Arab countries risk supporting Assad despite his crimes – NGO
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – Arab states risk supporting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad without pressing for accountability for the crimes he has committed against his people, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Tuesday.
The HRW said that the Arab states seeking to normalize relationships should recognize that the Syrian government “is the same one that has forcibly disappeared tens of thousands of people and other serious human rights violations against its citizens even before the uprisings began.”
During 12 years of war, the Syrian government has “committed countless crimes against humanity and forced millions into displacement,” the HRW added.
The Syrian authorities continue to “weaponize humanitarian aid, diverting it from populations that oppose Assad’s rule.”
At dawn on Feb. 6, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit southern Turkey and northwest Syria, killing 50.000 individuals. It also caused the destruction of hundreds of buildings, leaving many people homeless.
Two days following the quake, the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) sent two convoys of aid to Kurdish-held areas in the northwest, however, both convoys have been held up by the government forces for days.
Although war crimes have decreased in recent years, they still continue, according to the source.
Countries such as Saudi Arabia and Turkey try to normalize ties with Syria, “despite widespread and systematic human rights abuses,” the source added.