For Immediate Release
As the Syrian area of eastern Ghouta suffered a third successive day of relentless bombing, with reports of hundreds of civilian deaths and more than a dozen health care facilities targeted, Physicians for Human Rights put out the following statement, attributable to Director of International Policy and Partnerships Susannah Sirkin:
“The devastating truth about the humanitarian crisis in eastern Ghouta is that the unspeakable suffering we are witnessing was deliberately planned and meticulously implemented over time. The current situation is the lethal result of a conscious strategy of besiegement, blocking of aid, and, ultimately, the illegal destruction of civilian targets with bombs – a tactic the Syrian government and its allies initiated in Aleppo, and are now repeating with brutality in eastern Ghouta.
“We demand an immediate and UN-enforced cessation of all hostilities in Syria. We demand immediate, unhindered, and sustained access to humanitarian aid across the country, giving priority to the areas which are most in need, including eastern Ghouta. We demand protection of health care facilities, health care workers, and their patients in Syria. And we demand peace with justice for the Syrian people, who have for too long been held hostage to warring parties that do not respect their basic right to exist.”
Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) is a New York-based advocacy organization that uses science and medicine to prevent mass atrocities and severe human rights violations. Learn more here.