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Qatar Regrets Failure to Agree on Forming Constitutional Committee in Syria

Qatar Regrets Failure to Agree on Forming Constitutional Committee in Syria

Geneva / Information Office / September 17

The State of Qatar expressed its regret over the failure to reach an agreement on forming a constitutional committee in Syria, stressing that the Syrian regime is not serious in reaching a political solution and tries to waste time in order to implement its belief, which is a military resolution.

This came in the statement made by HE Ambassador Ali Khalfan Al Mansouri, the State of Qatar's permanent representative to the UN Office in Geneva, at the 39th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (OHCHR) on the interactive dialogue with Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic.

HE the ambassador warned that any military escalation in Idlib will threaten the lives of three million civilians, one million of which are children, according to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). He highlighted the importance of achieving a comprehensive cessation of fighting in Syria and reaching peaceful solution based on the Geneva communique 1 and UN Security Council Resolution 2254.

HE the ambassador strongly condemned the scorched earth policy followed by the Syrian regime and its allies with regards to the civilians, starting with imposing siege on cities and preventing the arrival of humanitarian aid, intensifying aerial bombardments, random attacks and destruction of institutions and service facilities, especially medical ones and forced displacement of civilians.

HE the ambassador said the violations and crimes committed against the Syrian people and the arrests, enforced disappearance, torture and cold-blooded executions in the prisons of the Syrian regime cannot be tolerated. He added that issuing large numbers of death certificates for prisoners by the Syrian regime, reflects a policy aimed at avoiding legal consequences, however it also represents an implicit recognition of responsibility for the death of detainees. This requires the international community to act to hold accountable and punish all those responsible for committing crimes and violations of human rights against the Syrian people and present them to criminal justice, he added.

HE Ambassador Ali Khalfan Al Mansouri expressed Qatar's gratitude to the Commission of Inquiry on its briefing and urged the Syrian authorities to allow them to enter the country to carry out their mission.