EU demands Syrian war crimes be brought before ICC
At the EU Council meeting of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the EU member countries the EU representatives have reached the conclusion that Syrian troops and the Russian Aerospace Forces are responsible for targeted airstrikes on schools, hospitals and other social facilities in Aleppo.
The EU condemned these actions in the Syrian city in a joint statement issued at the meeting.
The statement said that hospitals and schools have become the targets of airstrikes. The EU went on to say that the 19th of September attack on the humanitarian convoy in Syria is a clear violation of international law.
They also expressed deep regret over Russia’s veto vote against the UN Security Council’s resolution on Syria, which was made on the 8th of October. They noted that all of the other EU countries supported the draft resolution.
In addition, the EU condemned the use of chemical weapons in Syria, the numerous attacks on the civilian population and the massive violation of human rights committed by the Syrian regime and the so-called Islamic State.
The statement said that all those responsible for violations of international humanitarian law and human rights, including war crimes against humanity, should be brought to justice. The EU believes that the situation in Syria should be a subject of consideration at the International Criminal Court in The Hague. Based on this, the EU has called on the UN Security Council to adopt corresponding resolutions.
As previously reported, according to a joint statement of the EU Foreign Ministers, the intensity and scale of attacks in eastern Aleppo have escalated since the start of the Syrian regime and the subsequent involvement of the country’s allies, Russia in particular.
The intentional attacks on hospitals, medical staff, schools, necessary infrastructure, as well as the use of barrel bombs, cluster bombs and chemical weapons have caused a further increase in civilian casualties, including women and children. These attacks can be treated as war crimes.
Austria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sebastian Kurz, reported that while in Luxembourg, the Foreign Ministers discussed the possibility of imposing new sanctions against Russia. However, they preferred to call on Moscow to halt the attacks, and to conclude a new truce in order to improve the conditions of the people living in the besieged town.
“However, the discussion on sanctions isn’t over,” Kurz added. Deutsche Welle reported that the minister said that these talks may continue at the next EU summit depending on the situation in Aleppo.
Moscow however believes that all accusations made against them are groundless. Russia stated that their Aerospace Forces carried out targeted airstrikes on previously checked targets that were located outside of residential areas.