A/HRC/19/80 accompanied the current crisis in the country. According to the Government, the purpose of the campaign was to prolong the crisis, as part of a particular political agenda. The Government also stated that the campaign was supported by generous financial contributions from Arab and Western countries for the purpose of arming groups whose main objective was “to exploit Syrian blood”. The Government referred to paragraph 29 of the report of the League of Arab States observer mission, which had confirmed the “presence of media exaggerations in the reporting on the nature of incidents, the number of the dead and injured in events and the demonstrations taking place in some cities”. Furthermore, paragraph 28 of the same report referred to “the release of false reports from several entities regarding bombings and violence in some areas” and that “when the observers were deployed to those areas to verify those reports, they discovered that they were unfounded.” 6. With regard to paragraph 3 of the resolution, in which the Human Rights Council urged the Government of the Syrian Arab Republic to meet its responsibility to protect its population, the Government affirmed that it fully realized its responsibility towards its people and reaffirmed its efforts to respond to the people’s legitimate demands for reform in accordance with the Constitution and the State’s obligations under human rights law. The Government claimed, however, that armed terrorist groups disguised under different names had perpetrated crimes against Syrians, and that these groups had attempted to have these crimes blamed on the Government instead. The Government pointed out that it was constantly working to stop the attacks carried out by armed terrorist groups funded from abroad. In that context, the Government urged the international community to support its efforts by requesting that those who funded the terrorist groups stop their blatant interference in Syrian affairs. 7. With regard to paragraph 4 (a) of the resolution, in which the Human Rights Council called on the Government of the Syrian Arab Republic to release immediately all prisoners of conscience and arbitrarily detained persons, and to grant access for independent international monitors to all places of detention, the Government, in its note verbale of 10 February 2012, explained that four amnesty decrees had been issued, resulting in the release of thousands of individuals detained in the context of recent events in the country and who did not have Syrian blood on their hands. The Government also pointed out that it had released individuals who had been sentenced for charges relating to disrespect for the authority of the State or for belonging to parties banned for criminal activities. The Government pointed out that it had allowed the International Committee of the Red Cross and the League of Arab States observer mission access to Syrian prisons. OHCHR notes that, in a separate note verbale dated 24 January 2012 and addressed to OHCHR, the Government maintained that 553 detainees had been released on 5 November 2011, 1,180 on 15 November, 912 on 30 November, 755 on 28 December and 552 on 5 January 2012. 8. With regard to paragraph 4 (b) of the resolution, in which the Human Rights Council called on the Government of the Syrian Arab Republic to initiate prompt, independent and impartial investigations in accordance with international standards to end impunity, ensure accountability and bring perpetrators to justice, the Government claimed in its note verbale of 10 February 2012 that the President of the Syrian Arab Republic, in his speech of 10 January 2012, had given assurances that there would not be any impunity for anyone and that a small number of individuals who had been arrested for murder and other crimes were being investigated. The Government also stated that it had formed a national investigative commission, which to date had received 4,073 complaints. The commission, the Government maintained, was working seriously to prepare objective and accurate reports to redress the victims of injustice, while avoiding jumping to conclusions based on fabricated and inaccurate information. The Government again referred to the speech of the President of 10 January 2012, during which he stated that “there are no orders from any level of the State to open fire on any citizen” and that “the use of live fire is not permitted unless in 3