Human rights organizations express their gratitude for the European Union’s efforts to hold the Assad regime to account

Today, 14 human rights and non-governmental organizations expressed their gratitude for the efforts of the European Union and its member states to strengthen accountability for the atrocities committed by the Assad regime in Syria.
This came in a joint statement signed by the organizations, through which they praised the European role in the pursuit of justice for the Syrian people.

The joint statement was signed by: “Work for Syria”, the International Justice and Accountability Committee, Civil Rights Defenders, My Country, Guernica 37, the Open Society Justice Initiative, the Syrian Archive, the Syria Campaign, the Syrian Center for Legal Studies and Research, the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom
Al-Expression, the Syrian Emergency Team, the Syrian Network for Human Rights, Women Now for Development, and the International Women’s League for Peace and Freedom.

The statement emphasized that the member states of the European Union have allocated significant resources to establish units dedicated to war crimes, and the genocide network of the European Union facilitated investigations and prosecutions across multiple jurisdictions, noting that “the member states of the European Union have all voted in favor of establishing an impartial international mechanism
Independent Syria (IIIM), has provided it with critical political support and financial security. ”

Speaking about the chemical weapons ban in Syria, the statement clarified: “The unanimous support of the member states of the European Union led to the establishment of the investigation and identification team deepening the understanding of the Assad regime’s responsibility for specific chemical weapons attacks on civilians.”

The organizations welcomed the participation of European Union member states in sponsoring the draft resolution on Syria’s continued failure to comply with the Chemical Weapons Convention, which would lead to an unprecedented suspension of the rights and privileges of a member state of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.

The organizations concluded their statement by saying: “The member states of the European Union have already recognized the importance of justice in the atrocities committed in Syria, and we welcome the opportunity to discuss the path towards supporting the Syrian cause internationally to achieve the aspirations of the Syrian people in general.”

Source: Agencies