Thread by @Syria_Irl

Excellent letter from @RonanLTynan
Director of superb #BringingAssadToJustice

Impunity for crimes vs humanity in Syria emboldened Putun in #Ukraine, impunity must end

(Watch the film, even more crucial than ever, link on bringingassadtojustice.com)
irishtimes.com/opinion/letter…

' @IrishTimes editorial “Russian atrocities in Ukraine: Bucha must be a turning point” crystallised the huge moral question facing the EU & Ireland: “If the evidence of apparent war crimes committed in Ukraine is not sufficient to justify the harshest possible measures, what is?”

'@IrishTimes drew attention to fact that we ignored Putin’s equally egregious crimes in Syria & Chechnya. I would argue the war crimes & crimes against humanity committed in Syria gave Putin the confidence to believe he could get away with literally anything in Ukraine'

'We spent three years making the documentary Bringing Assad to Justice researching some of the most horrific crimes committed against civilians in Syria by President Assad with President Putin to ensure the former held on to onto power and violated every norm of civilisation.'

@RonanLTynan
'The Russian leader saw clearly that Assad held on to power through torture prisons & massacres & the unimaginable cruelty involved in that from of governance drew nothing but a pathetic response from the EU and US.'

'Leading Syrian human rights lawyers Anwar al-Bunni & Mazen Darwish, themselves tortured brutally & imprisoned by Assad, told me their pursuit of accountability was not just about Syria'.

They believe that without accountability, same crimes will be perpetrated across the world

'Watching the same savagery visited daily on Ukraine that was inflicted on the Syrian people for the last 11 years it is very painfully clear if accountability was pursued in Syria the horror being inflicted on Ukrainians could have been averted'

'Possible to deter atrocities & influence calculations of Russian commanders, who gained their experience committing atrocities in Syria, showing there will be accountability for crimes in Ukraine by pursuing accountability in Syria now, given “more evidence than at Nuremberg”