A/RES/79/185 GA
Situation of human rights in the Syrian Arab Republic : resolution / adopted by the General Assembly
79
Session
90
Yes
12
No
75
Abstentions
| Draft symbol | A/C.3/79/L.45 |
|---|---|
| Adopted symbol | A/RES/79/185 |
| Category | SOCIAL CONDITIONS AND EQUITY |
| P5 Positions |
|
| UN Document | A/RES/79/185 ↗ |
Vote Recorded Vote — A/79/PV.53
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Mauritius
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Spain
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Türkiye
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Ukraine
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United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
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United States of America
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Uruguay
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Vanuatu
Full text of resolution
United Nations
A/RES/79/185
General Assembly
Distr.: General
19 December 2024
24-24230 (E)
*2424230*
Seventy-ninth session
Agenda item 71 (c)
Promotion and protection of human rights: human rights
situations and reports of special rapporteurs
and representatives
Resolution adopted by the General Assembly
on 17 December 2024
[on the report of the Third Committee (A/79/458/Add.3, para. 30)]
79/185. Situation of human rights in the Syrian Arab Republic
The General Assembly,
Guided by the Charter of the United Nations,
Reaffirming the purposes and principles of the Charter, the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights 1 and relevant international human rights treaties,
including the International Covenants on Human Rights, 2
Reaffirming its strong commitment to the sovereignty, independence, unity and
territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic and to the principles of the Charter,
and strongly demanding that the Syrian regime meet its responsibility to protect the
Syrian population and to respect, protect and fulfil the human rights of all persons
within its territory and subject to its jurisdiction,
Deploring the fact that March 2024 marked 13 years since the peaceful uprising
and its brutal repression that led to the conflict in the Syrian Arab Republic, which
has had and continues to have a devastating impact on civilians, including through
grave violations and abuses of international human rights law and violations of
international humanitarian law,
Strongly condemning the grave human rights situation in the Syrian Arab
Republic, the indiscriminate killing and deliberate targeting of civilians, including
humanitarian workers, including those involving the continued indiscriminate use of
heavy weapons and aerial bombardments, which has caused more than 500,000
fatalities, including the killing of 30,034 children, the continued widespread and
systematic gross violations, as well as abuses, of human rights and violations of
__________________
1 Resolution 217 A (III).
2 Resolution 2200 A (XXI), annex.
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international humanitarian law, including by the starvation of civilians as a method
of warfare and the use of chemical weapons, including sarin and chlorine gas, and
sulfur mustard, which are prohibited under international law, and acts of violence by
the Syrian regime that foment sectarian tensions within the Syrian population,
Welcoming the work of the Investigation and Identification Team of the
Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, noting its findings in its four
reports to date, including its report of January 2023 which found reasonable grounds
to believe that the chemical weapons attack in Douma on 7 April 2018 was perpetrated
by the Syrian Arab Republic and found that Russian forces were co-located at the
base in the Syrian Arab Republic from which the Syrian regime launched the attack
on Douma as well as its report of February 2024 which found reasonable grounds to
believe that, on 1 September 2015, during sustained attacks aimed at capturing the
town of Mari’, units of Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as
Da’esh) deployed sulfur mustard, and anticipating the publication of its reports on
other chemical weapons attacks in the Syrian Arab Republic,
Condemning in the strongest possible terms the repeated use of chemical
weapons in the Syrian Arab Republic, including the instances independently
attributed by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons-United
Nations Joint Investigative Mechanism and the Investigation and Identification Team
of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, noting that the Joint
Investigative Mechanism determined that the Syrian Arab Armed Forces had been
responsible for attacks that released toxic substances in 2014 and 2015 and that
Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as Da’esh) had used sulfur
mustard in 2015 and 2016, and further concluded in October 2017 that the Syrian
Arab Air Force had been responsible for the use of chemical weapons on 4 April 2017
in Khan Shaykhun, and noting also that the Investigation and Identification Team
concluded in April 2020 that there were reasonable grounds to believe that the Syrian
Air Force had carried out three chemical weapons attacks in Ltamenah in March 2017
and further concluded in April 2021 that there were reasonable grounds to believe the
Syrian Air Force had carried out a chemical weapons attack in Saraqib in February
2018 and further concluded in January 2023 that there were reasonable grounds to
believe the Syrian Arab Air Force had carried out a chemical weapons attack in Douma
on 7 April 2018 and found that Russian forces were co-located at the base in the Syrian
Arab Republic from which the Syrian regime launched the attack on Douma,
Noting with grave concern that the Office of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Human Rights, in a report of June 2022, has identified 306,887
civilians by full name, together with an established date of death and location, who
were killed in the conflict in the Syrian Arab Republic between March 2011 and
March 2022 and that, of those identified, 26,727 were women and 27,126 were
children, recalling also that the list compiled by the Office of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Human Rights indicates a minimum verifiable number and is
certainly an undercount of the actual number of killings,
Recalling its demand that all parties, especially the Syrian regime, take all
appropriate steps to protect civilians, including members of ethnic and religious
communities,
Reiterating that the only sustainable solution to the current crisis in the Syrian
Arab Republic is through an inclusive and Syrian-led political process, including the
work of the Constitutional Committee under the auspices of the United Nations, that
meets the legitimate aspirations of the Syrian people in line with Security Council
resolution 2254 (2015) of 18 December 2015, with a view to establishing credible,
inclusive and non-sectarian governance, with the full, equal and meaningful
participation and leadership of all women at all levels, as well as the meaningful
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participation of youth in decision-making, and that a safe and enabling environment,
free from fear of reprisals, is ensured, underlining the importance of prevention of the
efforts to foment sectarian tension among Syrians, recognizing the importance of the
Constitutional Committee, the Civil Society Support Room and the Syrian Women’s
