Qatar call to prosecute war crimes in Syria

Qatar has emphasized the importance of continuing efforts with the United Nations, UN Member States and civil society to ensure the effective implementation of the international, impartial and independent mechanism to assist in the investigation and prosecution of those responsible for the crimes committed in Syria since 2011.

This came in a high-level event organised by the Permanent Missions of the State of Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey held at the UN Headquarters in New York under the title "Aleppo: Humanity Under Siege," during which the audience listened to testimony of three doctors from the Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS) on the suffering of the besieged population in eastern Aleppo neighbourhoods.

In a closing speech of the high-level event, Ambassador Sheikha Alia Ahmed bin Saif Al Thani, the Permanent Representative of Qatar to the United Nations, said the presence of these physicians and their colleagues is important to shed light on the true scale of the suffering and crimes committed against the defenceless population of besieged areas in Syria, which remain inaccessible.
The east of Aleppo was the scene of countless crimes against civilians as described in several United Nations reports, she said, adding that people in eastern Aleppo were not only subjected to indiscriminate attacks

but they also the "war crime of forced displacement," which should investigated.

Such atrocities were the reason for the establishment of an independent and impartial international mechanism to assist in the investigation and prosecution of those responsible for the crimes committed in Syria since 2011 adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations, she said.

The Ambassador warned against impunity, which has contributed to the systematic escalation of violence and atrocities, stressing the importance and necessity of starting a campaign to prevent the recurrence of similar atrocities on any scale. She reiterated the need to reach a political solution to the crisis in Syria to end the bloodshed on the basis of the Geneva communique and Security Council Resolution 2254 to meet the legitimate aspirations of the Syrian people. 
Meanwhile, Qatar also participated in a meeting in The Hague of senior officials to discuss how to ensure accountability for serious crimes committed in Syria. 
The meeting was called by Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs Bert Koenders in order to follow up the implementation of the UN General Assembly Resolution No. 71/248, which was an initiative by Qatar and Liechtenstein.