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United Nations Human Rights Council

Statement by Mr. Paulo Srgio Pinheiro Chair of the Independent International Commission of In uiry on the Syrian !rab Republic

"ene#a$ %& March '(%)

M. le Prsident Excellencies, Mesdames, Messieurs The harrowing violence in the Syrian Arab e!ublic has entered its "ourth year. #t shows no signs o" subsiding, as is a!!arent not only "rom our most recent re!ort but also "rom our u!date, released today. The lives o" over one hundred thousand !eo!le have been extinguished. Those "reed "rom detention now live with the !hysical and mental scars o" torture. The "ate and whereabouts o" thousands more remain un$nown. %ivilians in besieged areas have been reduced to scavenging. A recent !hotogra!h showing thousands o" !eo!le &ueuing "or "ood at the 'armou$ cam! in (amascus has underlined how des!erate, and how !recarious, the lives o" the besieged have become. )* humanitarian agencies that gained access to 'armou$ witnessed shoc$ing devastation, describing the buildings as +em!ty shells,, with !eo!le emerging "rom hiding +li$e ghosts,. #n this con"lict-s most recent low.!oint, !eo!le, including young children, have starved to death. *early nine million !eo!le / a third o" the !o!ulation / have now "led their homes. #n addition to the 0.1 million re"ugees, there are an estimated 2.1 million internally dis!laced !eo!le inside Syria. Millions more live in enclaves surrounded by violence. This is the tragic reality o" the Syrian war. The battle"ield has ta$en on new layers o" com!lexity. The 3overnment continues to rely on its su!erior "ire!ower, including its control o" the s$ies. #t has bene"itted "rom the intervention o" "oreign "ighters, many o" whom have an o""icial !resence in Syria. 4thers, notably insurgents crossing over "rom #ra&, are clandestinely "ighting in concert with the army and with the !ro. 3overnment militia.

There are now hundreds o" non.State armed grou!s. 5oreign "ighters have streamed into Syria, o"ten 6oining the more extremist battalions. Some, notably #S#S o!erating in Ale!!o and Al. a&&ah governorates, are im!osing their radical ideologies on the civilian !o!ulation. 7hile the armed grou!s are organi8ing themselves into coalitions, tensions over !olitical control, resources and ideological orientations remain. #n 9anuary 0:1;, these tensions eru!ted into deadly violence in northern and northeastern governorates. %ivilians are re!eatedly the victims o" acts o" terror. %ar and suicide bombs targeting civilian areas by non.State armed grou!s have caused extensive casualties and destruction. The 3overnment-s cam!aign o" barrel.bombing, notably targeting entire areas in Ale!!o city, has s!read terror amongst the civilian !o!ulation. Terrorism, in all its "orms, is a grave threat to international !eace and security. All acts o" terrorism are criminal and un6usti"iable, regardless o" their motivation, wherever, whenever and by whomever committed. Save "or the valiant e""orts o" humanitarian aid agencies, the international community has done little but bear witness to the !light o" those caught in the maelstrom. Syrians "eel abandoned and ho!eless. The overwhelming im!erative is "or the !arties, in"luential states and the international community to wor$ to ensure the !rotection o" civilians. #n !articular, as set out in Security %ouncil resolution 01<=, !arties must li"t the sieges and allow unim!eded and sa"e humanitarian access. # have 6ust returned "rom the region, where # s!o$e with Syrians who had "led the violence. Many had su""ered uns!ea$able atrocities. Among victims o" this terrible war, the need "or accountability is dee!ly.rooted in the desire "or !eace. The %ommission-s re!orts, thematic !a!ers and u!dates are an authoritative record o" incidents documented throughout the Syrian unrest and armed con"lict. They act as a bulwar$ against the misin"ormation and !ro!aganda that have come to characterise this war. #t is this volume o" testimony that will be the enduring legacy o" the %ommission> an archive o" Syrian voices and a resource "or "uture !rosecutions. As is well.$nown, we have established a list o" individuals and entities / military units and security agencies as well as armed grou!s and their battalions
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/ res!onsible "or violations and crimes we have documented throughout our re!orts. This +!er!etrators list, contains names o" !ersons criminally res!onsible "or hostage.ta$ing, torture and executions. #t also contains names o" the heads o" intelligence branches and detention "acilities where detainees are tortured, names o" military commanders who target civilians, air!orts "rom which barrel bomb attac$s are !lanned and executed, and armed grou!s involved in attac$ing and dis!lacing civilians. 7e have an enormous volume o" testimony / over 0?:: interviews as well as a wealth o" documentary material. 7e do not lac$ in"ormation on crimes or on !er!etrators. 7hat we lac$ is a means by which to achieve 6ustice and accountability. #n resolution 01<=, the Security %ouncil unanimously stressed the need to end im!unity "or violations o" international law and rea""irmed +that those who have committed or are otherwise res!onsible "or such violations and abuses in Syria must be brought to 6ustice,. #t is "or the Security %ouncil to ma$e this !ursuit o" 6ustice !ossible. #t is incumbent on all Member States, !articularly those with in"luence over the warring !arties, to carve out a !ath to !eace. A !art o" this res!onsibility is to adhere to your obligations not to trans"er wea!ons where those arms will be used in the commission o" war crimes or crimes against humanity. 4ur re!orts document these crimes. *o one can claim ignorance o" what is occurring in Syria. Those that believe in a military solution to the Syrian war / or to the !roxy wars being "ought inside Syria . are com!romising the !ros!ect o" a !olitical solution. %om!assion does not and should not su""ice. 7e cannot continue to sit "or years in these rooms, writing re!orts and ma$ing s!eeches lamenting the blood that is running in Syria-s streets. A negotiated !olitical solution, which the commission has consistently held to be the only solution to this con"lict, must be !ursued with renewed vigour both by the !arties and by in"luential states.
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The Syrian government and the o!!osition "orces must rise to the di""icult challenge that reaching such a settlement re&uires. The regional and international community must ta$e clear ste!s to revitalise the 3eneva negotiations. 7or$ing with 9oint S!ecial e!resentative, @a$hdar Arahimi, the warring !arties and the regional and international actors, must assume their mantles o" res!onsibility and bring this war, and its many horrors, to an end.