BY:EPA/Kiyoshi Ota
The war in Syria and increased Russian belligerence are two of the greatest threats to international peace and security, and are highly interlinked, a global coalition of organisations including Avaaz, the White Helmets and the Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies said today. In advance of a major foreign ministers’ summit happening in Toronto this weekend, the organisations called on the Governments of the G7 countries to develop a more robust and coherent response to both – and how they might use the upcoming World Cup in Russia for political leverage.
On April 22 in Toronto the G7 foreign ministers will meet their international counterparts under the theme of ‘Building a more Peaceful and Secure World’. The coalition urged ministers to use the summit to develop a comprehensive and coordinated strategy to deliver a nationwide cessation of hostilities in Syria, increased humanitarian access, a revitalized peace process and accountability for gross violations of international humanitarian law.
“For seven years the Syrian government has committed mass atrocities with impunity,” Dr Simon Adams of the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect said. “The world needs the G7 to develop a more coordinated and consistent strategy for defending international norms and laws. Syria must not be allowed to become the graveyard of the global principles of human rights and humanitarianism.”