Advisory Board, reaffirming in this regard the important role of women in the
prevention and resolution of conflicts and in peacebuilding, stressing the importance
of their full, equal and meaningful participation and involvement in all efforts for the
maintenance and promotion of peace and security and their role in decision-making
with regard to conflict prevention and resolution, and recognizing the work carried
out by the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Syria to that end,
Expressing grave concern that the cross-border authorizations in Security
Council resolutions 2642 (2022) of 12 July 2022 and 2672 (2023) of 9 January 2023
have not yet been extended,
Noting with great concern that, following the reduction of Security Council-
authorized cross-border access in January and July 2020, Security Council
authorization expired entirely in July 2023, despite growing humanitarian needs,
especially in the north-west of the Syrian Arab Republic, where aid access remains a
lifeline for 4.1 million people, especially following the devastating earthquakes of
February 2023,
Reiterating the urgent need to work to maintain the current level of international
humanitarian assistance to the Syrian Arab Republic and to strengthen efforts to
address the humanitarian situation in the Syrian Arab Republic, including through
protection of civilians and safe, full, immediate, unimpeded and sustained
humanitarian access throughout the Syrian Arab Republic to all civilians in need,
including through the continuation of cross-border assistance, as recalled in Security
Council resolutions 2139 (2014) of 22 February 2014, 2165 (2014) of 14 July 2014,
2191 (2014) of 17 December 2014, 2258 (2015) of 22 December 2015, 2286 (2016)
of 3 May 2016, 2393 (2017) of 19 December 2017, 2401 (2018) of 24 February 2018,
2449 (2018) of 13 December 2018, 2504 (2020) of 10 January 2020, 2533 (2020) of
11 July 2020, 2585 (2021) of 9 July 2021, 2642 (2022) and 2672 (2023),
Welcoming the efforts of the Special Envoy to advance United Nations efforts
to achieve a sustainable political solution to the conflict in the Syrian Arab Republic
in line with Security Council resolution 2254 (2015), recalling the importance of
advancing the work of the Constitutional Committee and achieving tangible results,
and in that regard urging all parties, particularly the Syrian regime, to engage
meaningfully in the political process under the auspices of the Special Envoy and his
office in Geneva, including the work of the Constitutional Committee, and to convene
the next round of the Constitutional Committee as soon as possible under the auspices
of the United Nations, and underlining that a political solution to the conflict in the
Syrian Arab Republic requires full implementation of all aspects of resolution 2254
(2015), including the holding of free and fair elections, under the supervision of the
United Nations, to the satisfaction of the governance and to the highest international
standards of transparency and accountability, with all Syrians, including displaced
persons, refugees and members of the diaspora, eligible to participate, as well as the
establishment of a neutral and safe environment, noting that the 2021 presidential
elections and 2024 parliamentary elections held in the Syrian Arab Republic were
neither free, fair, nor consistent with the political process called for by the Council in
its resolution 2254 (2015), and emphasizing that elections should be conducted in line
with a political solution according to resolution 2254 (2015),
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Reconfirming its endorsement of the Geneva communiqué of 30 June 2012, 3
endorsing the joint statement on the outcome of the multilateral talks on Syria held in
Vienna of 30 October 2015 and the statement of the International Syria Support Group
of 14 November 2015 (the Vienna statements) in pursuit of the full implementation
of the Geneva communiqué, facilitated by the Special Envoy, as the basis for a Syrian-
led and Syrian-owned political transition in order to end the conflict in the Syrian
Arab Republic, and stressing that the Syrian people will decide the future of the
Syrian Arab Republic,
Welcoming the call by the Special Envoy for a complete, immediate and
nationwide ceasefire throughout the Syrian Arab Republic, as endorsed by the
Security Council in its resolutions 2532 (2020) of 1 July 2020 and 2565 (2021) of
26 February 2021, while noting with extreme concern the recent rise in hostilities in
different parts of the country, and reaffirming that Member States must ensure that
any measures taken to counter terrorism comply with all their obligations under
international law, in particular international human rights law, international refugee
law and international humanitarian law, while continuing to support legitimate
counter-terrorism operations against Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also
known as Da’esh), Al-Qaida and Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (formerly known as the
Nusrah Front), and all other individuals, groups, undertakings and entities associated
with Al-Qaida or ISIL, and other terrorist groups, which have been designated by the
Security Council,
Reaffirming the importance of the full implementation of the women and peace
and security agenda of the Security Council, pursuant to Security Council resolution
1325 (2000) of 31 October 2000, and its nine subsequent resolutions, in this regard,
and welcoming the inclusion of civil society in the political process, in particular
through the Civil Society Support Room and Syrian Women’s Advisory Board,
Recognizing that women and girls have been uniquely affected by the crisis and
conflict, face increased violations and abuses of their human rights including by
Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, and continue to be among the worst affected and on multiple
grounds, including given that many women have become the main or sole
breadwinners for their families, a situation that may be exacerbated by the enforced
disappearance of their loved ones, while facing increased caregiving responsibilities
and alarming levels of violence, including sexual and gender-based violence,
Affirming continued support for the exercise by Syrians of their rights of
peaceful assembly and association and freedom of opinion and expression both online
and offline, including through peaceful demonstrations across the country such as in
Suwayda’ and Idlib, urging all involved to refrain from violence, and condemning any
unlawful or excessive use of force against peaceful protesters, including the use of
regime gunfire on demonstrators resulting in the death and injury of civilians and the
regime’s continued practice of slandering, arresting, torturing and forcibly
disappearing peaceful protesters,
Noting with deep concern the culture of persistent and pervasive impunity from
within the Syrian regime for the most serious violations of international law and
violations and abuses of human rights law committed during the present conflict,
some of which rise to the level of war crimes and crimes against humanity, which has
provided a fertile ground for further violations and abuses,
Expressing deep concern over the ongoing impunity and noting the important
role that the International Criminal Court could play in that regard, and calling upon
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3 Security Council resolution 2118 (2013), annex II.
