Having entered its ninth year, the conflict in the Syrian Arab Republic, characterized by intensifying levels of violence, continues to torment civilians who bear the brunt of hostilities, the UN Commission of Inquiry notes in its latest report.
In the report, the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic highlights how on-going hostilities have impacted the lives of Syrians and spawned further mass displacement raising the number of displaced Syrians to approximately 13 million.
Aerial and ground offensives by pro-government forces escalated dramatically, destroying infrastructure essential to the survival of the civilian population, including hospitals, markets, educational facilities and agricultural resources, and forcing almost half a million civilians to flee.
Up to 70,000 individuals remain interned in deplorable and inhumane conditions at Al-Hol camp, the vast majority of whom are women and children under the age of 12. At least 390 preventable deaths of children, due to malnutrition or untreated infected wounds, have been recorded, and the humanitarian response to the situation remains woefully inadequate.
Children in Al-Hol camp also face the risk of being left without a nationality and being separated from their parents as a result of the policies of Member States. Of some 3,500 children at Al-Hol camp, including those born as a result of rape, the majority lack, or have lost birth registration documents.
The report further stresses that, parallel to the immense suffering that the intensification of hostilities has brought upon the Syrian population, other less visible human rights violations endured by the population persist as a result of the armed conflict. Out of the public eye, service provision in Dar‘a and Duma, eastern Ghoutah, remains ineffective, depriving hundreds of thousands of civilians of adequate access to water, electricity and education.
The report proposes a series of practical recommendations aimed at addressing the most urgent protection gaps for the civilian population. The Commission’s report is scheduled to be presented on 17 September 2019 during an interactive dialogue at the 42th session of the Human Rights Council.
Read and download: Report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic.
Original source: OHCHR
Published on 11 September 2019
