A/HRC/22/59
terror and amounted to the war crime of attacking civilians. The violations and abuses
committed by anti-Government armed groups did not, however, reach the intensity and
scale of those committed by Government forces and affiliated militia.
Both Government-affiliated militia and anti-Government armed groups were found
to have violated the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the
involvement of children in armed conflict, to which the Syrian Arab Republic is a party.
Government-affiliated militia used children under the age of 18 in direct hostilities.
Children under the age of 15 actively participated in hostilities as part of anti-Government
armed groups, conduct that constitutes the war crime of using, conscripting and enlisting
children.
The commission reiterates that the only solution to the Syrian conflict is a political
one, based on the framework set forth in the final communiqué of the Action Group for
Syria of 30 June 2012 (Geneva communiqué) (A/66/865-S/2012/522).
Ensuring the accountability of all parties for crimes committed is imperative. The
quest for peace and justice is a shared responsibility at the national, regional and
international levels. The commission’s detailed recommendations — to the Syrian
Government, anti-Government armed groups, the international community, the Human
Rights Council and the Security Council — serve to emphasize the need to counter a
growing culture of impunity, through referral to justice at the national and international
levels, in addition to other channels to promote truth and reconciliation, and the social
recovery and integration of victims.
A confidential list of individuals and units believed to be responsible for crimes
against humanity, breaches of international humanitarian law and gross human rights
violations will be submitted to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights at
the close of the commission’s current mandate, in March 2013.
2
GE.13-10627
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