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all Member States to diligently explore available avenues to advance international
justice,
Emphasizing the importance of accountability for the most serious crimes in
violation of international law committed during the conflict for ensuring sustainable
peace,
Recalling all relevant resolutions on the safety and security of humanitarian
personnel and the protection of United Nations personnel, including its resolution
73/137 of 14 December 2018, as well as Security Council resolutions on the
protection of humanitarian personnel, including resolutions 2175 (2014) of 29 August
2014, 2286 (2016) of 3 May 2016 and 2730 (2024) of 24 May 2024, the relevant
statements by the President of the Security Council referring to the specific
obligations under international humanitarian law to respect and protect, in situations
of armed conflict, all medical personnel and humanitarian workers exclusively
engaged in medical duties, their means of transport, equipment, hospitals and other
medical facilities, and to ensure that the wounded and sick receive, to the fullest
extent practicable and with the least possible delay, the medical care and attention
required, and condemning attacks against hospitals and places where the sick and
wounded are collected, including makeshift hospitals, as well as attacks against
medical personnel and humanitarian workers that are in violation of international
humanitarian law,
Expressing grave concern at the widespread reports of continued indiscriminate
and deliberate use of force by the Syrian regime against civilians, which continues to
cause immense human suffering and fomented the spread of violent extremism and
violent extremist groups and which demonstrates the continuing failure of the Syrian
regime to protect the population and implement the relevant resolutions and decisions
of United Nations bodies and has created a safe haven and operating environment for
perpetrators of war crimes and crimes against humanity,
Expressing grave concern also at the remaining presence of violent extremism
and violent extremist groups, terrorists and terrorist groups, condemning recent
terrorist attacks in the region, and strongly condemning all violations and abuses of
human rights and violations of international humanitarian law committed in the
Syrian Arab Republic by any party to the conflict, in particular Islamic State in Iraq
and the Levant (ISIL, also known as Da’esh), Al-Qaida-affiliated terrorist groups,
armed groups and non-State actors, and also the Syrian regime and its allies,
Expressing support for the work carried out by the Independent International
Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic, welcoming its reports, strongly
condemning the continued lack of cooperation by the Syrian regime with the
Commission of Inquiry, reiterating its decision to transmit the reports of the
Commission of Inquiry to the Security Council, expressing its appreciation to the
Commission of Inquiry for its briefings to members of the Security Council, and
requesting that the Commission of Inquiry continue to brief the General Assembly
and members of the Security Council,
Welcoming the reports for 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 of 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 4 and their
consideration by the General Assembly, noting with serious concern the observation
of the Commission of Inquiry that, since March 2011, there are reasonable grounds
to believe that the Syrian regime has conducted widespread and systemic attacks
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4 A/73/295, A/73/741, A/74/313, A/74/699, A/75/311, A/75/743, A/76/690, A/77/751, A/78/297
and A/79/205.
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against the civilian population amounting to war crimes and crimes against humanity,
including targeted attacks on protected persons and objects, including medical
facilities, and personnel and transport and blocked humanitarian convoys, as well as
widespread and systematic patterns of enforced disappearances and torture in
detention, arbitrary detentions, summary executions and other violations and abuses,
and underscoring the need for those allegations to be examined and evidence to be
preserved and made available for future accountability efforts,
Expressing grave concern about all persons missing in the Syrian Arab
Republic, including those subject to abductions, enforced disappearance and arbitrary
detention, first and foremost by the Syrian regime, noting the comments of the
Commission of Inquiry and the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Syria that
at least 100,000 people are estimated to be missing in the Syrian Arab Republic, and
recalling Human Rights Council resolutions 45/3 of 6 October 2020, 5 48/15 of
8 October 20216 and 51/26 of 7 October 2022,7 and Security Council resolutions 2254
(2015), 2139 (2014) and 2191 (2014),
Welcoming the establishment by the General Assembly in its resolution 77/301
of 29 June 2023 and the inclusion into the regular United Nations budget in March
2024 of the Independent Institution on Missing Persons in the Syrian Arab Republic
to clarify the fate and whereabouts of all missing persons in the Syrian Arab Republic,
to provide adequate support to victims, survivors and the families of those missing,
and to ensure the full and meaningful participation and representation of victims,
survivors and the families of missing persons in the Syrian Arab Republic in its work
in close cooperation and complementarity with all relevant actors, and underscoring
the resolution’s call for all States as well as parties to the conflict and other relevant
actors to cooperate fully with this Institution, which is humanitarian in nature, and
also underscoring the resolution’s call upon international institutions, victims’
associations, and civil society organizations to cooperate with the Institution,
Strongly condemning the reported killing of detainees in Syrian military
intelligence facilities and the widespread practice of enforced disappearance,
arbitrary detention and the use of sexual and gender-based violence and torture in
detention centres referred to in the reports of the Commission of Inquiry, including,
but not limited to, Branch 215, Branch 227, Branch 235, Branch 251, Branch 271, the
Air Force Intelligence Investigation Branch at Mazzah military airport and Saydnaya
prison, including the practice of mass hangings by the regime, as well as the killing
of detainees at military hospitals, including Tishrin and Harasta hospitals,
Noting that, consistent with Security Council resolution 2474 (2019), States bear
the primary responsibility to respect and ensure the human rights of all individuals
within their territory and subject to their jurisdiction and that parties to armed conflict
must take all feasible steps to ensure the protection of civilians, and noting also that,
in the same resolution, the Council called upon parties to armed conflict to take
appropriate measures to prevent persons from going missing as a result of armed
conflict,
Urging the Syrian regime to provide families with the remains of their relatives
whose fate has been disclosed, including those who have been summarily executed,
to take all appropriate measures immediately to protect the lives and rights of all
persons currently detained or unaccounted for, and to clarify the fate of those who
remain missing or are still in custody, in accordance with Security Council resolution
2474 (2019), many of whom still remain in detention and are highly vulnerable to
__________________
5 See Official Records of the General Assembly, Seventy-fifth Session, Supplement No. 53A
(A/75/53/Add.1), chap. III.
