ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Amnesty International on Sunday called for bringing perpetrators of human rights violations in Syria to justice following the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
“Suspected perpetrators of crimes under international law and other serious human rights violations must be investigated, and if warranted, prosecuted for their crimes,” said Agnes Callamard, the head of Amnesty.
She stressed that the suspects should undergo “fair trials and without the possibility of the death penalty.”
Syria’s civil war dramatically reignited late last month when a coalition of rebels led by the jihadist Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) launched a blistering offensive against the Syrian army, seizing the northern city of Aleppo, Hama, Homs, and culminating their victory by capturing the capital Damascus as rebels said Assad fled the country, ending over five decades of Baathist rule.
After taking over Damascus, HTS leader Abu Mohammed al-Jolani ordered his forces not to approach any official institutions in the capital and declared that these institutions will remain under the supervision of Assad’s Prime Minister Mohammed al-Jalali until their official handover.
“Amnesty International calls on opposition forces to break free from the violence of the past. The most important step is justice, and not retribution,” Callamard said.
Since the start of the rebel offensive late last month, more than 900 people have died, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
SOHR said that 910 people have been killed since the start of the offensive, including 138 civilians, 380 Syrian army soldiers and allied fighters, as well as 392 rebel fighters.
