SHAFAQNA – Amnesty International has mildly criticized a recent US strike on a Syrian airbase, noting that a “knee-jerk reaction” is no substitute for a proper investigation into chemical attacks.
“It’s one thing to have some air strikes by the US on a one-off basis, but it’s not going to address this problem,” said Amnesty’s Secretary General Salil Shetty on Tuesday.
US warships deployed to the eastern Mediterranean launched a barrage of 59 Tomahawk missiles against Shayrat Airfield, southeast of the western Syrian city of Homs, on Friday. Washington, without providing any evidence, alleged that the attack came in response to a chemical attack by the Syrian government in Khan Shaykhun.
Syria has categorically denied carrying out the gas attack, with the foreign ministry stressing that an Idlib airstrike had targeted a depot, where terrorists stored chemical weapons.
“The biggest challenge we have in Syria, the reason why this keeps happening again and again is because there is no accountability and no justice,” Shetty said.
He added that such actions only serve to prove that the world’s ability to enforce human rights is in “shambles.”
Shetty also slammed all five permanent members of the UN Security Council for playing “politics” amid the situation in Syria.
“Instead of taking care of global peace and global interests, they play politics,” Shetty added.
He also noted that US President Donald Trump’s Muslim travel ban, was in “complete contradiction” to the distress he was showing for the victims of the Khan Shaykhun attack.
Through an executive order, Trump has been trying to impose an entry ban on citizens from several Muslim countries.