6 Ibid., Seventy-sixth Session, Supplement No. 53 (A/76/53), chap. VII, sect. A.
7 Ibid., Seventy-seventh Session, Supplement No. 53 (A/77/53), chap. III, sect. A.
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disease and illness owing to overcrowded conditions and pre-existing health issues,
such as widespread malnutrition and tuberculosis, despite calls from the Secretary-
General, the Special Envoy and the international community for the large-scale
release of detainees in the Syrian Arab Republic,
Urging also the Syrian authorities to share further information regarding the
344,684 detained and convicted persons who they have claimed have benefited from
“amnesty laws”, noting with concern reports that over 136,000 remain under arbitrary
arrest, further noting the use of the Counter-terrorism Court to detain perceived
political opposition figures and dissidents and confiscate their properties, and calling
upon all parties to the conflict, but particularly the Syrian authorities, to cease all
forms of abuse of detainees, including but not limited to torture of detainees in Syrian
military intelligence facilities, physical abuses, mistreatment and sexual and gender-
based violence, and to grant appropriate international monitoring bodies and medical
services immediate access, without undue restrictions, to detainees and detention
facilities, including all Syrian military facilities referred to in the reports of the
Commission of Inquiry, highlighting the recent recommendations of the Commission
of Inquiry in this regard,
Noting the unique impact that enforced disappearances and missing and
arbitrarily detained persons has had on Syrian families, in particular women and
children,
Recalling the statements made by the Secretary-General, the United Nations
High Commissioner for Human Rights and the special procedures of the Human
Rights Council that crimes against humanity and war crimes are likely to have been
committed in the Syrian Arab Republic, noting the repeated encouragement by the
High Commissioner for the Security Council to refer the situation to the International
Criminal Court, and regretting that a draft resolution 8 was not adopted
notwithstanding broad support from Member States,
Recalling also the report of 6 April 2020 of the United Nations Board of Inquiry 9
into strikes that damaged and destroyed healthcare facilities in the north-west of the
Syrian Arab Republic, including sites whose coordinates had been recorded on the
United Nations deconfliction list as a step to ensure that they would not be targeted
or impacted by violence, and which in most instances examined, concluded that it
was “highly probable that the strikes had been carried out by the Government of the
Syrian Arab Republic and/or its allies” and found that healthcare services were being
provided at the time of some of the strikes and that there were no armed opposition
groups in or near the facilities, and calling upon all parties to adhere to and comply
with the deconfliction mechanism,
Condemning the regime’s ongoing military campaign in north-west Syrian Arab
Republic, including in October 2023, that has affected more than 2,300 locations
across Idlib and western Aleppo, killed and displaced civilians, and destroyed civilian
objects,
Acknowledging the continuous threat that anti-personnel mines and
indiscriminate explosive weapons pose to civilians, including many children and
women, which have killed thousands and restrict access to essential lands, severely
impacting daily life and safety,
Emphasizing that the humanitarian cross-border aid deliveries remain an
essential and life-saving channel to address the humanitarian needs of a significant
portion of the population of the Syrian Arab Republic, which cannot be reached
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8 S/2014/348.
9 See S/2020/278, annex.
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through existing operations within the Syrian Arab Republic, and emphasizing the
importance of cross-line operations and that an immediate and significant
improvement in cross-line access to all parts of the Syrian Arab Republic and respect
for principled humanitarian action are essential to prevent further unnecessary
suffering and loss of life,
Recalling its commitment to Security Council resolutions 2170 (2014) of
15 August 2014, 2178 (2014) of 24 September 2014 and 2253 (2015) of 17 December
2015,
Alarmed that, according to the United Nations, an estimated 16.7 million
Syrians need humanitarian assistance, and more than half of the population of the
Syrian Arab Republic remains displaced from their homes, including 5.3 million
refugees living in neighbouring countries which require additional support and more
than 7.2 million internally displaced persons inside the country, of whom women and
children comprise more than two thirds, which has resulted in an influx of Syrian
refugees into neighbouring countries, other countries in the region and beyond, and
alarmed also at the risk the situation presents to regional and international stability
and the treatment of Syrian refugees,
Calling for the immediate repeal of Law No. 10/2018 and all similar laws,
concerned about the Syrian regime’s infringement on the housing, land and property
of Syrians, particularly through the dispossession and demolition of displaced and
missing Syrians’ land and property in the national legislation and similar measures,
which have a significant detrimental impact on the property rights and ability of
Syrians displaced by the conflict to claim their property and to return to their homes
in a safe, voluntary and dignified manner when the situation on the ground allows it,
and expressing concern about reports of armed groups’ abuses of the rights of Syrians
related to housing, land and property in areas under their control,
Expressing its abhorrence at the death of more than 30,228 children, including
199 reportedly killed owing to torture and other ill-treatment, and the many more
injured since the beginning of the peaceful protests in March 2011, and at all
violations and abuses committed against children, in particular by the Syrian regime,
in contravention of applicable international law, including those involving their
recruitment, and emphasizing that the Syrian regime and its allies must comply with their
applicable international law obligations that are relevant to children, including under the
Convention on the Rights of the Child10 and the Optional Protocols thereto,11
Noting with concern that the Hawl camp currently hosts over 41,000 people,
94 per cent of whom are women and children, and roughly half of whom are children
under 12 years of age who live under extremely challenging conditions, and the
humanitarian and human rights challenges of the camp environment,
Calling for the implementation of Security Council resolution 2475 (2019) of
20 June 2019 on the situation of persons with disabilities in armed conflict, expressing
serious concern regarding the disproportionate impact that armed conflict has on
persons with disabilities, in particular on women and children with disabilities,
including abandonment, violence and lack of access to basic services, stressing the
protection and assistance needs of all affected civilian populations, and emphasizing
the need to consider the particular needs of persons with disabilities in humanitarian
response in the Syrian conflict,
Expressing its deep appreciation for the significant efforts that have been made
by neighbouring countries and other countries in the region to accommodate Syrians,
__________________
10 United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1577, No. 27531.
11 Ibid., vols. 2171, 2173 and 2983, No. 27531.
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while acknowledging the increasing financial, socioeconomic and political impact of
the presence of large-scale refugee and displaced populations in those countries, and
encouraging countries to protect Syrian refugees, including by respecting the
principle of non-refoulement,
Welcoming the efforts of the United Nations and the League of Arab States and
all diplomatic efforts, including those of neighbouring countries, to achieve a political
solution to the Syrian crisis based on the final communiqué of the Action Group for
Syria of 30 June 2012 and consistent with Security Council resolution 2254 (2015),
1.
Strongly condemns the systematic, widespread and gross violations and
abuses of international human rights law and violations of international humanitarian
law committed in the Syrian Arab Republic and the indiscriminate and
disproportionate attacks against the civilian population and against civilian
infrastructure, in particular attacks on medical facilities, schools and humanitarian
personnel and their premises and assets, which continue to claim civilian lives, and
demands that all parties comply with their obligations under international human
rights law and international humanitarian law;
2.
Deplores and condemns in the strongest terms the continued armed
violence by the Syrian regime against the Syrian people since the beginning of the
peaceful protests in 2011, and demands that the Syrian regime immediately put an
end to all attacks against civilians, take all feasible precautions to avoid, and in any
event to minimize, incidental loss of civilian life, injury to civilians and damage to
civilian objects and meet its responsibilities to protect the Syrian population and
immediately implement Security Council resolutions 2254 (2015), 2258 (2015) and
2286 (2016);
3.
