Qatar calls for prosecuting Syrian officials responsible for war crimes

Qatar will spare no effort in assisting in the investigation and prosecution of officials responsible for the serious crimes in Syria by supporting the international, impartial and independent mechanism established by the UN General Assembly, the Secretary-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Dr Ahmed bin Hassan al-Hammadi has stressed.  Speaking during the two-day 7th Meeting of the National Responsibility to Protect Focal Points in Doha yesterday al-Hammadi said that the Syrian regime continues to challenge the will of the international community in light of the latter’s failure to find a final resolution to the Syrian crisis. He noted that the Syrian regime continues to violate human rights law. The secretary-general of the foreign ministry noted that the horrible massacres committed in Khan Sheikhon confirm the Syrian regime’s insistence on committing war crimes and crimes against humanity. He added that the regime has adopted a policy based on laying siege, starving, displacing, changing demographics, and the use of chemical weapons. This requires a suitable response by the international community, the secretary-general of the ministry of foreign affairs added. He pointed out that by prosecuting the Syrian officials responsible for crimes against civilians will send out a message to all who violate international law. The secretary-general noted that this year’s meeting is taking place in the context of critical developments, due to the spread of conflicts and civil wars in many of the world’s regions. The increasing tragedies resulting from those conflicts leads to a bigger need for the international community to act and protect civilians who are suffering from human rights violations. The secretary-general of the ministry of foreign affairs highlighted in that regard the horrific images of victims of a chemical attack in Khan Sheikhoun in Syria as evidence of such violations and crimes. He stressed the importance of protecting civilians from such a horrible crimes in line with the Charter of the United Nations and the provisions of international law. He added the international community must not turn a blind eye to these crimes no matter the reasons. The secretary-general added that selectivity in applying the right to protect has led to deterioration of humanitarian conditions of civilians in areas of conflict. This calls for more urgency from the international community in assuming its legal and moral responsibility of protecting civilians subjected to horrible crimes. He noted that the amount of support to the General Assembly’s decision on the right to protect confirms that the international community is committed to the protection of civilians. He expressed concern, however, that what has been achieved on the ground did not prevent horrible crimes from happening, particularly as their rate has been on the rise in more than one region in the world. As a result, the secretary-general added, putting an end to those crimes requires a commitment from the international community towards taking clear measures in that regard. The first step, according to the secretary-general, would be to enforce the responsibility to prevent such crimes from happening and prosecute the perpetrators, which is something that will enhance the security and peace for people. He added that the way forward towards preventing mass atrocity crimes would be to deal with the root causes of conflicts and crises through dialogue, reconciliation, transitional justice, involving minorities in the political process, and enhancing the mechanisms that monitor and warn of potential crises. He stressed in that regard the importance of dealing with the real reasons that lead to the spread of violent extremism and terrorism, as the reasons are usually similar to those that lead to mass atrocity crimes.Dr al-Hammadi reiterated Qatar’s eagerness to implement the initiative of the Accountability, Coherence, and Transparency (ACT) of recording actions by the UN Security Council against genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes and restrict the use of the veto to prevent mass atrocities. He said Qatar has supported all global efforts to end violations of international human rights law to protect civilians in countries facing armed conflict and added that Qatar has provided different forms of support and relief to lessen the suffering of civilians and protect them besides the continuous co-operation with its regional and international partners.