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The rebuke comes a day after the Dutch authorities mentioned it’s looking for to carry the Syrian authorities accountable for widespread human rights violations beneath worldwide regulation, together with the UN Convention against Torture.
“The Assad regime has committed horrific crimes time after time. The evidence is overwhelming. There must be consequences,” Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs Stef Blok mentioned in an announcement printed on the ministry’s web site.
Blok mentioned the Syrian authorities had been knowledgeable of the choice by a diplomatic word, which referred to as on Damascus to stop human rights violations and provide reparations to victims.
“International organizations have repeatedly reported serious human rights violations for years. Large numbers of Syrians have been tortured, murdered, forcibly disappeared, and subjected to poison-gas attacks, or have lost everything fleeing for their lives,” the Dutch authorities assertion mentioned.
The Dutch authorities requested Syria to enter into negotiations, saying that doing so is “a necessary first step in dispute settlement.”
It seems unlikely that the provide of negotiations will probably be accepted by Damascus, which, via its overseas ministry, responded to the announcement by accusing the Dutch authorities of financing and supporting militant teams in Syria.
If the 2 nations are unable to resolve the dispute, the Netherlands can submit the case to arbitration, and if no settlement is reached, it’ll submit the case to a world courtroom, based on the Dutch assertion.
In an announcement, the Syrian Foreign Ministry mentioned the Netherlands’ motion “is nothing but a maneuver to camouflage the scandals of that regime and a desperate attempt to get what it couldn’t through its support for terrorist organizations in Syria.”
The Dutch authorities mentioned about 200,000 Syrian civilians have died within the civil battle in Syria since 2011 and that about 100,000 are lacking.
Roughly 5.6 million Syrians have fled the nation since 2011, based on the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, and a few 6.6 million persons are displaced internally.
Balkees Jarrah, affiliate worldwide justice director at Human Rights Watch, welcomed the Netherlands’ transfer.
“All those, particularly governments, that have been appalled by the widespread brutality documented in Syria should publicly welcome this step and explore similar ways to assert the rule of law,” Jarrah mentioned in an announcement launched Friday.
“For years, thousands have been systematically starved, beaten, and tortured to their deaths in Syria’s prisons. By using the Torture Convention to demand justice for their plight, the Netherlands is standing for countless victims in an action that could ultimately trigger a case at the world’s highest court.” Jarrah added.
CNN’s Taylor Barnes in Atlanta and Eyad Kurdi in Gaziantep, Turkey, contributed to this report.
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