A/HRC/RES/48/15
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;
5.
Reaffirms the importance of establishing and supporting appropriate processes
and mechanisms to achieve justice, reconciliation, truth and accountability for violations and
abuses of international human rights law and violations of international humanitarian law,
and reparations and effective remedies for victims and survivors, in all their diversity, and
the prerequisite role that accountability and transitional justice mechanisms, with the
meaningful participation of victims and survivors, can play in any effort to bring about a
sustainable, inclusive and peaceful conclusion to the conflict, welcomes in this regard victimled initiatives on truth and justice, and also welcomes the significant endeavours of the
Commission of Inquiry and 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,
while noting the important role that the International Criminal Court can play in this regard;
6.
Welcomes the efforts made by States to investigate conduct in the Syrian Arab
Republic and to prosecute crimes committed there, as appropriate, and also the efforts to hold
the Syrian Arab Republic to account, encourages States to continue to do so and to share
relevant information among themselves, as well as with relevant accountability mechanisms
such as the International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism, in accordance with their
national legislation and international law, and also encourages other States to consider doing
the same;
7.
Deplores the ongoing humanitarian crisis in the Syrian Arab Republic, and
notes the increasing needs, including for a sufficient supply of coronavirus disease (COVID19) vaccines, across the Syrian Arab Republic, including in the north-east and the north-west,
demands that all parties comply with their applicable obligations under international human
rights law and international humanitarian law and that the Syrian authorities and their State
and non-State allies facilitate, and all other parties to the conflict do not hinder, full, timely,
immediate, unrestricted and safe humanitarian access, notes that humanitarian aid must be
delivered on the basis of need, reiterates in this respect the continuing and urgent need for
continued and expanded cross-border access to prevent further suffering and to save lives,
and for immediate, rapid, unimpeded and sustained cross-line access, and calls for respect
for humanitarian principles across the Syrian Arab Republic;
8.
Expresses deep concern at the recent increase in violence and resulting civilian
casualties across the Syrian Arab Republic, and demands that all parties immediately comply
with their respective obligations under international humanitarian law and international
human rights law;
9.
Also expresses deep concern in particular about the recent increase in violence
in the north-west of the Syrian Arab Republic, including airstrikes, and the impact on
civilians of that violence, including the reported deaths and injuries of at least 45 children
since the beginning of July 2021, and stresses the urgent need for the immediate cessation of
military hostilities in Idlib and surrounding areas, the prioritization of the protection of all
civilians, including those displaced, and for full, timely, immediate, unrestricted and safe
humanitarian access, including cross-border access;
10.
Further expresses deep concern about the recent situation in Dar’a al-Balad,
where Syrians have supported peaceful protests since 2011 and where the Syrian regime’s
besiegement of the city and subsequent offensive have caused the deaths of civilians,
including children, and the forced displacement of thousands more, and recalls the statements
regarding the situation made by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
on 5 August 2021 and the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General on 12 August, and urges
all parties to immediately end all violence and siege-like conditions, to uphold their
respective international human rights law and international humanitarian law obligations, and
to ensure full, timely, immediate, unrestricted and safe humanitarian access to all those in
need;
11.
Strongly condemns the actions of the Syrian regime in Dar’a al-Balad, and
notes that the Commission of Inquiry found in its most recent report that the regime’s use of
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