A/HRC/19/69 United Nations General Assembly Distr.: General 22 February 2012 Original: English Human Rights Council Nineteenth session Agenda item 4 Human rights situations that require the Council’s attention Report of the independent international commission of inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic  ** Summary The human rights situation in the Syrian Arab Republic has deteriorated significantly since November 2011, causing further suffering to the Syrian people. Widespread violence and increasingly aggravated socio-economic conditions have left many communities in a perilous state. Meeting basic needs to sustain everyday life has become increasingly difficult. The present situation risks further radicalizing the population, deepening intercommunal tensions and eroding the fabric of society. Divisions among the international community complicate the prospects for ending the violence. The Government has manifestly failed in its responsibility to protect its people. Since November 2011, its forces have committed more widespread, systematic and gross human rights violations. Anti-Government groups have also committed abuses, although not comparable in scale and organization to those carried out by the State. The commission calls for an end to gross violations and related impunity, and recommends that the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Syrian Arab Republic continue to monitor gross human rights violations with a view to ensuring that perpetrators are held accountable. In cooperation with the Special Rapporteur, OHCHR should maintain and update the confidential database established by the commission.  ** GE.12-10613 The annexes to the present report are reproduced as received, in the languages of submission only. Late submission.