UN Syria Commission Calls For Protection Of Civilians, Safeguarding Crime Evidence

(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) GENEVA, Dec 16 (KUNA) -- The UN Commission of Inquiry on Syria called on Monday that all parties to the conflict must protect civilians, treat those who have laid down their arms humanely and safeguard evidence of crimes to help ensure future accountability.
In a press statement issued from Geneva, the Chair Commission Paulo Sergio Pinheiro called all parties to fully comply with their obligations under international human rights and humanitarian law as the caretaker government solidifies its control and conflict rages in northern Syria.
The Commission also stressed the critical importance of safeguarding all evidence and crime scenes, including mass grave sites, for forensic documentation and analysis, stressing that the caretaker Government should ensure that prisoner files are protected and preserved at the sites, where they were found in a manner that ensures their utility in future accountability processes.
The UN Commission also stressed that trials of perpetrators must be publicly transparent and undertaken with full respect for fair trial rights in light of the declaration of intent to hold perpetrators accountable.
The Commission reported that Israeli forces have advanced beyond the zone established by the May 1974 Agreement on Disengagement for the first time in 50 years, and carried out more than 500 airstrikes, describing it as "extensive violations of Syria's sovereignty and territorial integrity."
According to the statement, United States' forces have also conducted dozens of airstrikes on alleged Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) targets since December 8, while reported airstrikes by Turkiye continued against targets linked to US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces in the northeast.
It added that hostilities have displaced more than one million people since November 27, as the Hay'at Tahrir al Sham led-coalition swept across the area controlled by the former Government and the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army took over territory from the Kurdish-led SDF in the north.
The Commission called for a nationwide ceasefire concerning all warring parties, including all States, and to rapidly ensure that humanitarian aid is made available without delay to support the 17 million Syrians in need.
It reiterated calls for urgent review or suspension of sanctions regimes to ensure they are not impeding such support. "As we have seen, sanctions cause disproportionate harm to the poor and most vulnerable and now is the time to give Syrians the chance to rebuild their own country," said Pinheiro.
The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic was established on August 22, 2011 by the Human Rights Council through resolution S-17/1.
The Commission has investigated and reported on disappearances and violations in Syrian detention facilities since 2011.
The Commission has found that the former government has committed war crimes and crimes against humanity of extermination, murder, rape or other forms of sexual violence, torture, imprisonment, enforced disappearance and other inhuman acts. (end)
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