Briefing to the Security Council under Arria formula on the situation in Syria
by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein
19 March 2018
Mr. Chairman,
Since this crisis began seven years ago with the torture of children in Dara’a; the use of lethal force against
peaceful demonstrations that began soon thereafter; the snipers; the Shabeehah – their crimes and those of the
Government, including the killing and mutilation of 13 year old Hamza al Khatib; and later, the emergence of radical
extremist and terrorist groups – the Syrian conflict has been characterised by its absolute disregard for even the most
minimal standards of principle and law.
And it all began – seven years ago almost to the day – with the torture of children, and the impunity given by the
Syrian State to those torturers. The emergence and spread of the cruellest of terrorist groups, took place on soil that
was already being soaked in blood.
Week after week, year after year, our humanitarian colleagues and my staff have issued urgent reports of severe
violations of human rights – most recently in Eastern Ghouta.
We have rung the loudest possible alarm bells about the fate of hundreds of thousands of terrified and vulnerable
civilians caught up in fighting, whether in Al Qusayr, Old Homs, Ayn al Arab, Al Muadamiya, Zabadani, Darayya, Afrin, Al
Raqqa, Aleppo city, or elsewhere. These civilians were and are protected persons, not terrorists.
It is worth recalling that multiple parties to this conflict claim to justify their military offensives based on their
struggle against terrorism. Indeed, never before have the campaigns against terrorism been used more often to justify
the unchecked and unconscionable use of force against civilians than in the last few months in Syria.
The maternity clinics, kindergartens and schools, markets and bakeries that are repeatedly targeted and destroyed are
essential civilian locations, protected under international humanitarian law, and the indiscriminate obliteration of
civilian neighbourhoods cannot in any way be justified by the need to overcome the terrorist groups – no matter how
odious the actions of those groups may be.
To push back terrorism, one must refrain from adopting the unprincipled and vicious attacks on innocent people that are
the very marker, the very distinguishing feature, of the violent extremist groups themselves.
The Syrian Government also claims it makes every effort to protect civilians. But when you are capable of torturing and
indiscriminately killing your own people, you have long forfeited your own credibility.
The siege of Eastern Ghouta by the Syrian Government forces, half a decade long, has involved pervasive war crimes, the
use of chemical weaponry, enforced starvation as a weapon of warfare, and the denial of essential and life-saving aid –
culminating in the current relentless, month-long bombardment of hundreds of thousands of terrified, trapped civilians.
Families are now streaming out of the area, but many civilians fear reprisals will be taken against them for their
perceived support for opposition groups. I note, in this context, the continuing and unjustifiable mass internment by
the Syrian Democratic Forces armed group of tens of thousands of people who fled Al Raqqa during the international
coalition's attack on ISIL last year.
In the city of Afrin, which was captured by Turkish forces yesterday, scores of civilians have been killed and injured
due to airstrikes, ground-based strikes, and explosive hazards, and thousands have been displaced. According to reports
received by my staff, as many as 50,000 civilians remain in the city, where the only hospital has shut, because of war
damage, and water supplies are severely restricted because of the reported destruction of a pumping station. Fighting
continues elsewhere in the Afrin region. In the governorates of Idlib, Hama and Deir-al-Zor, civilians are being pounded
by airstrikes and ground-based strikes. Civilians living in residential areas of Government-held Damascus continue to be
hit, and in Dara’a governorate renewed attacks have recently struck residential areas after months of relative calm.
Meanwhile, following the expulsion of ISIL forces from Al Raqqa governorate, survivors and returnees face the massive
devastation of housing and infrastructure, large numbers of explosive hazards and chaotic governance.
As I noted at the outset, unlawful methods of warfare have been used by all parties to this conflict, inflicting
enormous harm on civilians.Government forces, militia, armed groups and terrorist organizations have routinely denied
the delivery of essential humanitarian assistance and have attacked protected civilian sites such as health-care
centres, leading to countless preventable deaths. In 2017, one health facility was attacked every three days. Arbitrary
arrests, enforced disappearances, and specious convictions by courts have been used by the Government to detain tens of
thousands of people, often accompanied by torture and extreme ill-treatment, as my staff and the Human Rights Council's
Commission of Inquiry have repeatedly reported. Last week the Commission released a shocking report detailing the use of
rapes and other acts of sexual violence, including mutilation, by Government forces and associated militias during house
raids, at checkpoints, and during detention. The Commission found that this use of sexual violence, as part of a
widespread and systematic attack on civilians, amounts to crimes against humanity, and noted that armed groups also
inflicted sexual violence on captives and civilians, although to a lesser degree. Extremist terrorist groups have also
forced women into sexual slavery and perpetrated other grave abuses; and armed groups have detained civilians for use as
hostages, often in conditions of extreme ill-treatment.