Urges all Member States to create conditions for continued negotiations
for a political solution to the Syrian conflict, under the auspices of the United Nations,
to this end recalls the importance of advancing the work of the Constitutional
Committee, within the context of the Syrian-led, Syrian-owned and United Nations-
facilitated political process, convening the next round of the Constitutional
Committee as soon as possible under the auspices of the United Nations and achieving
tangible results, and in that regard urges all parties to engage meaningfully in the work
of the Constitutional Committee, as well as by working towards the nationwide
ceasefire, to enable safe, full, immediate, unimpeded and sustained humanitarian access
and to lead to the release of those arbitrarily detained and ensure the assessment of the
number of people who remain in prisons, consistent with Security Council resolution
2254 (2015), as only a durable and inclusive political solution to the conflict can bring
an end to the systematic, widespread and gross violations and abuses of international
human rights law and violations of international humanitarian law;
4.
Strongly condemns the use of chemical weapons in the Syrian Arab
Republic, demands that all parties desist from any use or preparation of chemical
weapons in the Syrian Arab Republic, expresses its strong conviction that those
responsible for the use of chemical weapons must be held accountable, and recalls in
this regard decision C-25/DEC.9 of 21 April 2021 of the Conference of the States
Parties to the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production,
Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on Their Destruction (Chemical
Weapons Convention);
5.
Welcomes the work of the Investigation and Identification Team of the
Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, which is authorized to identify
the perpetrators of the use of chemical weapons in the Syrian Arab Republic, thereby
making an important contribution towards the ultimate goal of holding such
perpetrators to account;
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6.
Demands that the Syrian regime adhere fully to its international
obligations, including the requirement that it declare in full its chemical weapons
programme, with special emphasis on the need for the Syrian Arab Republic to
urgently resolve the identified gaps, inconsistencies and discrepancies pertaining to
its declaration in respect of the Chemical Weapons Convention and to verifiably
eliminate its chemical weapons programme in its entirety, 12 further invites the
Executive Council of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons to
consider additional procedures for stringent verification pursuant to article IV,
paragraph 8, and article V, paragraph 10, of the Convention, in order to ensure the
complete destruction of the Syrian chemical weapons programme and prevent any
further use of chemical weapons, and further welcomes the adoption of decision
C-28/DEC.12 of 30 November 2023 by the Conference of the States Parties to the
Convention, which, inter alia, recommends that States parties to the Convention take
certain recommended collective measures consistent with article XII, paragraph 3, of
the Convention;
7.
Deplores and condemns in the strongest terms the continued widespread
and systematic gross violations and abuses of human rights and fundamental
freedoms, including those of women and children, and all violations of international
humanitarian law by the Syrian regime, the government-affiliated militias and those
who fight on their behalf, including those involving the deliberate targeting of
civilians or civilian objects, attacks on schools, hospitals, healthcare facilities,
civilian water stations and places of worship, when contrary to international
humanitarian law, indiscriminate attacks with heavy weapons, aerial bombardments,
cluster munitions, ballistic missiles, barrel bombs, chemical or other weapons and
other force targeting civilians, as well as the starvation of the civilian population as a
method of warfare, massacres, arbitrary executions, extrajudicial killings, the killing
of peaceful protesters, human rights defenders and journalists, individuals and
members of communities on the basis of their religion or belief, arbitrary detention,
enforced disappearances, forced 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;
8.
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;
9.
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 non-State actors, 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, including ISIL (also
known as Da’esh) and Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (formerly known as the Nusrah Front),
an Al-Qaida affiliate;
10. Strongly urges the Syrian regime to withdraw Law No. 19 of 2024 and to
end violations of the rights to freedom of opinion and expression, both online and
offline, including through violence or threats of violence against journalists and
others who express their opinion, censorship, enforcement of or threat to enforce
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12 Security Council resolution 2118 (2013), annex I.
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criminal libel laws, Internet disruption such as shutting down of networks, throttling
and mass surveillance of online activities;
11.
Deplores and strongly condemns the terrorist acts and violence committed
against civilians by ISIL (also known as Da’esh), Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (formerly
known as the Nusrah Front), Al-Qaida-affiliated terrorist groups, other terrorist
groups, such as Hurras al-Din, designated by the Security Council and other violent
extremist groups and their continued gross, systematic and widespread abuses of
human rights, including of the rights of women and children, and violations of
international humanitarian law, and reaffirms that terrorism cannot and should not be
associated with any religion, gender, ethnicity, nationality or civilization;
12. Condemns the reported forced displacements of the population in the
Syrian Arab Republic due to repeated violations of international human rights,
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, further
expresses deep concern at reports of social and demographic engineering in areas
throughout the country, and 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;
13. 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 consistent with the Guiding Principles on
Internal Displacement,13 and that internally displaced persons receive the information
they need to make informed and voluntary decisions about their movement and safety,
and also calls upon the Syrian Arab Republic to create conditions for voluntary, safe
and dignified returns of internally displaced persons;
14. Reminds the Government of the Syrian Arab Republic of its obligations
under the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading
Treatment or Punishment, 14 including its obligation to take effective measures to
prevent acts of torture in any territory under its jurisdiction, and calls upon all States
parties to the Convention to comply with all relevant obligations under the
Convention, including with respect to the obligation to extradite or prosecute
contained in article 7 of the Convention;
15. Deplores the non-renewal of the Security Council authorization of cross-
border humanitarian assistance to the Syrian Arab Republic, and in particular the veto
cast on 11 July 2023 by the Russian Federation, and takes note of the decisions by the
Syrian Arab Republic to consent to the use of the Bab al-Hawa, Bab al-Salamah and
Ra’i crossings for United Nations life-saving humanitarian deliveries, but remains
concerned by the limited time frame, which is insufficient, and underscores that needs
have increased to the highest levels since 2011, with an estimated 16.7 million Syrians
in need, according to the United Nations, and that roughly 9 million people live in
areas not under the control of the Syrian regime and 8.9 million require humanitarian
assistance in the north-east and north-west, and also considers with great concern the
significant effects of the earthquakes of February 2023, which disproportionately
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13 E/CN.4/1998/53/Add.2, annex.
