Syria Commission of Inquiry Releases Latest Report

Informal comments to the media by Mark Lyall Grant, Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom to the UN following the informal meeting of the Security Council where the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic briefed the Council members on the dire situation of Human rights in Syria over the last 4 years.

• Categories: Media / Media Stakeouts
• Video Length: 00:17:51
• Production Date: 20 February 2015
• Asset Language: English
• Corporate Name: INDEPENDENT INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION OF INQUIRY ON THE SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC
• Subject Topical: HUMAN RIGHTS; TERRORISM; WAR CRIMES
• Geographic Subject: SYRIA
• MAMS Id: 1302356
• Parent Id: 1302356

Description

Four United Nations human rights experts briefed the Security Council today on a new report into human rights and humanitarian law violations in Syria since the uprising in the country began, saying unthinkable crimes continue occurring daily, with victims' voices in danger of being lost amid the horrors of the conflict.

“It is unconscionable that Syrians should continue to suffer as they have for the last four years and have to live in a world where only limited attempts have been made to return Syria to peace, and to seek justice for the victims,” said Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro, Chair of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic.

Along with Mr. Pinheiro, the Commission of Inquiry includes Karen Koning AbuZayd, Carla del Ponte and Vitit Muntarbhorn. It is mandated by the Human Rights Council to investigate and record all violations of international human rights law and is also tasked with investigating allegations of crimes against humanity and war crimes, with its mandate recently expanded to include “investigations of all massacres.”

The Commission's latest report charts the major trends and patterns of abuses perpetrated in the country from March 2011 to January 2015, stressing the need for urgent international action, particularly by States with influence over the warring parties, to find a political solution to the conflict in order to “stop grave violations of human rights and to break the intractable cycle of impunity.”