Statement on the resolution adopted at the 50th session of the Human Rights Council
To read the full statement in Arabic
In its introductory paragraphs, the resolution welcomed the work of the International Commission of Inquiry on Syria, and adopted its recommendations, warning of the seriousness of violations committed in Syria, which amount to crimes against humanity and “genocide,” as the use of the description “genocide” is unprecedented in resolutions concerned with Syria. It is considered an important development in the context of the criminal characterization of the grave violations committed in it.
The resolution condemned, in the strongest possible terms, the violations based on sexual violence or gender-based violence committed by all parties, considering them as crimes against humanity, calling on all parties involved in these violations to stop them immediately.
The resolution held “the Syrian regime the greatest responsibility for the wide range of violations,” and its systematic perpetration in Syria, including sexual or gender-based violations, condemning in strong language “the regime’s continued use of torture in its detention centers, in addition to summary or extrajudicial executions.” The law,” demanding the disclosure of the fate of the forcibly disappeared, as well as the International Commission of Inquiry on grave violations of human rights in Syria, to issue a special report on sexual or gender-based violations; Expressing in clear language the failure of the Syrian authorities “to protect people under their legal jurisdiction from grave violations of human rights.”
The resolution also singled out a number of paragraphs to condemn violations against children, calling on all parties to immediately stop the recruitment of children, and to stop all violations against them, especially sexual abuse, and calling on all parties to work to provide the necessary assistance to child victims, including ensuring their right to obtain Identity documents.
The Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression stresses the importance of the adopted resolution in strengthening international accountability mechanisms on the human rights situation in Syria, and the role of the Human Rights Council in documenting it and working to stop it. It also calls on the countries that abstained from voting in favor of the resolution to reconsider their positions, especially since among them are countries that have supported and support the demands of the Syrians in achieving the political transition, and their positions are clear in terms of rejecting the violations against the Syrian people, especially since their people have previously suffered from such violations.
The Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression team had participated in the course of the Human Rights Council session, and contributed to the negotiations on the resolution, pushing towards strengthening the language of condemnation, adding language calling for supporting the role of victims’ associations in alternative justice paths, and working to end the state of impunity, which was translated within The text of the final decision.