Moreover, whether in areas controlled by the Government or by armed groups, numerous human rights defenders who have
bravely given voice to the needs of the people, and who have sought to document the merciless and relentless violations
of people's rights, have been detained, tortured or ill-treated, maimed or killed. There is a high human cost for the
information that is received by the Security Council, including in the monthly Secretary General's reports.
The Security Council has not lived up to the sacrifice of these heroes throughout Syria. It has not taken decisive
action to defend human rights and prevent further loss of life despite the absolutely shameful conduct that has marked
this conflict from the outset. And this failure is deeply consequential.The Syrian conflict, and the impunity that
characterizes it, is breaking our world. Its unspeakable cruelty; the resulting massive displacement of victims to
neighbouring countries and regions; the metastasizing involvement of outside powers, both directly and by proxy; and the
failure of international institutions to take decisive measures to uphold international humanitarian and human rights
law have shaken the Middle East, shifted the political landscape of other regions, set back decades of work to establish
minimal standards of decency in warfare, and given rise to grave concerns regarding the future of human rights, peace
and security, and development across the globe.
The United Nations was constructed on a commitment by all States – and I quote from the Charter – "to establish conditions under which justice, and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of
international law can be maintained." But in recent years the perpetrators of crimes against humanity and war crimes, in Syria and elsewhere, have
repeatedly been shielded from justice or strong preventive action by use of, or threat of the use of, the veto.
This failure to protect the lives and rights of millions of people is corroding not only the work but also the
legitimacy of the UN, humanity's most far-reaching system for global cooperation. If the Security Council's role in
upholding the Charter, and human rights across the world, is blocked; if it can no longer rise to meet the challenge of
crises and conflicts – then, as the UN and the great framework of international law begin to break down into irrelevance
and inaction, human beings face enormous danger.
In December 2016, given the absence of principled and appropriate action by the Security Council, the General Assembly
resolved to establish anInternational Impartial and Independent Mechanism (IIIM) to collect, preserve and analyse
evidence of the most serious international crimes committed in Syria, in order to facilitate future prosecutions by
international and domestic courts. My Office has given urgent priority to assisting the establishment of the IIIM.
Moreover, in addition to the rigorous monitoring and reporting work of my own staff – which is conducted remotely,
because we are refused access to Syria – we will also continue to support the complementary efforts of the Human Rights
Council's Commission of Inquiry.
Those who have perpetrated and are still perpetrating these mind-numbing crimes committed in Syria must be made to
answer before a properly constituted court of law. This must be assured and made non-negotiable – for the victims; to
uphold the legitimacy of the UN, including the Security Council; to deter and prevent future violations; and to advance
the pursuit of human rights, without fear or favour, around the world.
There has never been a Truth Commission created in the Middle East. if we exclude North Africa – or an international
war crimes tribunal. Are its peoples somehow not worthy of justice and the acknowledgement of the truth when it comes to
severe violations of their rights?
Mr. Chairman,
Decisive, effective, actionable and unanimous decisions by the Security Council can yet have real impact on the
situation in Syria – and help to restore confidence in international order. I once again urge that the violations which
have taken place be referred to the International Criminal Court. I again ask the Permanent Members of the Security
Council to agree to refrain from the use of, or the threat of the use of, the veto in cases where strong evidence
suggests war crimes and crimes against humanity have taken place. Furthermore, at the centre of any talks to reconcile
the parties and establish peace there must be justice and respect for human rights, including the rights of those who
have been detained, and close to 12 million people who have been forced to flee their homes.
No settlement which shields the perpetrators from prosecution is worth discussing, simply because such a settlement
would be utterly empty. For peace in Syria to be meaningful and lasting, a guarantee of justice for the Syrian people
must be assured.
ENDS