A/HRC/39/65 I. Mandate and methodology 1. In the present report, submitted to the Human Rights Council pursuant to its resolution 34/26, the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic1 presents its findings based on investigations conducted from 16 January to 10 July 2018. The methodology employed by the Commission was based on best practices of commissions of inquiry and fact-finding missions. 2. The information contained herein is based on 402 interviews conducted in the region and from Geneva. The Commission collected, reviewed and analysed satellite imagery, photographs, videos and medical records. Communications from Governments and nongovernmental organizations were consulted, as were United Nations reports. 3. The standard of proof was considered met when the Commission had reasonable grounds to believe that incidents occurred as described, and, where possible, that violations were committed by the warring party identified. The Commission’s investigations remain curtailed by the denial of access to the Syrian Arab Republic. II. Political and military developments 4. Continued proliferation of warring parties and increased militarization characterized the period under review, together contributing to unprecedented levels of internal displacement. Turkey announced on 20 January the launch of Operation Olive Branch, when Turkish armed forces alongside members of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) began cross-border operations into Afrin (Aleppo), in the north-west of the Syrian Arab Republic. The Government of Turkey declared that its aim was to fight terrorism and to ensure its border security, pursuant to Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations (see S/2018/53). On 21 January, the Government of the Syrian Arab Republic condemned the operation as an act of aggression, a flagrant attack against the territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic and a violation of the provisions of the Charter (see S/2018/82). 5. On the political front, the Syrian National Congress concluded its session on 30 January with the adoption of a final statement endorsing 12 principles developed by the United Nations and the establishment of a constitutional committee. The Government of the Syrian Arab Republic rejected the possibility of a role by the United Nations, however, stating that the constitutional process should be followed without foreign interference. 6. Outside Afrin, military escalation continued into February, when the Syrian Arab Army began a large-scale military operation towards Saraqib (Idlib). On 3 February, following the downing of a Sukhoi-25 fighter jet near Maasran, the aerospace forces of the Russian Federation intensified aerial attacks in Idlib. Clashes also continued between the newly established Jabhat Tahrir Suriya (the “Syrian Liberation Front”)2 and the terrorist group Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham3 in Aleppo and Idlib governorates. In eastern Ghouta, aerial and ground bombardments reached a new peak in February 2018 (see A/HRC/38/CRP.3). In the light of the escalation, the Security Council sought to achieve a cessation of hostilities; efforts to de-escalate were unsuccessful. Turkish armed forces and FSA affiliates meanwhile captured Afrin (see paras. 14–31 below), whereupon the Government of Turkey declared that Tal Rifat and Minbij (Aleppo) would be next. 7. April was marked by the adoption of Presidential Decree no. 10 (see para. 91 below), which stoked fears among refugees and those internally displaced that the law could legitimize confiscation by the State of absentee property. The period also witnessed increased international tensions after the United States of America, the United Kingdom of 1 2 3 The commissioners are Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro (Chair), Karen Koning AbuZayd and Hanny Megally. Comprising the groups Ahrar al-Sham and Nour al-Din al-Zenki. Despite the change in name from “Jabhat al-Nusra” to “Jabhat Fatah al-Sham” in July 2016, the Commission continues to regard the group as a terrorist entity as designated by the Security Council in its resolution 2170 (2014). After the first round of talks in Astana, on 28 January 2017 the terrorist group joined a number of extremist factions, including Ansar al- Sham and Ajnad al-Sham, to form the umbrella coalition of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham. 3