UN Commission on Syria documents escalating fighting, economic decline

By Beyza Binnur Donmez

GENEVA (AA) - Syrians continued to suffer from fighting, extremely severe economic deterioration and persistent human rights violations and abuses, the UN Commission of Inquiry on Syria said on Tuesday.

"Before Syria plunges deeper into escalating violence and economic decline, we call on the key actors to cease attacks on civilians and respond to their dire needs, and urge the government in Damascus to take heed and to respond positively to Syrians’ legitimate aspirations and rights as key to ending the conflict," Paulo Pinheiro, the chair of the commission, said at a news conference while releasing the latest report on Syria.

The report said: "Constructive steps taken to ease sanctions in response to the earthquake should be maintained."

"Given the dire needs, the commission also called for an urgent review of the efficacy and delivery of international aid," it added.

Regarding the continued attacks on the areas devastated by February earthquakes, the report said it documented how the Bashar al-Assad regime and other parties "needlessly hindered life-saving aid, and continued shelling targets in the earthquake-affected area."

Of the 15 attacks that the new report documented in the earthquake-affected area, "several may constitute war crimes," it added.

It said that suspected Israeli airstrikes rendered key transport infrastructure “inoperable,” with reverberating effects on humanitarian operations.

"These instances, as well as the failure of the UN Security Council to reach a consensus in July to extend cross-border aid deliveries via the Bab Al-Hawa border crossing, stand as a stark reminder of how hostilities, politicization and fragmentation in Syria harm civilians and deprive them of much-needed assistance. There needs to be a thorough review of the lessons to be learned from the failures of the earthquake response,” Commissioner Lynn Welchman said.

"Is it too much to ask that the parties and the international community ensure that cross-border humanitarian assistance can continue at the necessary scale and in a principled, needs-based and sustainable manner?" Welchman asked.

- Protests

In the past few weeks, there has been more fighting in “greater Idlib” that has forced many people to move, and in Deir-Ezzor, which has caused dozens of deaths, according to the report. There have also been many big protests for economic, social, civil, and political rights in areas controlled by the Assad regime, especially in Suweida.

"Insecurity remains rife far beyond frontlines, rendering the safe return of Syrian refugees implausible," it said, adding that the commission recorded mistreatment by the regime forces against some returning refugees.

Stressing that parties to the conflict continued to commit war crimes and crimes against humanity, the commission repeated its request for the freedom of all individuals detained without reason in Syria and for impartial observers to be given the opportunity to enter all detention facilities.

On living conditions at Al Hawl and Rawj camps, where an estimated 52,000 individuals, mostly women and children, are detained for almost five years, the report said the conditions are "terrible."

"We commend states who since January have repatriated over 2,000 women and children, and call for such repatriations to continue," said Pinheiro.

"We also call on states to bring home male adult citizens detained in northeast Syria, and to hold alleged perpetrators among them accountable for Daesh war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide in proceedings compliant with fair trial standards,” he said.

The commission further said that it had taken note of the announcement by the International Court of Justice that it will hold public hearings on Oct. 10 and 11 on the case against the Syrian regime concerning its responsibilities under the Convention against Torture.

It also welcomed the landmark resolution passed by the UN General Assembly in June creating a dedicated institution for missing persons in Syria.

"The expectation of the families is that the best expertise, methodology, technology, and resources, will be mobilised both in the search for the missing and in providing assistance and psychosocial support to those impacted," Commissioner Hanny Megally said.

The report will be presented to the UN Human Rights Council on Sept. 22.