14 United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1465, No. 24841.
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affected those who are in vulnerable situations, and that cross-border assistance remains
an indispensable tool to address the humanitarian needs of the population, including to
deliver vaccines and supplies to combat communicable diseases, which cannot be
adequately reached through existing operations within the Syrian Arab Republic;
16. Demands that the Syrian regime and all other parties to the conflict allow
and facilitate safe, full, rapid, immediate, unhindered and sustained humanitarian
access, including through the continuation of cross-border assistance;
17. Supports the United Nations in its endeavours for the continuation of the
monitoring of all humanitarian relief consignments of the United Nations
humanitarian agencies and their implementing partners to the north-west of the Syrian
Arab Republic in the future, while underscoring the role of the United Nations
Monitoring Mechanism for the Syrian Arab Republic in confirming the humanitarian
nature of these relief consignments, and supports the international community to
continue funding response initiatives to protect Syrians;
18. Strongly condemns the persistent and widespread use of sexual and gender-
based violence, abuse and exploitation, such as in government detention centres,
including those run by the intelligence agencies, reaffirms that acts of sexual and
gender-based violence, when committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack
directed against any civilian population, can constitute crimes against humanity, and
that acts of sexual and gender-based violence in situations of armed conflict can
constitute war crimes, reaffirms the need to end impunity through the prosecution of
perpetrators of sexual and gender-based crimes under national and international law,
stresses the need for the perpetrators of these crimes to be held accountable by
national justice systems or, where applicable, international courts and tribunals, notes
that such acts may constitute violations of international humanitarian law, violations
of international human rights law and abuses of human rights, in this regard expresses
deep concern at the prevailing climate of impunity for sexual and gender-based
violence, urges all parties to the conflict, especially the Syrian regime, to immediately
cease the perpetration of sexual and gender-based violence, and urges the Syrian
regime to ensure that victims and survivors of sexual and gender-based violence have
access to holistic support and are able to seek reparations and redress;
19. Also strongly condemns all violations and abuses committed against
children in contravention of applicable international law, including those involving
their recruitment and use, killing and maiming, rape and all other forms of sexual and
gender-based violence, child, early and forced marriage, abductions, enforced
disappearances, denial of humanitarian access and education for children, and attacks
on civilian objects, including schools and hospitals, as well as their arbitrary arrest,
unlawful detention, torture and ill-treatment and their use as human shields;
20. Reaffirms the Syrian regime’s responsibility for the systematic use of
enforced disappearances, takes note of the assessment of the Commission of Inquiry
that the Syrian regime’s use of enforced disappearances amounts to a crime against
humanity, condemns the targeted disappearances of young men and boys and the
exploitation of ceasefires as an opportunity to forcibly recruit and arbitrarily detain
them, and demands that the Syrian regime comply with its obligations under the
Convention on the Rights of the Child;
21. Urges all States as well as all parties to the conflict to cooperate fully with
the victim- and survivor-centric Independent Institution on Missing Persons in the
Syrian Arab Republic, which is humanitarian in mandate, to help clarify the fate and
whereabouts of all missing persons in the Syrian Arab Republic, in line with their
obligations under international law, calls upon other relevant actors, including
international institutions and civil society organizations, in particular Syrian civil
society organizations, to cooperate with the new institution, recalling the crucial
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humanitarian imperative of allowing families to know the fate and whereabouts of
their missing relatives, consistent with applicable international humanitarian law and
international human rights law, and encourages the timely operations and full
functioning of the Institution, including the appointment of its head and other key staff;
22. Encourages all parties to the conflict to enhance their engagement with
the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Syria to hasten the release of all
arbitrarily detained persons by the Syrian regime and to make progress on the issue
of missing persons;
23. Strongly condemns indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks on
civilians or civilian objects, including schools and water stations, humanitarian
personnel and humanitarian premises and assets as such, taking place in the Syrian
Arab Republic, which may constitute war crimes, as well as the intentional denial of
humanitarian assistance to civilians, and demands that the Syrian regime meet its
responsibility to protect the Syrian population and act in accordance with its
obligations under relevant provisions of international human rights law and
international humanitarian law;
24. Also strongly condemns the targeting of medical personnel, humanitarian
workers and personnel exclusively engaged in medical duties, their means of transport
and equipment and hospitals and other medical facilities, which may constitute war
crimes, including the attack against the deconflicted Atarib cave hospital on 21 March
2021, the terrorist attack against Al-Shifa’ hospital on 12 June 2021, the attack on
emergency first responders in Atarib on 11 July 2023, and the damage to 23 health
facilities and hospitals amid widespread bombings in Idlib region in October 2023;
25. Demands that the Syrian regime cooperate fully with the Commission of
Inquiry, including by granting it immediate, full, safe, unhindered and sustained
access throughout the Syrian Arab Republic;
26. Strongly condemns the intervention in the Syrian Arab Republic of all
foreign terrorist fighters and those foreign organizations and foreign forces fighting
on behalf of the Syrian regime, expresses deep concern that their involvement further
exacerbates the deteriorating situation in the Syrian Arab Republic, including the
human rights and humanitarian situation, which has a serious negative impact on the
region, and further demands that all foreign terrorist fighters, and those who are
fighting in support of the Syrian regime, including all militias sponsored by foreign
Governments, must immediately withdraw from the Syrian Arab Republic;
27. Demands that all parties immediately put an end to all violations of
international human rights law, abuses of human rights and violations of international
humanitarian law, recalls, in particular, the obligation under international
humanitarian law to distinguish between civilians and combatants and the prohibition
against indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks and all attacks against civilians
and civilian objects, further demands that all parties to the conflict take all appropriate
steps to protect civilians, in compliance with international law, including by desisting
from attacks directed against civilian objects, such as medical centres, schools, water
stations, humanitarian personnel and humanitarian premises and assets, and refrain
from militarizing such facilities, seek to avoid establishing military positions in
densely populated areas and enable the evacuation of the wounded and all civilians
who wish to leave areas of conflict, including besieged areas, and recalls in this regard
that the Syrian regime bears primary responsibility for protecting its population;
28. Emphasizes the need for full accountability and justice for crimes
involving breaches of international law, in particular of international humanitarian
law and international human rights law, some of which may constitute war crimes or
crimes against humanity, committed in the Syrian Arab Republic since March 2011,
