Geneva / Information Office / September 17
The State of Qatar urged the international community to uphold its responsibilities in providing full protection for the Syrian people and holding accountable all those responsible for crimes and human rights violations in Syria.
This came in a speech delivered by HE Ambassador Ali Khalfan Al Mansouri, Permanent Representative of the State of Qatar to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva, during the interactive dialogue with the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic, under item 4 of the 42nd session of the UN Human Rights Council.
At the beginning of the speech, His Excellency thanked the Commission of Inquiry, saying "We call on the Syrian authorities to allow them to enter the country and enable them to carry out their mandate in the best possible way."
HE the Ambassador said the members of the International Commission of Inquiry presented today before the meeting's participants a new testimony in their report, which documents many of the grave violations and crimes committed against the Syrian people, but there are still many questions that we cannot answer, including why do millions of Syrians continue to be killed, tortured and displaced for more than eight years, and why there is no any accountability so far for those responsible for these violations and crimes despite the availability of sufficient evidence to convict them?
"We agree with what the report said regarding the importance of reaching a peaceful solution," he said, noting that the Syrian regime has pursued various policies to thwart political talks every time there is a hope for finding a political solution. These policies include military escalation, destruction of cities, deliberate and systematic targeting of civilians and civilian facilities, continued obstruction of humanitarian access, and the non-release of innocent detainees, especially women and children, who are subjected to the most heinous torture and oppression, he said.
His Excellency pointed to what is happening in Idlib governorate of bombing, destruction and displacement, deteriorating humanitarian situation and increasing violations against civilians in areas that have returned to the control of the Syrian regime.
HE Ambassador Ali Khalfan Al Mansouri called on the international community to understand the game played by the Syrian regime and its allies, to assume all its legal and moral responsibilities in providing full protection for the Syrian people, and take the necessary measures and as soon as possible to hold to account all those responsible to crimes and human rights violations in Syria, and bring them to criminal justice.