A/HRC/23/58 I. Introduction 1. As the violence escalates in the Syrian Arab Republic, harrowing accounts of victims continue to sear themselves on the conscience of the international community. It is urgent to de-escalate the conflict and curtail the flow of weapons to allow diplomacy to end the violence. 2. In the present report, the independent international commission of inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic1 sets out its findings based on investigations of incidents occurring between 15 January and 15 May 2013. 3. For information on the interpretation of the commission’s mandate and its working methods, and its factual and legal findings concerning events in the Syrian Arab Republic between March 2011 and 15 January 2013, reference should be made to the previous reports of the commission.2 A. Challenges 4. Lack of access to the country continued to hamper the commission’s ability to fulfil its mandate. 5. On 28 March 2013, the commission addressed a letter to the Permanent Mission of the Syrian Arab Republic in which it reiterated its request for access to the country to seek information with regard to five specific incidents (see annex I). No response was received. Since October 2012, all requests for meetings with the Permanent Representative of the Syrian Arab Republic in Geneva have been unsuccessful. B. Methodology 6. The methodology employed was based on the standard practices of commissions of inquiry and human rights investigations, as noted in previous reports. 7. The commission relied primarily on first-hand accounts to corroborate incidents. The present report was based on 430 interviews conducted in the region and from Geneva, including via Skype and telephone with victims and witnesses inside the country. The number of interviews conducted since the mandate began in September 2011 stands at 1,630. 8. Photographs, video recordings, satellite imagery and medical records were collected. Reports from Governments and non-governmental sources, academic analyses and United Nations reports, including from human rights bodies and mechanisms and humanitarian organizations, also formed part of the investigation. 9. The standard of proof was in accordance with that applied in previous reports. This standard is met when reasonable grounds exist to believe that incidents occurred as described. 1 2 4 The commissioners are Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro (Chairperson), Karen Koning AbuZayd, Vitit Muntarbhorn and Carla del Ponte. S-17/2/Add.1, A/HRC/19/69, A/HRC/21/50 and A/HRC/22/59. See also the webpage of the commission of inquiry on the website of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/IICISyria/Pages/IndependentInternationalCommission.aspx).