Human rights breaches create more instability in Syria – UN inspectors
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria said on Sep.22, that human rights violations and abuse in Syria are creating more violence and radicalization despite diplomatic efforts to stabilize the situation in the country.
The commission presented this assessment to the UN Human Rights Council prompting most of the countries attending the meeting to express concern over the continuation of alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes by the Syrian government.
“Nearly 12 years in, the parties to this conflict continue to perpetrate war crimes and to violate basic human rights,” Paulo Pinheiro, commission chair told the council.
Pinheiro added, “Today, Syrian youth are fleeing the country in droves, leaving behind a fragmented state, a crippled economy and destroyed homes. They no long feel they have a future in their own country.”
Pinheiro said in the first half of 2023, “Syrians continued to be killed, disappeared, tortured, arbitrarily detained, displaced and dispossessed.”
The chairman added that military escalation on several fronts, the deteriorating economy and constant human rights violations create unsafe circumstance in the face of the return of Syrian refugees back to Syria.
He said some refugees who returned to Syria have been subjected to abuses by Syrian security forces and gangs in addition to blackmail for their release and in some cases were forcibly disappeared.
The commission’s report also criticized the unwillingness of states to repatriate their nationals stranded in Hawl and Roj camps in northeastern Syria.
Pinheiro said that 14 states had repatriated over 2,200 of their nationals in 2023. “Such efforts are absolutely critical. We have long stated that the only human rights compliant solution for foreign nationals in the northeast is repatriations.”
On the other hand, Syria’s ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Haydar Ali Ahmad, rejected the commission’s report describing it as biased and based on false information.
Ahmad went on and called for the withdrawal of “occupying” foreign forces from Syria, which would “allow the return of refugees and internally displaced persons, and the lifting of all illegally imposed unilateral coercive measures on the country.”
Syria has become a battleground for conflicting parties, with the involvement of foreign powers, leading to severe human rights violations against civilians, including women and children. These violations encompass deliberate killings, direct attacks, kidnappings, arbitrary detentions, and other inhumane acts.
Since the beginning of 2023, the Monitoring and Documentation Department of North Press Agency has recorded the killing and injury of 2,747 civilians, including women and children. Among these, 1,490 were directly affected by the actions of conflicting parties. Around 478 people were killed, including 32 women and 42 children, and 1,012 were injured, including 98 women and 123 children.