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Summary: On 12 March, the Human Rights Council held an interactive dialogue with the Commission of Inquiry on the situation of human rights in Syria.
Paulo Pinheiro, Chairperson of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria, said that the intensification of armed confrontation had widened the trail of suffering in Syria. The human rights and humanitarian situation was becoming bleaker day after day in neighbourhoods in Homs, Idlib, Hama, rural Damascus and Dar'a. The Government had given limited access to humanitarian organizations, but unimpeded humanitarian access should be granted. It was imperative to break this cycle of violence in order to avert escalation of the armed confrontation into civil war. Kyung-wha Kang, United Nations Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, introduced the reports submitted by the Secretary-General and the High Commissioner in follow-up to Special Sessions on Syria. The report of the Secretary-General noted that the Commission of Inquiry had not been allowed access to Syria. Report 'biased', says Government Speaking as the concerned country, Syria said that the Commission of Inquiry, after six months, had finally understood that there were armed groups operating in Syria which had violated human rights and that there was no alternative to engaging in national dialogue to achieve reconciliation. External parties should refrain from pitting different factions operating in Syria against one another by arming them. Economic sanctions had resulted in dire circumstances for the country. The Government rejected the report of the Commission, which had become political and was biased as it contained unsubstantiated accusations against the Government based on hearsay. The crisis was due to the influence of external parties. Other States lament lack of cooperation During the interactive dialogue, speakers said widespread, systematic and gross human rights violations amounting to crimes against humanity may have been committed in Syria with the apparent knowledge and consent of the highest levels of the State. Speakers regretted that the Syrian Government had not cooperated with the Commission of Inquiry. The report of the Commission mentioned the increased violence, use of extreme military force against protestors and shelling of densely populated areas. Since 2011 more than 500 children had been killed and many had been arbitrarily arrested and even tortured. Speakers fully supported the call by the High Commissioner to the United Nations Security Council that the situation in Syria be referred to the International Criminal Court. Speakers hoped that the authorities would cooperate with the efforts of Special Envoy Kofi Annan. Several speakers noted the existence of extremists among the opposition. One speaker said the information provided by the Commission of Inquiry was imprecise, fragmented and the object of frequent manipulation. The sanctions only made the situation worse and needed to be withdrawn. Syria was the cornerstone of the architecture of regional stability, and the events in Syria could bring about destabilization of the entire region. The key to managing the situation would be inclusive political dialogue among all segments of society. One speaker asked for the Commission's view on the scope of its mandate. Was the current mandate appropriate? Were there issues to which more attention should be paid? Speakers asked to hear what the Commission thought were the priorities for structural reform which would break the culture of impunity and deliver justice for victims. Taking the floor in the interactive dialogue on the human rights situation in Syria were: Austria, Russian Federation, European Union, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Germany, Qatar, Cuba, Norway, Jordan, Australia, Turkey, Uruguay, Kuwait, Japan, Slovenia, Spain, France, United States, Czech Republic, Morocco, Ecuador, and United Kingdom. The Human Rights Council will meet at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, 13 March in private to discuss its complaint procedure. It will meet in public at 9:30 a.m., when it will continue with its interactive dialogue on the situation of human rights in Syria, to be followed by its general debate on human rights situations that require the Council's attention.