War crimes ambassador: Russia, al-Assad regime vulnerable to prosecution
Source: CNN
Members of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime could be prosecuted in national courts outside Syria -- and Russia could be vulnerable to prosecution for backing them -- a long-time American war crimes official told CNN's Christiane Amanpour on Tuesday.
"These are men, women, and children tortured to death, eyes gouged out, etc. That is not the way that you build the future of Syria," said Stephen Rapp, who until August had served for six years as the U.S. State Department's ambassador-at-large for war crimes issues. "This kind of criminal conduct can't be condoned, and people that go in on his side are endangering themselves in terms of being prosecuted."
"We've had these sorts of cases where people who support proxy forces can be held responsible. I don't think that should be the focus here, because the focus is al-Assad ... but it is important to recognize that going in to support him is also something in which you" allow human rights abuses to continue.
The focus is al-Assad, Rapp said, because he is responsible for the vast majority of abuses in Syria -- even as ISIS runs rampant over a huge territory of the country and grabs the world's attention. Al-Assad has denied his regime uses the forms of warfare that have killed so many civilians -- like indiscriminate barrel bombing.
Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2015/10/06/world/rapp-syria-amanpour/
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catnhatnh
(8,976 posts)You mean like when a gunship continues firing at a known civilian hospital because proxy forces on the ground report enemy contact??
uhnope
(6,419 posts)catnhatnh
(8,976 posts)I carry it with me in my vehicle. In my vehicle I have a gps receiver I bought for $50 dollars that came with software I downloaded on this computer. When I plug it in guess what it shows??? That's right-with $250 I know where I am in relationship to every civilian hospital in the United States. Are you suggesting a $132 million AC130 Gunship is more poorly equipped than my aging Ford Focus?
uhnope
(6,419 posts)damn I bet Ban Ki-moon will want to take your testimony personally
as both a cogent reply and as sarcasm...
uhnope
(6,419 posts)from being jerked around too much?
Anyway I'm sure the investigation is waiting breathlessly for your Ford Focus files.
meanwhile read this http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=7238006
NuclearDem
(16,184 posts)are in any way remotely comparable to those in Afghanistan.
bemildred
(90,061 posts)JackRiddler
(24,979 posts)Misleading headline suggests an uncompromised observer.
Monk06
(7,675 posts)of the International War Crimes Tribunal over US forces.
I think Russia will tell the US State Department to go shit in their hat.
I love how Kerry said on the Colbert show that Russia was making a grave mistake aligning itself with the Assad regime in the fight against ISIS
Russia has been an ally of the Syrian government since 1973 ! It is the US that is arming rebel hit squads via CIA training and those forces are defecting to ISIS immediately upon graduation with all their gear and training.
It wouldn't be much of an exaggeration to say that the CIA is ISIS in Syria, de facto. Wouldn't be the first time starting with the CIA Iran coup in 1953 where they installed Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi after Mohammad Mosaddeq was deposed.
Interesting side note the 1953 Iran coup, the Shah's security forces known as the feared SAVAK were trained by none other than Norman Schwarzkopf, then a major general, who was sent there by the CIA specifically for that purpose.
The US has absolutely no credibility in the middle east any more than it had and has in South East Asia or the Ukraine.
