By Amnesty International Canada Staff
Thank you to the hundreds of thousands of Amnesty International supporters worldwide who took action so quickly to urge safety and protection for the civilians trapped last week in Aleppo.
Our voice helped put serious pressure on key governments and the UN Security Council to help ensure that people were evacuated safely out of Aleppo, and that UN monitors will be deployed to protect civilians.
The UN Security Council voted on December 19th to deploy UN monitors to make sure that people are evacuated, and these evacuations are nearly complete. And now, the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution establishing an independent international mechanism to ensure accountability for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Syria since March 2011. With this resolution, the General Assembly helps overcome the Security Council’s deadlock on accountability and is the first step toward justice for thousands of victims.
But it’s not just people in Aleppo needing our help. Across Syria, people are being tortured and badly treated in prisons and other places of detention. Amnesty International has documented these practices and, with your help we’re urging authorities to get UN monitors into these places as well, to stop these human rights abuses. Through our research and campaigning, Amnesty International has pushed hard – this year and many years previous – to expose the intensity and scale of war crimes by all parties to the conflict in Syria. Amnesty has:
- documented torture and other abuses in Syrian prisons.
- pressed for justice and accountability.
- demanded an arms embargo.
- urged that humanitarian passages be opened up to reach civilians and allow them to flee to safety.
- called on governments to respond more generously to the overwhelming needs of Syrian refugees, whose desperate and deadly journeys across the Mediterranean to reach safety have become truly heartbreaking.
Our actions and continued pressure are essential to ensure the protection of civilians. In the face of this brutal conflict, every action you take, no matter how small, makes a difference.
Here’s how you can help:
1. Sign and share our action
Hundreds of thousands of Amnesty supporters like you have signed our global petition calling for the protection of civilians at risk in Aleppo. We need to ensure that monitors are in place to ensure the safety of civilians
>>> Take action now
2. Donate now.
Your donations are vital to ensuring Amnesty International has the capacity to send our crisis researchers into the field, in Syria, in Darfur, Iraq, wherever civilian lives are in danger. Donate by December 31st, and thanks to a generous supporter who values our work to protect the most vulnerable populations, your gift will be doubled.
>>> Donate online
OR
>>> Text AMNESTY to 45678 to donate $10 in support of our crisis work
3. Watch and share our video.
Amnesty International works to protect human rights in crisis and conflict around the world. Help support this work by sharing our crisis response video.
4. Learn more about the ongoing crisis.
Visit our Syria webpage to learn about our work to end the crisis in Syria or read the latest reports from the field:
> UN Resolution paves way for accountability on war crimes (December 22, 2016)
> UN Security Council Aleppo resolution long overdue (19 December 2016)
> Syria: Reports of execution-style killings in Aleppo point to war crimes (13 December 2016)
> Uniting for Peace in Syria: Global Civil Society Appeal to UN Member States (1 December 2016)
> UN must intensify scrutiny of Russia’s role in Syria (23 November 2016)
