RES/31/17 The human rights situation in the Syrian Arab Republic

Human Rights Council Thirty-first session

Agenda item 4

Resolution adopted by the Human Rights Council on 23 March 2016

31/17. The human rights situation in the Syrian Arab Republic

The Human Rights Council,

Guided by the Charter of the United Nations,

Reaffirming all previous Human Rights Council resolutions on the Syrian Arab

Republic,

Welcoming the adoption by the Security Council of its resolution 2268 (2016) on 26

February 2016,

Reaffirming its strong commitment to the full respect of the sovereignty,

independence, unity and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic,

Demanding that the Syrian authorities meet their responsibility to protect the Syrian

population,

Condemning the grave deterioration of the human rights situation and the

indiscriminate or deliberate targeting of civilians as such, in violation of international

humanitarian law, and acts of violence that foment sectarian tensions,

Recalling the statements made by the Secretary-General and United Nations High

Commissioner for Human Rights that crimes against humanity and war crimes are likely to

have been committed in the Syrian Arab Republic,

Recalling also that, amid expressions of popular discontent over restrictions on the

enjoyment of civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, civilian protests erupted

in Dar’a in March 2011, and noting that the excessive and violent suppression of civilian

protests by the Syrian authorities, which later escalated to the direct shelling of civilians,

fuelled the escalation of armed violence and extremist groups,

Expressing its deepest concern about the findings of the Independent International

Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic, and the allegations of torture and

executions based on the evidence presented by the “Caesar” report in January 2014

regarding the torture and execution of persons incarcerated by the Syrian authorities, and

underscoring the need for those allegations and similar evidence to be collected, examined

and made available for future accountability efforts,

United Nations A/HRC/RES/31/17

Noting the observation of the Commission of Inquiry that the Syrian authorities have

conducted enforced disappearances and widespread attacks against the civilian population

as a matter of policy,

Recognizing that arbitrary detention and enforced disappearances in the Syrian Arab

Republic have increasingly targeted persons belonging to communities believed to support

armed groups or to be insufficiently loyal to the Government or to other parties to the

conflict, which has had a traumatic impact on victims and their families,

Deploring the lack of cooperation by the Syrian authorities with the Commission of

Inquiry,

Expressing full support for the diplomatic efforts of the Special Envoy of the

Secretary-General for Syria, and stressing that rapid progress on a political solution should

include full and meaningful participation by all segments of Syrian society, including

women, and represents the only sustainable way to resolve the situation in the Syrian Arab

Republic peacefully, consistent with Security Council resolution 2254 (2015) of 18

December 2015,

Welcoming the efforts of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the

Empowerment of Women to highlight the needs of women and girls and to promote their

role in conflict-resolution and peacebuilding,

Acknowledging the ongoing efforts by human rights defenders active in the Syrian

Arab Republic to document violations and abuses of international human rights law and

violations of international humanitarian law, despite grave risks,

1. Welcomes the cessation of hostilities in the Syrian Arab Republic, demands

that all parties to the cessation of hostilities in the Syrian Arab Republic fulfil their

commitments, and urges all Member States, especially the members of the International

Syria Support Group, to use their influence with the parties to the cessation of hostilities to

ensure fulfilment of those commitments, to support efforts to create conditions for a durable

and lasting ceasefire, which is essential to achieving a political solution to the conflict in

the Syrian Arab Republic and to bringing the systematic, widespread and gross violations

and abuses of human rights and violations of humanitarian law to an end;

2. Also welcomes the work of the Independent International Commission of

Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic, and notes the importance of the work of the

Commission of Inquiry and the information it has collected in support of future

accountability efforts, in particular the information on those who have allegedly violated

international law;

3. Demands that the Syrian authorities cooperate fully with the Human Rights

Council and the Commission of Inquiry by granting it immediate, full and unfettered access

throughout the Syrian Arab Republic;

4. Decides to extend for one year the mandate of the Commission of Inquiry,

established by the Human Rights Council in its resolution S-17/1 of 23 August 2011, to

investigate all alleged violations and abuses of international human rights law since March

2011 in the Syrian Arab Republic, to establish the facts and circumstances and to support

efforts to ensure that perpetrators of abuses and violations, including those who may be

responsible for crimes against humanity, are held accountable;

5. Requests the Commission of Inquiry to provide an oral update during an

interactive dialogue at the thirty-second session of the Human Rights Council and to

present a written updated report during the interactive dialogue at the thirty-third and thirty-

fourth sessions;

6. Strongly condemns the continued systematic, widespread and gross violations

and abuses of human rights and all violations of international humanitarian law by the

Syrian authorities and affiliated militias, including foreign terrorist fighters and those

foreign organizations fighting on behalf of the Syrian authorities, in particular Hizbullah,

and expresses deep concern that their involvement further exacerbates the deteriorating

situation in the Syrian Arab Republic, including the human rights and humanitarian

situation, which has a serious negative impact on the region;

