A/HRC/44/61 I. Mandate and methodology 1. In its resolution 43/28, the Human Rights Council requested the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic1 to urgently conduct a comprehensive, independent special inquiry into the recent events in Idlib province and surrounding areas, and to provide a full report of its findings. The present report, finalized on 1 July, covers events that took place primarily between 1 November 2019 and 1 June 2020. 2. Pursuant to its established methodology, based on standard practices of commissions of inquiry and human rights investigations, the Commission relied primarily on 287 interviews conducted in person in the region and remotely from Geneva. 2 Reports, photographs, videos and satellite imagery were collected and analysed from multiple sources, including following the Commission’s call for submissions. 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 had been committed by the warring party identified. 3. The Commission’s investigations remain curtailed by the denial of access to the country and protection concerns in relation to interviewees. In all cases, the Commission remained guided by the principle of “do no harm”. 4. The Commission thanks all who provided information, in particular victims and witnesses. II. Introduction 5. Idlib Governorate and its environs – comprising rural northern Ladhiqiyah, northwestern Hama, and western Aleppo – is one of the last remaining areas beyond Government control in the Syrian Arab Republic. Prior to the uprising in 2011, it was home to some 1.5 million residents. Among the first regions to participate actively in anti-Government demonstrations, armed groups seized control over the area between 2012 and 2014. Amid heavy infighting between armed groups vying for control over the north-western part of the country, what would become Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham4 emerged as the main group in control by 2014. Its “Salvation government”, established in late 2017, operates as the quasi civil/administrative authority and exerts control over civilians through local committees. It is estimated that Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, designated as a terrorist group by the United Nations,5 has 12,000 to 15,000 fighters in its ranks, including Jabhat Fatah al-Sham and Ansar alSham.6 6. In the first half of 2018, battles in Aleppo, northern Homs, Damascus, Rif Damascus, Dar’a and Idlib Governorates collectively displaced more than 1 million Syrian women, men and children, of which more than half relocated to and within Idlib Governorate. 7 After hostilities fully ceased and truces were implemented, pro-Government forces required certain individuals from previously besieged areas 8 to undergo a “reconciliation process” 9 as a condition to remain. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 2 The commissioners are Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro (Chair), Karen Koning AbuZayd and Hanny Megally. As a result of travel limitations related to the COVID-19 pandemic, the majority of interviews were undertaken remotely. www.ohchr.org/coisyria. S/2017/904, para. 9. The Commission continues to regard the group as a terrorist entity, as designated by Security Council resolution 2170 (2014) and subsequent list entries (https://scsanctions.un.org/consolidated/). S/2020/53. A/HRC/39/65, para. 86. Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic, “Sieges as a weapon of war: encircle, starve, surrender, evacuate”, 29 May 2018, paras. 18–25. A/HRC/36/55, paras. 20–22.