Foreign ministers of 18 European countries pledge to punish war criminals in Syria
The foreign ministers of 18 European countries pledged to confront impunity for the Islamic State and the Assad regime, against the backdrop of their accusations of committing chemical weapons attacks, kidnappings and disappearances.
“Our countries are committed to ensuring that war criminals and perpetrators of torture do not go unpunished,” the ministers said in a joint statement posted on the website of the French Foreign Ministry.
The ministers added that in the past ten years nearly 400,000 people have been killed and more than six million have been forced to flee the country to escape “countless violations of human rights,” stressing that this decade of atrocities must be fully shed light on.
They continued, “We continue our call to allow the International Criminal Court to investigate suspected crimes in Syria and prosecute the perpetrators.”
The Ministers stressed that achieving justice for the victims is essential to rebuilding a stable and peaceful Syria, based on a credible and applicable political solution in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 2254.
The statement was signed by the foreign ministers of France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Belgium, Ireland, Lithuania, Latvia, Luxembourg, Poland, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Austria, Malta and Portugal.
