A/HRC/39/65 United Nations General Assembly Distr.: General 9 August 2018 Original: English Human Rights Council Thirty-ninth session 10–28 September 2018 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 In an unprecedented development during the period under review, warring parties carried out battles in Aleppo, northern Homs, Damascus, Rif Damascus, Dara’a and Idlib governorates, which collectively displaced more than 1 million Syrian men, women and children. In the majority of cases documented by the Commission of Inquiry, displacements were either directly induced by the failure of warring parties to take all feasible precautions as required by international humanitarian law or due to unlawful conduct by the parties, which carried out indiscriminate and deliberate attacks with little regard for civilian life. Battles waged by pro-government forces, armed and terrorist groups and other actors caused civilians to flee their homes in fear and desperation. Thousands of other civilians were forcibly displaced pursuant to “evacuation agreements” negotiated between warring parties. The plight of displaced persons — after seven years of war — now affects more than 5.5 million refugees who have fled the country, and more than 6.5 million internally displaced civilians subsisting inside the Syrian Arab Republic. For the foregoing reasons, the Commission proposes a pragmatic set of recommendations to all warring parties aimed at addressing the myriad issues affecting civilians displaced as a result of the conflict, including ensuring their housing, land and property rights. * The annexes to the present report are circulated as received, in the language of submission only. GE.18-13266(E) 