The Human Rights Situation in the Syrian Arab Republic

A/HRC/RES/33/23View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the Human Rights Council, under agenda item 4 Human rights situations that require the Council's attention, published in 2016.

What else is in this group?

13 documents · 2011–2019

Newer documents in this group exist (latest: 2019).

Year	Symbol	Title	Word length	Text similarity
2019	A/HRC/RES/42/27	The human rights situation in the Syrian Arab Republic	5,250	–
2019	A/HRC/RES/41/23	The human rights situation in the Syrian Arab Republic	5,297	–
2019	A/HRC/RES/40/17	The human rights situation in the Syrian Arab Republic	4,861	–
2018	A/HRC/RES/39/15	The human rights situation in the Syrian Arab Republic	4,126	–
2018	A/HRC/RES/38/16	The human rights situation in the Syrian Arab Republic	3,585	–

This group bundles related documents that are not individually ordered.

What subjects does this mandate have?

19 subjects

Accountability Aleppo (Syrian Arab Republic)Arbitrary Detention Bombings Chemical Weapons Civilian Persons Conferences Disappearance of Persons Financial Assistance Human Rights in Armed Conflicts Human Rights Violations Humanitarian Assistance Internal Security International Humanitarian Law Refugees Relief Personnel Syrian Arab Republic Terrorism Torture and Other Cruel Treatment

What’s in this document?

46 operative paragraphs

Expresses its deep concern at the serious, continued violations of the cessation of hostilities in the Syrian Arab Republic, demands that all parties to the cessation of hostilities in the Syrian Arab Republic redouble their efforts to 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, and 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 to an end the systematic, widespread and gross violations and abuses of human rights and violations of humanitarian law;

Strongly condemns the military offensive on eastern Aleppo being conducted by forces loyal to the Syrian authorities, and calls upon them to halt immediately the indiscriminate bombing of the civilian population;

Also strongly condemns the airstrikes on 19 September 2016 on a United Nations/Syrian Arab Red Crescent aid convoy in rural Aleppo, which may constitute a serious violation of international humanitarian law, supports the call by the United Nations for an immediate, impartial and independent investigation into this incident, and calls upon all parties to the conflict to respect all humanitarian organizations, including personnel, facilities and other relief assets;

Welcomes the work of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic 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, 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;

Also welcomes the statement of the International Syria Support Group of 17 May 2016 in Vienna, including its request for the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Syria to facilitate agreements between the Syrian parties for the release of detainees and its call for any party holding detainees to protect the health and safety of those in their custody;

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;

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;

Also 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, 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, and stresses the importance of the full implementation of Security Council resolution 2170 (2014) of 15 August 2014;

Further strongly condemns all attacks against the Syrian moderate opposition, and calls for their immediate cessation, given that such attacks benefit the so-called Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Daesh) and other terrorist groups, such as al-Nusrah Front, and contribute to a further deterioration in the humanitarian situation;

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;

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, personnel and transport and schools as such, to comply with their obligations under international humanitarian law and to respect international human rights law;

Expresses its profound concern about the findings of the report of the Commission of Inquiry regarding the tragic and relentless level of indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks on civilians in the Syrian Arab Republic, including on medical facilities, personnel and transport, the blocked humanitarian convoys, enforced disappearances, summary executions and other violations and abuses;

Also expresses its profound concern at the findings of the Commission of Inquiry that violence has reached unprecedented levels in Aleppo and other parts of the Syrian Arab Republic, and that civilians have suffered profoundly from aerial and shelling bombardments, primarily by regime forces and its supporters;

Strongly condemns the widespread practice of enforced disappearance and arbitrary detention and the use of sexual violence, torture and ill-treatment, especially in detention centres run by the Syrian authorities, 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, and 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 that torture and ill-treatment causes to its victims and their families;

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;

Demands the immediate release of all persons arbitrarily detained, including women, children, human rights defenders, humanitarian aid providers, medical personnel and journalists;

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 actors² and, in keeping with the decision of the Council, expresses its strong conviction that those individuals responsible for the use of chemical weapons in the Syrian Arab Republic should be held accountable;

²See Security Council resolution 2235 (2015).

