A/HRC/RES/31/17
Noting the observation of the Commission of Inquiry that the Syrian authorities have
conducted enforced disappearances and widespread attacks against the civilian population
as a matter of policy,
Recognizing that arbitrary detention and enforced disappearances in the Syrian Arab
Republic have increasingly targeted persons belonging to communities believed to support
armed groups or to be insufficiently loyal to the Government or to other parties to the
conflict, which has had a traumatic impact on victims and their families,
Deploring the lack of cooperation by the Syrian authorities with the Commission of
Inquiry,
Expressing full support for the diplomatic efforts of the Special Envoy of the
Secretary-General for Syria, and stressing that rapid progress on a political solution should
include full and meaningful participation by all segments of Syrian society, including
women, and represents the only sustainable way to resolve the situation in the Syrian Arab
Republic peacefully, consistent with Security Council resolution 2254 (2015) of 18
December 2015,
Welcoming the efforts of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the
Empowerment of Women to highlight the needs of women and girls and to promote their
role in conflict-resolution and peacebuilding,
Acknowledging the ongoing efforts by human rights defenders active in the Syrian
Arab Republic to document violations and abuses of international human rights law and
violations of international humanitarian law, despite grave risks,
1.
Welcomes the cessation of hostilities in the Syrian Arab Republic, demands
that all parties to the cessation of hostilities in the Syrian Arab Republic fulfil their
commitments, and urges all Member States, especially the members of the International
Syria Support Group, to use their influence with the parties to the cessation of hostilities to
ensure fulfilment of those commitments, to support efforts to create conditions for a durable
and lasting ceasefire, which is essential to achieving a political solution to the conflict in
the Syrian Arab Republic and to bringing the systematic, widespread and gross violations
and abuses of human rights and violations of humanitarian law to an end;
2.
Also welcomes the work of the Independent International Commission of
Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic, and notes the importance of the work of the
Commission of Inquiry and the information it has collected in support of future
accountability efforts, in particular the information on those who have allegedly violated
international law;
3.
Demands that the Syrian authorities cooperate fully with the Human Rights
Council and the Commission of Inquiry by granting it immediate, full and unfettered access
throughout the Syrian Arab Republic;
4.
Decides to extend for one year the mandate of the Commission of Inquiry,
established by the Human Rights Council in its resolution S-17/1 of 23 August 2011, to
investigate all alleged violations and abuses of international human rights law since March
2011 in the Syrian Arab Republic, to establish the facts and circumstances and to support
efforts to ensure that perpetrators of abuses and violations, including those who may be
responsible for crimes against humanity, are held accountable;
5.
Requests the Commission of Inquiry to provide an oral update during an
interactive dialogue at the thirty-second session of the Human Rights Council and to
present a written updated report during the interactive dialogue at the thirty-third and thirtyfourth sessions;
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