7. Stresses the importance of efforts to sustain the Cessation of Hostilities that

came into force on 27 February 2016 and the delivery of humanitarian assistance, and of

the full implementation of Security Council resolutions 2178 (2014) of 24 September 2014,

2199 (2015) of 12 February 2015, 2249 (2015) of 20 November 2015, 2253 (2015) of 17

December 2015, 2254 (2015) and 2268 (2016);

8. Strongly condemns the terrorist acts and violence committed against civilians

by the so-called Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Daesh), al-Nusrah Front or other

terrorist organizations designated by the Security Council, and their continued gross,

systematic and widespread abuses of international human rights law and violations of

international humanitarian law, and reaffirms that terrorism, including the actions of the so-

called Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Daesh), cannot and should not be associated

with any religion, nationality or civilization;

9. Condemns in the strongest terms the gross and systematic abuse of women’s

and children’s rights by the so-called Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Daesh), in

particular the enslavement and sexual abuse of women and girls, enforced disappearances

and the forced recruitment and abduction of children;

10. Condemns all violations and abuses of international human rights law and all

violations of international humanitarian law, including against women and children, and

persons with disabilities, and urges all parties to the conflict not to commit indiscriminate

attacks against the civilian population and civilian objects, including against medical

facilities and schools as such, to comply with their obligations under international

humanitarian law and to respect international human rights law;

11. Strongly condemns the widespread practice of enforced disappearance and

the use of sexual violence and torture, especially in detention centres, including those acts

referenced in the reports of the Commission of Inquiry, as well as those depicted in the

evidence presented by “Caesar” in January 2014, notes that such acts may constitute

violations or abuses of international human rights law or violations of international

humanitarian law, condemns the denial of medical services in all prisons and detention

facilities, recognizes the permanent damage from torture to victims and their families, and

calls for the appropriate international monitoring bodies to be granted immediate access

without undue restriction to all detainees and for the Syrian authorities to publish a list of

all detention facilities;

12. Also strongly condemns all enforced disappearance and arbitrary detention by

the Syrian authorities and all parties to the conflict, and demands the immediate release of

all persons arbitrarily detained, including women, children, human rights defenders,

humanitarian aid providers, medical personnel and journalists;

13. Welcomes the fact that the Joint Investigative Mechanism, which was

established by the Security Council in its resolution 2235 (2015) of 7 August 2015 to

identify those involved in the use of any toxic chemical, such as chlorine or any other

chemical, as a weapon in the Syrian Arab Republic, became fully operational in November

2015, and calls upon all parties in the Syrian Arab Republic to extend their full cooperation

to the Joint Investigative Mechanism and the fact-finding mission and the declaration

assessment team of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, and

underscores the importance of seeking accountability for those responsible for violations of

international humanitarian law in this context;

14. Reiterates its condemnation in the strongest terms of any use of any toxic

chemical, such as chlorine, as a weapon in the Syrian Arab Republic, and recalls the

decision of the Security Council that the Syrian Arab Republic shall not use, develop,

produce, otherwise acquire, stockpile or retain chemical weapons, or transfer, directly or

indirectly, chemical weapons to other States or non-State actors;1

15. Calls upon the Syrian authorities and all other parties to the conflict to ensure

the effective implementation of Security Council resolutions 2139 (2014) of 22 February

2014 and 2254 (2015), in which the Council strongly condemned the arbitrary detention

and torture of civilians in the Syrian Arab Republic, notably in prisons and detention

facilities, as well as kidnappings, abductions and forced disappearances, and demanded the

immediate end of these practices;

16. Strongly condemns all use of starvation of civilians as a method of combat,

and all besiegement directed against civilian populations;

17. Condemns the destruction of the structures of civilian life as a result of the

conflict, and calls upon all parties to comply fully with their obligations under international

law, including the obligation to distinguish military from civilian objectives, and,

accordingly, to refrain from deliberately targeting civilians and to put an end to all

indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks;

18. Also condemns the Syrian authorities’ use of heavy weapons, cluster

munitions and aerial bombardments, including any indiscriminate use of ballistic missiles

and barrel bombs, and attacks against civilian infrastructure, including medical facilities;

19. Condemns in the strongest terms the increasing number of mass casualty

incidents, including any which may constitute a war crime, taking place in the Syrian Arab

Republic, and requests the Commission of Inquiry to continue to investigate all such acts;

20. Stresses the need to promote accountability for those responsible for the

unlawful killings of civilians, and also stresses the importance of holding to account those

responsible for all violations of international humanitarian law and violations and abuses of

international human rights law;

21. Strongly condemns violence against all persons based on their religious or

ethnic affiliation;

22. Demands that all parties take all appropriate steps to protect civilians,

including members of ethnic, religious and confessional communities, and stresses that, in

this regard, the primary responsibility to protect the Syrian population lies with the Syrian

authorities;

23. Strongly condemns the damage and destruction of the cultural heritage of the

Syrian Arab Republic, and the organized looting and trafficking of its cultural property, as

outlined by the Security Council in its resolution 2199 (2015);