Strongly condemns any use of any toxic chemical, such as chlorine, as a weapon in the Syrian Arab Republic, while noting with outrage that civilians continue to be killed and injured by toxic chemicals used as weapons in the Syrian Arab Republic;

Welcomes the report of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons-United Nations Joint Investigative Mechanism,³ and notes with deep concern its findings that the Syrian authorities were responsible for the use of chemical weapons (chlorine) in at least two attacks in the Syrian Arab Republic, in Talmenes in 2014 and Sarmin in 2015, and that the so-called Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Daesh) was responsible for one mustard gas attack in the Syrian Arab Republic, in Marea in 2015;

³See S/2016/738.

Demands that the Syrian Arab Republic immediately cease the use of chemical weapons and adhere fully to its international obligations, including the requirement that it declare in full its chemical weapons programme, with special emphasis on the need for the Syrian Arab Republic to urgently resolve the verified gaps, inconsistencies and discrepancies pertaining to its declaration in respect of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on Their Destruction and to eliminate its chemical weapons programme in its entirety;

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), and in particular to end 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, as demanded by the Council in its resolution 2139 (2014);

Strongly condemns all use of starvation of civilians as a method of combat, and all besiegement directed against civilian populations;

Condemns the Syrian authorities’ indiscriminate use of heavy weapons and aerial bombardments, including cluster munitions, incendiary weapons, ballistic missiles and barrel bombs, and calls for an immediate end to all attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure, including medical facilities;

Condemns in the strongest terms the increasing number of mass casualty incidents, including any that 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;

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;

Strongly condemns violence against all persons based on their religious or ethnic affiliation;

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;

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) of 12 February 2015;

Also strongly condemns the reported forced displacement of the population in the Syrian Arab Republic, most recently from Dar’a, in August 2016, 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;

Calls upon the international community to support the leadership and full and meaningful participation of women in all efforts, including decision-making, with the aim of finding a political solution to the conflict in 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), and welcomes the participation of the Women’s Advisory Board and civil society in the United Nations-led talks, in order to ensure that all resulting peacebuilding efforts are gender-responsive and consider the differential impact of conflict on women and girls, and their specific needs and interests;

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;

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;

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, and reparations and effective remedies for victims;

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;

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;

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;

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) and 2268 (2016), and calls upon Member States to fully fund the United Nations appeals;

Welcomes the initiative of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Germany, Norway, Kuwait and the United Nations to co-host the London conference on supporting the Syrian Arab Republic and the region on 4 February 2016, which raised new funding to meet the immediate and long-term needs of those affected by the Syrian crisis, and renews its call upon all members of the international community to respond expeditiously to the Syrian humanitarian appeals and to fulfil all previous pledges, including from the London conference;

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;

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, and consistent with Security Council resolutions 2254 (2015) and 2268 (2016), that meets the legitimate aspirations of the Syrian people for a civil, democratic and pluralistic State, where all citizens receive equal protection, regardless of gender, religion or ethnicity;

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;

Decides to convene a high-level panel discussion on the situation of human rights in the Syrian Arab Republic at its thirty-fourth session, in consultation with the Independent International Commission of Inquiry, including on the issue of enforced disappearances and arbitrary detention, and the need for accountability for related violations and abuses, featuring witness testimony and Syrian voices, and requests the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to liaise with States and all stakeholders, including relevant United Nations agencies, funds and programmes, special procedures of the Human Rights Council, national human rights institutions and civil society with a view to ensuring their participation in the panel discussion;

Requests the Office of the High Commissioner to prepare a report, in the form of a summary, on the high-level panel discussion, to be presented to the Human Rights Council at its thirty-fifth session;

Decides to remain seized of the matter.

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

What else is in this group?

What subjects does this mandate have?

What’s in this document?

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