The International Commission of Inquiry on Syria on Wednesday urged world leaders to prevent Ukraine from being "destroyed" after 11 years of conflict, and warned that war could flare up again in Syria.
Commission Chairman Paulo Pinheiro spoke about the millions of displaced people in Syria and more than 100,000 people who are missing or forcibly disappeared, also referring to an unprecedented poverty rate of 90%, and widespread violations of human rights and crimes against humanity.
"We can only hope that world leaders are now doing everything they can to spare Ukraine a similar fate," Pinheiro told reporters.
He added that the Syrian regime and Russia's forces continued their indiscriminate bombardment of overcrowded areas in the northwest of the country, and civilians were subjected to attacks with advanced precision-guided weapons and air strikes, including strikes during which Russian fixed-wing aircraft were seen flying in the air.
The head of the committee said that the Syrian regime and Russia insist on delivering humanitarian aid from Damascus and not across the border, but that "their attacks in the northwest occur on the route through which such humanitarian aid will be transported."
"Since 2015, we have seen similar practices on the part of Russia in the conflict that we see in another country today," he added.
return of war
For his part, Hani Majali (one of the three members of the International Committee) said that the Russian forces are in Syria to help the regime, while they are in Ukraine to overthrow the government, and the Russians are using more air power in Syria and not the large numbers of ground forces as in Ukraine.
Referring to indiscriminate attacks on civilians and precision attacks on medical facilities, Majali said that "ignoring civilian casualties is one of our biggest concerns in Syria, and I hope it will not be repeated in Ukraine."
Majali explained that the pace of regular fighting has increased in the past six to nine months, with the intensification of bombing and air attacks by the regime of President Bashar al-Assad and its Russian allies, considering that this is not a war that is about to end, but rather escalates again.
He continued, "It is a destroyed country that cannot bear more of this, and we see it today sinking into a crisis wherever we look, and if the eyes are staring elsewhere, we may see parties on the ground taking advantage of the situation."
The International Commission of Inquiry on Syria expressed its hope that the civilian casualties in the Russian war on Ukraine would not be ignored again.
The commission had obtained a mandate from the United Nations Human Rights Council to investigate and document all violations of international law since March 2011 in Syria, and it is scheduled to submit its report to the council on March 18.