimes with the aim of forcing civilians out of their homes. The latest of these crimes are being committed in Aleppo and Dara’a provinces. Regime forces and Russia continue to rain barrel bombs, cluster bombs and missiles on rebel-held areas in these two provinces. These attacks have forced tens of thousands of civilians in Aleppo to flee towards the Turkish border, and also caused mass displacement of civilians in Dara’a.

These crimes amount to outright ethnic cleansing under international law. According to Article II of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, unanimously adopted by the United Nations in 1948, such acts constitute genocide as they are committed with the intent of displacing the local population.

The international community should realize that its silence over such crimes implies acceptance of them; encourages their continuation, and consequently constitutes complicity in committing them.

The Syrian Coalition holds the United Nations with all its institutions, bodies and members responsible for the disaster unfolding in Syria. For over 70 years, the United Nations has claimed responsibility for maintaining international peace and security. However, the international community has shirked its responsibilities and fostered disorder by ignoring the state terrorism practiced by Russia, Iran and the Assad regime against millions of innocent Syrians for over five years.

On behalf of the Syrian people, the Syrian Coalition appeals to the free world and international organizations to act and put pressure on their governments in order to take immediate action to stop the crimes against humanity committed in Syria. Immediate measures need to be taken to ensure sieges on villages and towns across Syria are lifted; bombarding civilians with barrel bombs and cluster munitions is stopped; and tens of thousands of detainees languishing under squalid conditions and constant torture are released.

Those around the world who can in any way shape or form make a difference have a moral responsibility to act now to stop the atrocities in Syria and put an end to this tragic chapter of world history.