Do not allow Ukraine to become another Syria, warns the commission investigating war crimes in Syria, according to Agence France-Presse.
“Since 2015, we have seen the practice of the Russian Federation in this (Syrian) conflict, which we now see applied in another conflict,” said Paulo Pineiro, chairman of the International Independent Commission of Inquiry into Syria, referring to the conflict in Ukraine.
He recalls the millions of people who have been forced to flee their homes due to the war in Syria, as well as the more than 100,000 people who are believed to be missing in Syria.
Pineiro also reminds that the poverty rate in Syria is 90%, and that all sorts of crimes against humanity are being committed in this country.
“We can only hope that the leaders of the world will do everything possible to avoid the same fate that befell Ukraine,” he said.
Those investigating crimes in Syria also point out that the Syrian conflict seems to be intensifying, especially now that the focus has shifted to Ukraine.
Syrian and Russian troops fighting side by side continue to strike indiscriminately at densely populated civilian areas in the country’s northwest, Pineiro said. He clarifies that their attacks in northwestern Syria are taking place along roads that are to be used to transport humanitarian aid.
The tasks of the independent commission include the investigation and registration of all human rights violations committed in Syria since the beginning of the war, which has been going on for 11 years.
“Civilian abuse of civilians is our main problem in Syria, and I can only hope that it will not happen again in Ukraine,” said Hani Meghali, one of three commissions of inquiry, noting that Russia’s the army, especially the air defense, is trying to keep the government in power, while in Ukraine the Russian army has come to Ukraine with tens of thousands of ground troops.