A/HRC/RES/41/23
conflict to claim their property, as evidenced by recent reports of widespread property
demolitions throughout the Syrian Arab Republic, calls for the immediate repeal of that
legislation, and stresses the right of displaced Syrians to return to their homes in a safe,
voluntary and dignified manner when the situation on the ground allows it;
30.
Expresses concern that the hostilities have restricted access to or resulted in
the loss of civil documentation, including through confiscation, thereby limiting freedom of
movement, access to essential services, and housing, land and property rights, particularly
for women, children and persons with disabilities;
31.
Also expresses concern at reports that the Syrian authorities are arbitrarily
preventing internally displaced persons from accessing and returning to their homes, with no
apparently valid security reason and without providing alternatives to the displaced
communities, which may amount to forced displacement;
32.
Urges all parties to take note of the recent recommendation of the Commission
of Inquiry on ensuring that the right of return is fully respected and facilitated by guaranteeing
that all return movements are voluntary, safe and dignified and subject to informed consent
to the places of origin and protect all property and tenancy rights;
33.
Strongly condemns violence against persons based on their religious or ethnic
affiliation, 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;
34.
Also strongly condemns the damage and destruction of the cultural heritage of
the Syrian Arab Republic, in particular that of Palmyra and Aleppo, and the organized looting
and trafficking of Syrian cultural property, as outlined by the Security Council in its
resolution 2199 (2015) of 12 February 2015, affirms that attacks intentionally directed
against historic monuments may amount to war crimes, and underlines the need to bring the
perpetrators of such crimes to justice;
35.
Further strongly condemns the terrorist acts and violence committed against
civilians by so-called Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Daesh), Al-Nusrah Front (also
known as Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham) and other terrorist organizations designated by the Security
Council, and their gross, systematic and widespread abuses of international human rights law
and violations of international humanitarian law, reaffirms that terrorism, including the
actions of so-called Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Daesh), cannot and should not be
associated with any religion, nationality or civilization, and stresses the importance of the
full implementation of Security Council resolution 2170 (2014) of 15 August 2014;
36.
Expresses deep concern about the documented cases of civilians, including
women and children, taken hostage by so-called Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Daesh),
calls for their immediate release, notes that hostage-taking and the murder of civilians may
constitute a war crime, condemns the recent reported mass arbitrary arrests and detention of
civilians by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, and notes that imprisonment or other severe deprivation
of physical liberty in violation of international law, when committed as part of a deliberate
widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population, may amount to a
crime against humanity;
37.
Condemns in the strongest possible terms the repeated use of chemical
weapons by the Syrian authorities, in violation of its obligations under the Convention on the
Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and
on Their Destruction and Security Council resolution 2118 (2013), and all use of chemical
weapons in contravention of well-established international standards and norms against such
use, welcomes in this regard the decisions made on 27 June 2018 at the fourth Special Session
of the Conference of the States Parties to the Convention and on 20 November 2018 at the
twenty-third session of the Conference of States Parties to the Convention, and also welcomes
the fact that the Technical Secretariat of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical
Weapons has completed its arrangements for the deployment of the Investigation and
Identification Team established to identify the perpetrators of the use of chemical weapons
in the Syrian Arab Republic by identifying and reporting on all information potentially
relevant to the origin of those chemical weapons;
6
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