A/HRC/RES/31/17 underscores the importance of seeking accountability for those responsible for violations of international humanitarian law in this context; 14. Reiterates its condemnation in the strongest terms of any use of any toxic chemical, such as chlorine, as a weapon in the Syrian Arab Republic, and recalls the decision of the Security Council that the Syrian Arab Republic shall not use, develop, produce, otherwise acquire, stockpile or retain chemical weapons, or transfer, directly or indirectly, chemical weapons to other States or non-State actors;1 15. Calls upon the Syrian authorities and all other parties to the conflict to ensure the effective implementation of Security Council resolutions 2139 (2014) of 22 February 2014 and 2254 (2015), in which the Council strongly condemned the arbitrary detention and torture of civilians in the Syrian Arab Republic, notably in prisons and detention facilities, as well as kidnappings, abductions and forced disappearances, and demanded the immediate end of these practices; 16. Strongly condemns all use of starvation of civilians as a method of combat, and all besiegement directed against civilian populations; 17. Condemns the destruction of the structures of civilian life as a result of the conflict, and calls upon all parties to comply fully with their obligations under international law, including the obligation to distinguish military from civilian objectives, and, accordingly, to refrain from deliberately targeting civilians and to put an end to all indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks; 18. Also condemns the Syrian authorities’ use of heavy weapons, cluster munitions and aerial bombardments, including any indiscriminate use of ballistic missiles and barrel bombs, and attacks against civilian infrastructure, including medical facilities; 19. Condemns in the strongest terms the increasing number of mass casualty incidents, including any which may constitute a war crime, taking place in the Syrian Arab Republic, and requests the Commission of Inquiry to continue to investigate all such acts; 20. Stresses the need to promote accountability for those responsible for the unlawful killings of civilians, and also stresses the importance of holding to account those responsible for all violations of international humanitarian law and violations and abuses of international human rights law; 21. Strongly condemns violence against all persons based on their religious or ethnic affiliation; 22. Demands that all parties take all appropriate steps to protect civilians, including members of ethnic, religious and confessional communities, and stresses that, in this regard, the primary responsibility to protect the Syrian population lies with the Syrian authorities; 23. Strongly condemns the damage and destruction of the cultural heritage of the Syrian Arab Republic, and the organized looting and trafficking of its cultural property, as outlined by the Security Council in its resolution 2199 (2015); 24. Also strongly condemns the reported forced displacement of the population in the Syrian Arab Republic and the alarming impact on the demography of the country, and calls upon all parties concerned to cease immediately all activities related to these actions, including any activities that may amount to crimes against humanity; 1 4 See Security Council resolution 2235 (2015).