Canada placed new sanctions on Syria on Friday in a bid to pressure President Bashar Assad to cease attacking his own people.
Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland said 17 high-ranking officials in the Assad regime, along with five organizations that may have used chemical weapons, have been placed on a list that freezes their assets in Canada and prohibits dealing with them.
“Canada is working with its allies to put an end to the war in Syria and to hold those responsible to account,” Freeland said in a statement on the government’s website. “Today’s announcement of additional sanctions against key officials in the Syrian regime sends a strong, unified message to the Assad regime that their war crimes will not be tolerated and that they will be held accountable for their actions.”
Canada had already applied sanctions against 27 high-ranking officials earlier this month.
Canada is committed to international efforts to end the Syrian civil war that has killed hundreds of thousands and spawned an international refugee crisis, CTV News reported.
Freeland previously called on Russian President Vladimir Putin, an ally of Syria, to step in to find a way to remove Assad and bring peace to Syria, according to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
Canada is contributing more than CAN$1.6 billion over the course of three years toward security, stabilization, and humanitarian and development assistance in response to the crises in Iraq and Syria and their effect on neighboring countries, the government website stated.