Syria Out of Media Spotlight, but War and Suffering Continue
Voice of America
GENEVA - A U.N. panel of experts warns that while Syria’s 10 year long civil conflict may have fallen off the world’s media spotlight, the fighting and suffering of millions of people is far from over. The three-member Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria has submitted its latest report to the UN human rights council. Syria no longer is subject to the wholesale killings of civilians, to chemical weapons attacks, to the carpet bombing of cities and other atrocities that have ravaged this once vibrant land. Nevertheless, the three-member Commission of Inquiry warns the war continues in earnest in some places and simmers in others, while civilians are abused with impunity.
Additionally, Commission chair Paulo Pinheiro says Syria’s civil strife has long ago ceased to be a home-made struggle between the Assad government and its domestic opponents. He says Syria is up for grabs by powerful countries who seek to exert influence in the region. “Five international armies, their proxies and a plethora of other non-State actors continue to fight in Syria to this day, including the air forces of the Russian Federation, the United States and Israel. Civilians must navigate through all of these actors and their conflicting agendas as they simply attempt to go about their lives,” he said. The most critical situation is in Idlib Governorate in northwest Syria. Pinheiro says more than 2.7 million internally displaced people there are living in desperate conditions. He says they are at risk of violence from the Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham terrorist group and Turkish and Syrian troops.A TV screen shows a file image of North Korea's rocket launch during a news program at a bus terminal in Seoul, South Korea, May 27, 2024. FILE - Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi speaks to reporters in Colombo, July 29, 2023. FILE - A TV screen shows a report of North Korea's spy satellite into orbit with its third launch attempt this year with an image of North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Nov. 22, 2023.
Palestinians gather at the site of an Israeli strike on a camp for internally displaced people in Rafah on May 27, 2024. Fire rages following an Israeli strike on an area designated for displaced Palestinians, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, in this still picture taken from a video, May 26, 2024. Palestinians gather at the site of an Israeli strike on a camp for internally displaced people in Rafah on May 27, 2024. A member of the bomb squad of the Israeli police collects debris after a rocket fired by Palestinian militants struck in the Israeli city of Herzliya on May 26, 2024.