Amnesty highlights historic opportunity to address 'grave' human rights violations in Syria

Amnesty International has urged for justice against those responsible for rights violations in Syria, describing the period following Bashar al-Assad’s fall as a “historic opportunity” to bring an end to decades of grave human rights violations.

“Under the rule of Bashar al-Assad, and before him his father Hafez al-Assad, Syrians have been subjected to a horrifying catalogue of human rights violations that caused untold human suffering on a vast scale," Amnesty International head Agnes Callamard said in a statement. 

"Suspected perpetrators of crimes under international law and other serious human rights violations must be investigated and, if warranted, prosecuted for their crimes in fair trials and without the possibility of the death penalty," Callamard said.