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through fair, transparent and independent investigations and prosecutions at the
domestic or international level;
29. Requests the International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism to
submit an annual report to the General Assembly, starting at its eightieth session, on
the implementation of its mandate while preserving the confidential nature of its
substantive work, in time for the annual presentation of the report by the Head of the
Mechanism in April at a plenary meeting of the Assembly under the agenda item
entitled “Prevention of armed conflict”;
30. Welcomes efforts by the International, Impartial and Independent
Mechanism to assist in the search for missing persons in the Syrian context, and
further encourages the International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism to
cooperate with the Independent Institution on Missing Persons in the Syrian Arab
Republic to help advance efforts to clarify the fate and whereabouts of all missing
persons in the Syrian Arab Republic;
31. Also welcomes the victim- and survivor-centred approach practised by the
International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism, commends its model of
engagement with victim and survivor groups, as well as civil society in general,
through bilateral cooperation and regular consultations, such as the Lausanne
platform, and further welcomes that the Independent Institution on Missing Persons
in the Syrian Arab Republic has adopted a similarly victim- and survivor-centred
approach;
32. Further welcomes the continued funding for the International, Impartial
and Independent Mechanism through the programme budget, and urges the Secretary-
General to include further necessary resources to address the Mechanism’s
significantly increased workload since 2020 in particular to meet the growing
demands from competent jurisdictions, to be able to facilitate access to justice for
victims, survivors and witnesses while ensuring their safety and protection, and to
respond to the increased need to preserve existing information and evidence at risk of
loss or destruction;
33. Emphasizes the need to ensure that all those responsible for violations of
international humanitarian law or violations and abuses of human rights law are held
to account through appropriate, fair and independent domestic or international
criminal justice mechanisms, stresses the need to pursue practical steps towards this
goal, for that reason encourages the Security Council to take appropriate action to
ensure full accountability, noting the important role that the International Criminal
Court can play in this regard in accordance with complementarity, and urges the
Syrian authorities to share further information regarding reports of extrajudicial
executions and other serious violations throughout the country to advance
accountability efforts;
34. Welcomes progress made on national and international accountability
efforts, and in this regard notes the conviction and sentencing in January 2022 by a
court in Germany 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, noting that information from the Commission
of Inquiry and the International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism was used as
evidence during the investigation and trial, and further welcomes that the Kingdom
of the Netherlands and Canada initiated legal proceedings at the International Court
of Justice to hold the Syrian Arab Republic accountable for torture and other cruel,
inhuman or degrading treatment and punishment of its own people, in breach of its
obligations under the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or
Degrading Treatment or Punishment, strongly condemns retaliation and reprisals
against those who cooperate with relevant mechanisms, and calls upon the Syrian
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regime to comply fully with the provisional measures ordered by the International
Court of Justice to prevent acts of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading
treatment or punishment and ensure that its officials and others under its control do
not commit such practices, and to prevent the destruction and ensure the preservation
of any evidence related to the allegations of acts within the scope of the Convention
against Torture;
35. Also welcomes the efforts by States to investigate conduct in the Syrian
Arab Republic and to prosecute crimes within their jurisdiction committed in the
Syrian Arab Republic, encourages them to continue to do so and to share relevant
information between States in accordance with their national legislation and
international law, and also encourages other States to consider doing the same;
36. Urgently requests the Commission of Inquiry to present its latest reporting
to the General Assembly during an interactive dialogue at its eightieth session on the
situation of human rights in the Syrian Arab Republic, and encourages United Nations
monitoring and reporting to further document violations of international humanitarian
law and violations and abuses of human rights, including those that may amount to
crimes against humanity and war crimes, to provide recommendations to facilitate
improvements in civilian protection and accountability measures, and to feature
witness testimony of Syrian human rights defenders, survivors of torture and sexual
and gender-based violence, former detainees, and other Syrian voices through
appropriate and safe means, and where informed consent has been provided;
37. Deplores the deteriorating humanitarian situation in the Syrian Arab
Republic, and urges the international community to assume its responsibility for
providing urgent financial support to enable the host countries and communities to
respond to the growing humanitarian needs of Syrian refugees, while emphasizing the
importance of burden- and responsibility-sharing;
38. Calls upon all members of the international community, including all
donors, to fulfil their previous pledges and continue to provide much-needed support
to the United Nations, its specialized agencies and other humanitarian actors to
provide humanitarian and medical assistance to the millions of Syrians who are in
need, including those displaced both internally and in host countries and
communities;
39. Welcomes the efforts of those countries outside the region that have put in
place measures and policies to assist and host Syrian refugees, encourages them to do
more, also encourages other States outside the region to consider implementing
similar measures and policies, with a view to providing Syrian refugees with
protection and humanitarian assistance, acknowledges the need to improve the
conditions on the ground to facilitate the return of refugees in a safe, voluntary,
informed and dignified manner to their place of origin or another location of their
choice, opposes coerced returns of Syrian refugees to the Syrian Arab Republic, and
takes note of the recent finding of the Commission of Inquiry that the Syrian Arab
Republic does not yet offer a safe and stable environment for the sustainable and
dignified return of refugees or for the 7.2 million displaced persons inside the country
due to risk of serious human rights violations including arbitrary arrest, torture,
enforced disappearance, and death;
40. Demands that the Syrian regime and all other parties to the conflict ensure
the full, immediate, unimpeded and sustained safe and unhindered access of the
United Nations and humanitarian actors, including to besieged and hard-to-reach
areas such as Rukban, that the Syrian regime cease to impede the ability of the United
Nations and humanitarian actors to move through the north-east of the Syrian Arab
Republic and beyond, especially in the light of the restricted humanitarian space and
worsened humanitarian situation following the failure to reauthorize the Ya‘rubiyah
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border crossing in Security Council resolutions 2504 (2020), 2533 (2020), 2585
(2021), 2642 (2022) and 2672 (2023) and to extend for as long as humanitarian needs
require the use of the Bab al-Hawa, Bab al-Salamah and Ra’i crossings and that all
parties preserve the Fish Khabur border crossing and other crossing points along the
Turkish borders with the Syrian Arab Republic, and allow sustained deliveries of
humanitarian assistance to persons in need across the Syrian Arab Republic, including
through commercial routes, consistent with Security Council resolutions 2139 (2014),
