A/HRC/35/15 human rights issues, including the situation of detainees, be prioritized in the negotiations. Any agreement should grant independent monitors access to detention facilities and to all those deprived of their liberty, irrespective of who was holding them. Peace required the release of the thousands still suffering from arbitrary detention and that justice be done for the crimes perpetrated against them. 52. Some representatives welcomed the fact that some European Union countries had taken effective steps towards accountability through their national justice systems and highlighted that those efforts must be strengthened. They welcomed the creation of the International Impartial and Independent Mechanism but noted that it required adequate resources if it was not to become irrelevant. 53. Some representatives urged the international community to pressure the Government of the Syrian Arab Republic and the other parties to the conflict to release a list of all detainees, as well as information on their current location and status, and to immediately stop torture. In the case of the death of a detainee, a death certificate with the cause of death and the burial location must be presented to the families. 54. Some representatives urged the international community to further pressure the Government of the Syrian Arab Republic to abolish special courts, including counterterrorism courts and field military courts, and to guarantee fair trials, regardless of the families’ affiliations. 55. Some representatives urged the Government of the Syrian Arab Republic to repeal laws that criminalized the right to peaceful assembly, association and freedom of expression, and called on all parties to explicitly commit to not detain or prosecute aid workers. 56. Some representatives highlighted that a transition plan must include an independent mechanism for vetting current and future senior security officials and that, wherever there was sufficient evidence to indicate responsibility for international crimes, suspects should be prosecuted in fair trials. V. Final remarks by the panellists 57. In response to the comments and questions made by the representatives of States and NGOs, the panellists emphasized the importance of accountability for all victims in the Syrian Arab Republic, without discrimination and regardless of ethnicity, religion or race. They insisted on the importance of ending impunity, whoever the perpetrator was, and highlighted that all perpetrators must be held to account, not in a spirit of revenge but through a comprehensive transitional justice process aimed at addressing all crimes against humanity and war crimes. 58. The panellists emphasized that the role of Syrian civil society was central and essential and insisted that the international community and the United Nations must work in partnership with Syrian civil society organizations, including in establishing accountability mechanisms such as the International Impartial and Independent Mechanism. Syrian civil society organizations should not only be seen as providers of information but as genuine partners with skills and knowledge of the complexities and sensitivities of the context. They were ready and looked forward to cooperating with the Mechanism and with European or other countries where courts were examining Syrian cases, including on the basis of the principle of universal jurisdiction. 59. The panellists reiterated the importance of States pressuring the parties to the conflict into taking effective steps to take action on the issue of detention and securing the release of detainees. They added that warring and negotiating parties must not use detainees as bargaining chips in the political process. 60. The panellists stressed that it was imperative to assist in the rehabilitation of torture survivors, who were all over the world and who had severe physical and mental scars. That was a major gap in the response at the moment. 10