A/HRC/34/5 Special Rapporteur on the negative impact of unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rights. It had twice received the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict and the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict. It was awaiting a visit from the Envoy of the Secretary-General on Youth. 13. The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic had adopted, since its establishment, a selective and politicized approach. Micromanagement of the work of the Commission of Inquiry by States involved in the war against the Syrian Arab Republic, by means of politicized resolutions circulated to the Security Council before each report, had converted the Commission of Inquiry and its reports into an utterly biased platform against the Government. 14. The Government had submitted periodic and follow-up reports to the Committee on the Rights of the Child and the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women. The submission of a second national report to the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review reaffirmed the commitment of the Government to a constructive interactive dialogue, as did its voluntary commitment to promoting the universality of human rights. 15. The Government was about to establish a national human rights institution in compliance with principles relating to the status of national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights (the Paris Principles). 16. As for the recommendations concerning the strengthening of national mechanisms to investigate human rights violations, the criminal courts tried all cases of violence and enforced disappearance and prosecuted the perpetrators pursuant to the relevant Syrian legislation. As for the right to liberty and the amendment of the regulations governing detention, article 17 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, concerning the period for which suspects could be detained in the case of offences against State security and public safety, had been amended. A joint military investigation committee had been created to investigate complaints against army and police officers. The committee had investigated complaints, disciplinary penalties had been imposed and those found guilty had been referred to the relevant courts. A total of 282 complaints had been dealt with by the committee prior to the preparation of the report. The definition of the crime of torture in the new draft Criminal Code was in line with the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. As for the protection of persons from enforced disappearance, Act No. 20 of 2013 criminalized all forms of kidnapping and prescribed severe penalties for the perpetrators. 17. Regarding humanitarian access, the Syrian Arab Republic had cooperated with the United Nations and other international organizations in the framework of successive response plans based on the guiding principles set out in General Assembly resolution 46/182, which included respect for the sovereignty, territorial integrity and national unity of States and compliance with the principles of humanity, neutrality and impartiality. For the Government, meeting the humanitarian needs of its people constituted a permanent and fundamental obligation. 18. Moreover, the number of steps required by humanitarian organizations to obtain consent from the authorities for the passage of humanitarian assistance and relief convoys had been reviewed and reduced from eight to just two. B. Interactive dialogue and responses by the State under review 19. During the interactive dialogue, 71 delegations made statements. Recommendations made during the dialogue are to be found in section II of the present report. 5

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