24. Also strongly condemns the reported forced displacement of the population in

the Syrian Arab Republic and the alarming impact on the demography of the country, and

calls upon all parties concerned to cease immediately all activities related to these actions,

including any activities that may amount to crimes against humanity;

1 See Security Council resolution 2235 (2015).

25. Calls upon the international community to support the leadership and full

participation of women in all efforts aimed at finding a political solution to the Syrian Arab

Republic, as envisaged by the Security Council in its resolutions 1325 (2000) of 31 October

2000, 2122 (2013) of 18 October 2013 and 2254 (2015);

26. Recalls that the International Criminal Court was established to help to end

impunity for such crimes where the State is unwilling or unable to genuinely carry out

investigations or prosecutions;

27. Emphasizes the need to ensure that all those responsible for violations of

international humanitarian law or violations and abuses of international human rights law

are held to account through appropriate, fair and independent domestic or international

criminal justice mechanisms, and stresses the need to pursue practical steps towards this

goal, noting the important role that the International Criminal Court can play in this regard;

28. Reaffirms that, in the context of an inclusive and credible dialogue, the Syrian

people should determine the appropriate process and mechanisms to achieve justice,

reconciliation, truth and accountability for gross violations and abuses of international law,

as well as reparations and effective remedies for victims;

29. Emphasizes that all efforts to bring a peaceful conclusion to the ongoing

conflict in the Syrian Arab Republic must fully reflect the importance of ensuring

accountability for the crimes committed in the country as a prerequisite to bring about

reconciliation and sustainable peace;

30. Reaffirms its commitment to international efforts to find a political solution

to the Syrian crisis that meets the legitimate aspirations of the Syrian people for a civil,

democratic and pluralistic State, where all citizens are equal, regardless of gender, religion

and ethnicity;

31. Expresses deep concern at the growing number of refugees and internally

displaced persons fleeing the violence in the Syrian Arab Republic, welcomes the efforts by

neighbouring countries to host Syrian refugees, and acknowledges the socioeconomic

consequences of the presence of large-scale refugee populations in those countries;

32. Deplores the deteriorating humanitarian situation in the Syrian Arab

Republic, and urges the international community to provide urgent financial support to

enable the host countries to respond to the growing humanitarian needs of Syrian refugees,

while emphasizing the principle of burden-sharing;

33. Welcomes the initiative of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern

Ireland, Germany, Norway and Kuwait to co-host the London conference on 4 February

2016, which raised new funding to meet the immediate and long-term needs of those

affected by the Syrian crisis, and calls upon all members of the international community to

respond expeditiously to the Syrian humanitarian appeals and to fulfil all previous pledges;

34. Demands that the Syrian authorities facilitate, and all other parties to the

conflict do not hinder, the full, immediate and safe access of the United Nations and

humanitarian actors, including to hard-to-reach and besieged areas, in accordance with

Security Council resolutions 2139 (2014), 2165 (2014) of 14 July 2014, 2191 (2014) of 17

December 2014, 2254 (2015), 2258 (2015) of 22 December 2015 and 2268 (2016), and

calls upon Member States to fund fully the United Nations appeals;

35. Takes note of those countries outside the region that have put in place

measures and policies to assist and to host Syrian refugees, and encourages them to do

more, and encourages other States outside the region to consider implementing similar

measures and policies, also with a view to providing Syrian refugees with protection and

humanitarian assistance;

36. Reaffirms that there can only be a political solution to the conflict in the

Syrian Arab Republic, and urges the parties to the conflict to abstain from actions that may

contribute to the continuing deterioration of the human rights, security and humanitarian

situation, in order to reach a genuine political transition, based on the Geneva communiqué,

consistent with Security Council resolutions 2254 (2015) and 2268 (2016);

37. Demands that all parties work urgently towards the comprehensive

implementation of the Geneva communiqué, including through the establishment of an

inclusive transitional governing body with full executive powers, which shall be formed on

the basis of mutual consent while ensuring the continuity of governmental institutions;

38. Decides to transmit all reports and oral updates of the Commission of Inquiry

to all relevant bodies of the United Nations, recommends that the General Assembly submit

the reports to the Security Council for appropriate action, expresses its appreciation to the

Commission for its briefings to members of the Security Council, and recommends the

continuation of future briefings;

39. Also decides to remain seized of the matter.

63rd meeting

23 March 2016

[Adopted by a recorded vote of 27 to 6, with 14 abstentions. The voting was as follows:

In favour:

Albania, Belgium, Botswana, Côte d’Ivoire, El Salvador, France, Georgia,

Germany, Ghana, Latvia, Maldives, Mexico, Mongolia, Morocco,

Netherlands, Panama, Paraguay, Portugal, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Saudi

Arabia, Slovenia, Switzerland, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia,

Togo, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern

Ireland

Against:

Algeria, Bolivia (Plurinational State of), China, Cuba, Russian Federation,

Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)

Abstaining:

Bangladesh, Burundi, Congo, Ecuador, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Kenya,

Kyrgyzstan, Namibia, Nigeria, Philippines, South Africa, Viet Nam]