Myriads are the hardships and dangers facing human rights defenders and journalists working in conflict zones. This is particularly true in Syria where they risk their lives documenting grave violations and international crimes perpetrated by warring parties, paving the way for eventual accountability and peace. This work is all the more critical in light of the Syrian government’s persistent refusal to grant international independent monitors access to its territory.
The plight of Syrian human rights activists was the focus of an oral intervention jointly presented by the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network (EMHRN) and the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS) on the occasion of the interactive dialogue on the latest report of the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria (COI), which was convened in Geneva on September 8 as part of the 27th session of the UN Human Rights Council.
The intervention highlighted the ongoing unfair trial of the Syrian journalist Mazen Darwish and his colleagues at the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression (SCM), as well as the disappearance of Syrian lawyer and head of the Center for the Documentation of Violations (VDC) Razan Zeitouna, who was abducted, along with three of her colleagues, by opposition armed groups more than nine months ago.
In response to concerns raised by the joint intervention, COI chairman Paulo Pinheiro announced in his statement that the commission’s forthcoming report would focus on the dangers facing human rights defenders and journalists in Syria.
“Syria was probably the most dangerous country in the world for journalists and human rights defenders, and the Commission’s next report would focus on attacks against them.” Said Mr. Pinheiro
The organizations welcome this decision and reiterate their support to the efforts deployed by the COI to shed light on all violations and crimes perpetrated in Syria.
The organizations demand that the HRC finally assumes its responsibilities to defend the interests of victims in Syria by firmly urging the UN Security Council to refer the case of Syria to the International Criminal Court.
Read the oral intervention in English and Arabic.
Click here to watch the full video. Click directly on Chapter 44 to watch the intervention by Mr. Bassim Al Ahmad 01:42:01.