A/HRC/25/65 I. Introduction 1. In the present report, submitted pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 22/24, the independent international commission of inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic presents its findings based on investigations conducted from 15 July 2013 to 20 January 2014.1 The report should be read in conjunction with previous reports of the commission.2 A. Challenges 2. The commission’s investigations remain curtailed by the denial of access to the Syrian Arab Republic. 3. The correspondence between the Permanent Mission of the Syrian Arab Republic and the commission is annexed to the present report (see annex I). B. Methodology 4. The methodology employed by the commission was based on standard practices of commissions of inquiry and human rights investigations. The commission relied primarily on first-hand accounts. 5. The information contained in the present report is based on 563 interviews conducted in the region and from Geneva. Starting in September 2011, a total of 2,648 interviews were conducted by the commission. Photographs, video recordings, satellite imagery and medical records were collected and analysed. Reports from Governments and non-governmental sources, academic analyses and United Nations reports formed part of the investigation. 6. The standard of proof is met when the commission has reasonable grounds to believe that incidents occurred as described. II. Conflict dynamics 7. The conflict in the Syrian Arab Republic has grown in intensity and scope, as warring parties renewed efforts to strengthen their negotiation positions before the Geneva II conference. Despite intermittent tactical gains by the Government, fighting reached a stalemate, costing the country and the parties’ significant human and material losses. Particularly fierce around major cities and along main lines of communication, hostilities involved more brutal tactics and means. The Government relied extensively on the superior firepower of its air force and artillery, while non-State armed groups increasingly resorted to methods of asymmetric warfare, such as suicide bombings and the use of improvised explosive devices. 8. The war has become deeply fragmented and localized, with the emergence of multiple frontlines involving different parties with shifting priorities. Primarily aimed at limited short-term agendas, these confrontations have been fuelled mostly by local operational and socioeconomic particularities rather than by the broader context of the 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, A/HRC/22/59, A/HRC/23/58 and A/HRC/24/46.