A/HRC/36/55 United Nations General Assembly Distr.: General 8 August 2017 Original: English Human Rights Council Thirty-sixth session 11-29 September 2017 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 Violence throughout the Syrian Arab Republic continues to be waged in blatant violation of basic international humanitarian and human rights law principles, primarily affecting civilians countrywide. During the reporting period, warring parties continued to lay sieges and instrumentalized humanitarian aid in order to erode the viability of civilian support bases and compel surrender. Local truces in Fu’ah and Kafraya, northern Idlib, in Madaya, Damascus countryside, and in Barza, Qabun and Tishreen, eastern Damascus, incorporated evacuation agreements resulting in the forced displacement of civilians from those areas. Terrorist groups Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham and Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), and armed group fighters targeted religious minorities through car and suicide bombings, the use of snipers and hostage-taking. Among the most vulnerable were internally displaced persons and children. Nowhere was this more evident than in AlRashidin, Aleppo, where a car bomb targeted displaced civilians from previously besieged Fu’ah and Kafraya — two predominantly Shia Muslim towns — killing 96 persons, including 68 children. Government forces continued the pattern of using chemical weapons against civilians in opposition-held areas. In the gravest incident, the Syrian air force used sarin in Khan Shaykhun, Idlib, killing dozens, the majority of whom were women and children. In Idlib, Hamah, and eastern Ghouta, Damascus, Syrian forces used weaponized chlorine. Syrian and/or Russian forces continued to target hospitals and medical personnel. The Commission is gravely concerned about the impact of international coalition air strikes on civilians. In Al-Jinah, Aleppo, forces of the United States of America failed to take all feasible precautions to protect civilians and civilian objects when attacking a mosque, in violation of international humanitarian law. In Ar-Raqqah, the ongoing Syrian Democratic Forces and international coalition offensive to repel ISIL has displaced over 190,000 persons, and coalition air strikes have reportedly resulted in significant numbers of civilians killed and injured. Investigations are ongoing. * The annexes to the present report are circulated as received, in the language of submission only. GE.17-13465(E) 