A/HRC/RES/55/22
international humanitarian law and international human rights law, and emphasizes the need
to ensure that all those responsible for such violations and abuses are held to account;
2.
Welcomes the work and the important role played by the Independent
International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic in supporting essential
accountability efforts by investigating all alleged violations and abuses of international
human rights law since March 2011 in the Syrian Arab Republic in order to establish the
facts and circumstances and to support efforts to ensure that all perpetrators of abuses and
violations, which may include those responsible for crimes against humanity and war crimes,
are identified and held accountable, demands that the Syrian authorities cooperate fully with
the Human Rights Council and the Commission of Inquiry by granting the Commission
immediate, full and unfettered access throughout the Syrian Arab Republic, and urges all
States to cooperate with the Commission in the discharge of its mandate;
3.
Also welcomes the progress made regarding international accountability and
notes the importance of further ongoing proceedings, such as those held in Koblenz,
Germany, and efforts by States and internationally mandated institutions, including the
International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism to Assist in the Investigation and
Prosecution of Persons Responsible for the Most Serious Crimes under International Law
Committed in the Syrian Arab Republic since March 2011, to investigate conduct in the
Syrian Arab Republic and, where possible, to prosecute crimes committed there in order to
bring the truth to light and perpetrators to justice, in this regard notes the landmark conviction
and sentencing by a court in Germany, in January 2022, of a former director of the Syrian
intelligence service for crimes against humanity as part of a widespread or systematic attack
against the civilian population in the Syrian Arab Republic, also notes that evidence from the
Commission of Inquiry and the International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism was
used as evidence during the investigation and trial, and recalls the authority of the Security
Council to refer the situation in the Syrian Arab Republic to the International Criminal Court;
4.
Further welcomes the legal proceedings initiated by Canada and the Kingdom
of the Netherlands at the International Court of Justice to hold the Syrian Arab Republic
accountable for torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment of its
own people and for breaches of its obligations under the Convention against Torture and
Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, urges the Syrian regime to
immediately implement the order of the Court of 16 November 2023 indicating provisional
measures, including that it take all measures within its power to prevent acts of torture and
other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and ensure that its officials or
persons subject to its control do not commit any such acts, as well as effective measures to
prevent the destruction and ensure the preservation of related evidence, and acknowledges
the reliable and credible reporting of the Commission of Inquiry referenced by the Court in
its order and in the legal proceedings initiated by Canada and the Kingdom of the
Netherlands;
5.
Calls upon all parties, in particular the Syrian authorities, to maintain rapid,
unhindered, safe and sustainable humanitarian access and to ensure that humanitarian
assistance reaches its intended recipients, in this regard calls for the vital continuation, for as
long as needed, of consent to the cross-border operations at Bab al-Salam and Ra‘i, in
addition to Bab al-Hawa, for which there is no equivalent in terms of scope and scale for
delivering humanitarian aid and assisting vulnerable Syrians and survivors of the
earthquakes, and calls upon all parties to facilitate immediate, rapid, unhindered and
sustained humanitarian access, including cross-line access, to all parts of the Syrian Arab
Republic;
6.
Demands that all parties to the conflict comply with their applicable
obligations under international human rights law and international humanitarian law and
facilitate, and do not hinder, full, timely, immediate, unrestricted and safe humanitarian
access, and notes that humanitarian aid must be delivered on the basis of need;
7.
Deeply deplores the fact that the civilian population continues to bear the brunt
of the conflict and that civilians, and objects indispensable to their survival, continue to be
the target of deliberate and indiscriminate attacks, including with prohibited weapons and
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