The UN Human Rights Council condemned the continued widespread and gross violations of human rights and all violations of international humanitarian law by the Assad regime forces and their allied militias.
In a resolution adopted at the conclusion of its 36th session in Geneva on Friday, the Council called on regime forces and their allies to stop “indiscriminate attacks against the civilian population and civilian facilities, including against medical facilities, personnel and transport, schools and humanitarian workers.”
The Council welcomed the work of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic, established by the Human Rights Council in its resolution S 17/1 of 23 August 2011. It demanded that the Assad regime “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.”
The Council also condemned “the Syrian authorities’ indiscriminate use of heavy weapons and aerial bombardments, including cluster munitions, incendiary weapons, ballistic missiles and barrel bombs.” It called for “an immediate end to all attacks against medical facilities and personnel, and civilians and civilian infrastructure, including civilian transportation and educational facilities.”
Furthermore, the Council stressed “the need to promote accountability for those responsible for the unlawful killings of civilians, and also stresses the importance of holding to account those responsible for all violations of international humanitarian law and all violations and abuses of international human rights law.”
Meanwhile, the United Nations humanitarian adviser on Syria, Jan Egeland, stressed the urgent need for “a workable and respected system of notification” to prevent the targeting of humanitarian facilities in Syria. Egeland on Thursday denounced air raids on five hospitals and two humanitarian warehouses in Idlib province. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department + Agencies)