2165 (2014), 2191 (2014), 2254 (2015), 2258 (2015), 2332 (2016), 2393 (2017), 2401
(2018), 2449 (2018), 2504 (2020), 2533 (2020), 2585 (2021), 2642 (2022) and 2672
(2023);
41. Strongly condemns the reported killing of detainees in Syrian military
intelligence facilities, and calls upon the Syrian regime to release all unlawfully held
detainees, including women, children and the elderly, and to facilitate information
about those still in detention as well as those who died while in detention by the
Syrian regime, returning their remains, with full transparency regarding what
happened to these individuals, and urges the regime to immediately reverse its
abhorrent use of mass detentions and torture as means of silencing and repressing
political opposition and political activists, human rights defenders, lawyers,
journalists and other media workers and of depriving Syrian citizens of their rights to
freedom of opinion and expression, both online and offline;
42. Calls for the appropriate international monitoring bodies to be granted
access to detainees in all prisons and detention centres, including all military facilities
referred to in the reports of the Commission of Inquiry;
43. Demands that all parties take all appropriate steps to protect civilians and
persons hors de combat, including persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious
and linguistic minorities, and stresses that, in this regard, the primary responsibility
to protect the population lies with the Syrian regime;
44. Strongly condemns the damage and destruction of the cultural and
historical heritage of the Syrian Arab Republic, in particular that of Palmyra and
Aleppo, and the organized looting and trafficking of Syrian cultural property, as
outlined by the Security Council in its resolutions 2199 (2015) of 12 February 2015
and 2347 (2017) of 24 March 2017, remains alarmed by damage to cultural and
historical property that occurred in Aleppo following the earthquakes of February
2023, affirms that attacks and looting intentionally directed against cultural property
may amount to war crimes and a serious violation of international humanitarian law,
underlines the need to bring the perpetrators of such crimes to justice, and calls upon
the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, within its
mandate, to review and closely monitor the situation in the Syrian Arab Republic for
the preservation of cultural and historical heritage in the Syrian Arab Republic;
45. Notes with concern the significant increase in humanitarian needs
throughout the Syrian Arab Republic, compounded by the lack of access to water and
electricity, which continues to undermine the stability and security of the whole
region, worsening the humanitarian situation and humanitarian actors’ ability to
respond to humanitarian needs;
46. Stresses the situation of particular concern in north-west Syrian Arab
Republic, particularly Idlib, strongly condemns the attacks on civilians and first
responders and civilian infrastructure where ongoing violence, including air strikes,
and attacks with uncrewed aerial vehicles, continues to cause death and injury among
civilians and first responders, as well as devastating damage to civilian infrastructure,
including healthcare and educational facilities, and welcomes the 2020 report of the
United Nations Board of Inquiry mandated to investigate the destruction of and
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damage to facilities on the United Nations deconfliction list and United Nations-
supported facilities;
47. Also stresses the urgent need for the immediate cessation of military
hostilities in Idlib and the surrounding areas, for the prioritization of the protection
of all civilians, including those displaced, and for full, rapid, immediate, unhindered
and safe humanitarian access, including cross-border access, recalls the Additional
Protocol to the Memorandum on the Stabilization of the Situation in the Idlib
De-escalation Area, signed by the Russian Federation and Türkiye on 5 March 2020,
and stresses the importance of continuing work towards preserving calm on the
ground and creating the necessary conditions for the safe, dignified and voluntary
returns of displaced people;
48. Calls upon all Member States, relevant United Nations bodies,
international organizations and civil society to coordinate efforts with the
Independent Institution on Missing Persons in the Syrian Arab Republic and
proactively focus attention on the issue of missing persons in the Syrian Arab
Republic, including those subjected to enforced disappearance, and recalls the
importance of the full and meaningful participation of victims, survivors and their
families in such efforts;
49. Welcomes the report of the Secretary-General on the implementation of the
resolution on the establishment of the Independent Institution on Missing Persons in
the Syrian Arab Republic,15 supports its findings, takes note with appreciation of the
terms of reference of the Institution and the steps already taken towards the full
functioning of the Institution, and therefore requests an informal briefing from the
head of the Institution on its initial operations and the progress it has made to help
clarify the fate and whereabouts of missing persons in the Syrian Arab Republic and
support families of victims and survivors before 1 July 2025;
50. Urges all parties to the conflict to take all appropriate steps to promote the
safety and security of United Nations and associated personnel, personnel of the
specialized agencies and all other personnel engaged in humanitarian relief activities,
including national and locally recruited personnel, in accordance with their
obligations under international humanitarian law, without prejudice to their freedom
of movement and access, stresses the need not to impede or hinder these efforts,
recalls that attacks on humanitarian workers may amount to war crimes, according to
Security Council resolutions 2175 (2014), 2286 (2016) and 2730 (2024), and notes in
this regard that the Security Council has reaffirmed that it will take further measures
in the event of non-compliance with its resolutions 2139 (2014), 2165 (2014), 2191
(2014), 2234 (2015), 2258 (2015), 2286 (2016), 2393 (2017), 2401 (2018), 2449
(2018), 2585 (2021) and 2642 (2022) by any Syrian party;
51. Urges the international community to support the leadership and full,
equal and meaningful participation of women in all efforts aimed at finding a political
solution to the Syrian crisis, as envisaged by the Security Council in its resolution
1325 (2000) and all subsequent resolutions of the women and peace and security
agenda, and that all efforts to ensure a safe and enabling environment are taken to
ensure that protection concerns do not compromise the participation of women;
52. Reaffirms that there can only be a political solution to the conflict in the
Syrian Arab Republic, reiterates its commitment to the national unity and territorial
integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic, and urges the parties to the conflict to abstain
from actions that may contribute to the continuing deterioration of the human rights,
security and humanitarian situation, in order to reach a genuine political transition,
based on the final communiqué of the Action Group for Syria of 30 June 2012,
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consistent with Security Council resolutions 2254 (2015), 2268 (2016) and 2585
(2021), that meets the legitimate aspirations of the Syrian people for a civil,
democratic and pluralistic State, with the full, equal and meaningful participation and
leadership of all women at all levels, where there is no fear of reprisal or intimidation
for participation, and no room for sectarianism or discrimination on ethnic, religious,
linguistic, gender or any other grounds, and where all persons receive equal
protection, regardless of gender, religion or ethnicity, and further demands that all
parties work urgently towards the comprehensive implementation of the final
communiqué, including through the establishment of an inclusive transitional
governing body with full executive powers, which shall be formed on the basis of
mutual consent while ensuring the continuity of governmental institutions.
53rd plenary meeting
17 December 2024
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UN Project. “A/RES/79/185.” UN Project, https://un-project.org/votes/resolution/A-RES-79-185/. Accessed .