Following the report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic on war crimes in Northern Syria, 68 MEPs have written a letter to the EP president.
Brussels, October 19, 2020
To M. Davide Sassoli,President of the European Parliament
M. Sassoli,
We, the Members of the European Parliament, take note of the recent United Nations Report of the Independent Internationale Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic, which was presented to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) on the 14th August 2020.
The report states that there are clear and evidential violations of human rights in North-Syria. These violations are (among others) conducted by the Turkish auxiliary forces such as “the Suleiman Shah Brigade”, “the Hamza Brigade” or “the Sultan Murad Brigade”. These groups hold power in the Afrin-Al Bab region as well as in the Tal Abyad-Serekaniye region.
Victims of these violations complain about various atrocities ranging from rape and sexual violence to abductions and extrajudicial killing etc. The, mostly Kurdish, victims who could flee from these atrocities are currently located in the regions of the Autonomous Administration of North-East Syria (AANES).
We demand that the Turkish government ceases its political, economic, and military support for all groups who are part of these systematic human rights violations. We are calling on the Turkish military and their auxiliary forces to end their illegal occupation in North-Syria and retreat from the region.
Therefore, we call on the President of the European Parliament to form a special delegation of elected parliamentarians to travel to the regions of the Autonomous Administration of North-East Syria as soon as the corona-related travel restrictions are lifted and health concerns while traveling no longer exist. The goal of sending a delegation on the spot is to gather further information on the situation, start a dialogue with the political body of the AANES, and to engage in talks with people who fled the contested areas under Turkish occupation. This would allow to investigate the UNHRC reports and to identify possible responsible figures of these atrocities, to start prosecutions within the framework of the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Members of the European ParliamentALFONSI Francois (Greens/EFA); ANDREWS Barry (Renew); ARENA Maria (S&D); AUKEN Margrete (Greens/EFA); BARRENA Pernando (GUE/NGL); BELLAMY Francois-Xavier (EPP); BENIFEI Brando (S&D); BITEAU Benoit (Greens/EFA); BJÖRK Malin (GUE/NGL); BOMPARD Manuel (GUE/NGL); BRGLEZ Milan (S&D); BULLMANN Udo (S&D); CAREME Damien (Greens/EFA); CASTALDO Fabio Massimo (NI); CHAIBI Leila (GUE/NGL); CHRISTOFOROU Lefteris (EPP); CIUHODARU Tudor (S&D); COMIN I OLIVERES Antoni (NI); CORMAND David (Greens/EFA); DELBOS-CORFIELD Gwendoline (Greens/EFA); DELLI Karima (Greens/EFA); GEUKING Helmut (ECR); GRUFFAT Claude (Greens/EFA); GUSMÃO José (GUE/NGL); HAUTALA Heidi (Greens/EFA); HEIDE Hannes (S&D); INCIR Evin (S&D); JADOT Yannick (Greens/EFA); KAILI Eva (S&D); KANKO Assita (ECR); KIZILYÜREK Niyazi (GUE/NGL); KOKKALIS Petros (GUE/NGL); KONEČNÁ Kateřina (GUE/NGL); KÖSTER Dietmar (S&D); MANDL Lukas (PPE); MARQUARDT Erik (Greens/EFA); MATIAS Marisa (GUE/NGL); MAVRIDES Costas (S&D); MICHELS Martina (GUE/NGL); MODIG Silvia (GUE/NGL); PAPADAKIS Demetris (S&D); PAPADIMOULIS Dimitrios (GUE/NGL); PINEDA Manu (GUE/NGL); PONSATI Clara (NI); PUIGDEMONT Carles (NI); REGO Sira(GUE/NGL); RIBA I GINER Diana (Greens/EFA); RIVASI Michèle (Greens/EFA); RODRÍGUEZ PALOP Eugenia (GUE/NGL); ROOKMAKER Dorien (NI); ROOSE Caroline (Greens/EFA); SANTOS Isabel (S&D); SATOURI Mounir (Greens/EFA); SCHIEDER Andreas (S&D); SCHOLZ Helmut (GUE/NGL); SIDL Guenther (S&D); SINČIĆ Ivan Vilibor (NI); SMERIGLIO Massimiliano (S&D); SONNEBORN Martin (NI); STRIK Tineke (Greens/EFA); TOUSSAINT Marie (Greens/EFA); URBAN CRESPO Miguel (GUE/NGL); VANA Monika (Greens/EFA); VILLUMSEN Nikolaj (GUE/NGL); VOLLATH Bettina (S&D); YENBOU Salima (Greens/EFA); ŽDANOKA Tatjana (Greens/EFA); ZVER Milan (PPE)
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