A/HRC/31/68
impunity. The stipulations of relevant Security Council resolutions (see annex VI)
remain largely unheeded and unimplemented. Crimes against humanity continue to
be committed by government forces and by ISIS. War crimes are rampant.
149. The call for peace is imperative. The stepping stones enunciated by the Vienna
statements advancing the Geneva communiqué of 2012 and endorsed by the Security
Council in its resolution 2254 (2015), generate a momentum that must be sustained to
ensure an all-inclusive, Syrian-led process to end the armed conflict and the transition
towards peace. Accountability is an essential part of this process. The possibility of
instituting national ceasefires, complemented by local ceasefires, deserves to be
explored.
150. Ensuring humanitarian access and respect for human rights and fundamental
freedoms is paramount. Local and international actors, with their underlying
constituencies, bear a shared responsibility to bring this process to fruition while
countering the spread of terrorism and extreme violence in the region.
151. Humanitarian spaces must be supported and sustained. These include the work
of humanitarian institutions, facilities and personnel, but also the comfort and care
that Syrian civilians, including volunteer organizations such as the White Helmets,
provide to their own communities.
152. Syrian women play an indispensable role in the protection of their families and
communities, often invisible to the outside world, yet laudable in the sense of
humanity and the comfort that they offer selflessly to others. As powerful voices
advocating for the resolution of the conflict, women should be able to participate fully
in current and future political negotiations.
B.
Recommendations
153. Since its inception on 22 August 2011, the Commission of Inquiry has
submitted 11 reports to the Human Rights Council pursuant to the six mandates it
received. The Commission concluded each report with targeted recommendations
addressed to a variety of actors, including all parties to the armed conflict, Member
States concerned, the international community as a whole and influential political
mechanisms, including the Security Council, the General Assembly and the Human
Rights Council.
154. As its reports have remained current to the reporting cycle during which they
were written, the Commission began a practice of reiterating the recommendations
made in its previous reports as a means to draw continued attention to a large number
of recommendations made at an earlier time in the armed conflict that remain both
salient and unimplemented. Once again, the Commission reiterates the
recommendations made in its previous reports addressed to all parties to the conflict.
155. The Commission recommends that all parties comply effectively and
comprehensively with human rights and international humanitarian law, and in
particular:
(a)
Distinguish military from civilian objectives, refraining from all
indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks;
(b)
End all sieges and related starvation and acts of deprivation, and
guarantee unhindered access to humanitarian aid, including food, water and medical
care;
21
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