Situation of human rights in the Syrian Arab Republic A/RES/74/169 against civilians, as well as the starvation of the civilian population as a method of warfare, attacks on schools, hospitals and places of worship, massacres, arbitrary executions, extrajudicial killings, the killing and persecution of pea ceful protesters, human rights defenders and journalists, individuals and members of communities on the basis of their religion or belief, arbitrary detention, enforced disappearances, violations of human rights, including those of women and children, forc ed displacement of members of minority groups and of those opposed to the Syrian regime, unlawful interference with access to medical treatment, failure to respect and protect medical personnel, torture, systematic sexual and gender-based violence, including rape in detention, and ill-treatment; 12. Condemns unequivocally all attacks and violence against journalists and media workers by the Syrian regime, the government-affiliated militias and non-State armed groups, urges all parties to respect the professional independence and rights of journalists, and recalls in this regard that journalists and media workers engaged in dangerous professional missions in areas of armed conflict shall be considered civilians and shall be protected as such, provided that they take no action adversely affecting their status as civilians; 13. Strongly condemns all violations and abuses of human rights and all violations of international humanitarian law, including the killing and persecution of individuals and members of communities on the basis of their religion or belief, by armed extremist groups, as well as any human rights abuses or violations of international humanitarian law by non-State armed groups, including Hizbullah and those designated as terrorist groups by the Security Council; 14. Deplores and strongly condemns the terrorist acts and violence committed against civilians by so-called ISIL (also known as Da’esh), the Nusrah Front (also known as Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham), Al-Qaida-affiliated terrorist groups, terrorist groups designated by the Security Council and other violent extremist groups and their continued gross, systematic and widespread abuses of human rights and violations of international humanitarian law, and reaffirms that terrorism cannot and should not be associated with any religion, gender, ethnicity, nationality or civilization; 15. Condemns in the strongest terms the gross and systematic abuse of women’s and children’s rights by all terrorist groups and armed groups, including so-called ISIL (also known as Da’esh), in particular the killing of women and girls, sexual and gender-based violence, including the enslavement and sexual exploitation and abuse of women and girls and the forced recruitment, use and abduction of children; 16. Condemns the reported forced displacements of the population in the Syrian Arab Republic, including forced displacement of civilians as a result of local truce agreements, as highlighted by the Commission of Inquiry, and the alarming impact thereof on the demography of the country, which amounts to a strategy of radical demographic change initiated by the Syrian regime, its allies and other non-State actors, calls upon all parties concerned to cease immediately all activities related to these actions, including any activities that may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, notes that impunity for such crimes is unacceptable, reaffirms that those responsible for such breaches of international law, must be brought to justice, and supports efforts to collect evidence in view of future legal action; 17. Emphasizes the importance of creating conditions conducive to voluntary, safe, dignified and informed movements of internally displaced persons within the Syrian Arab Republic, and strongly urges all parties to work with the United Nations to ensure that any such movements are in line with the Guiding Principles on Internal 19-22312 9/14