A/RES/78/222
Situation of human rights in the Syrian Arab Republic
international humanitarian law, including by the starvation of civilians as a method
of warfare and the use of chemical weapons, including sarin and chlorine gas, and
sulfur mustard, which are prohibited under international law, and acts of violence by
the Syrian regime that foment sectarian tensions within the Syrian population,
Welcoming the work of the Investigation and Identification Team of the
Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, noting its findings in its three
reports to date, including most recently its report of January 2023 which found
reasonable grounds to believe that the chemical weapons attack in Douma on 7 April
2018 was perpetrated by the Syrian Arab Republic and found that Russian forces were
co-located at the base in the Syrian Arab Republic from which the Syrian regime
launched the attack on Douma, and anticipating the publication of its reports into
further chemical weapons attacks, including those perpetrated in Mari‘ on
1 September 2015,
Condemning in the strongest possible terms the repeated use of chemical
weapons in the Syrian Arab Republic, including the instances independently
attributed by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons -United
Nations Joint Investigative Mechanism and the Investigation and Identific ation Team
of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, noting that the Joint
Investigative Mechanism determined that the Syrian Arab Armed Forces had been
responsible for attacks that released toxic substances in 2014 and 2015 and that
Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as Da’esh) had used sulfur
mustard in 2015 and 2016, and further concluded in October 2017 that the Syrian
Arab Air Force had been responsible for the use of chemical weapons on 4 April 2017
in Khan Shaykhun, and noting also that the Investigation and Identification Team
concluded in April 2020 that there were reasonable grounds to believe that the Syrian
Air Force had carried out three chemical weapons attacks in Ltamenah in March 2017
and further concluded in April 2021 that there were reasonable grounds to believe the
Syrian Air Force had carried out a chemical weapons attack in Saraqib in February
2018 and further concluded in January 2023 that there were reaso nable grounds to
believe the Syrian Arab Air Force had carried out a chemical weapons attack in
Douma on 7 April 2018 and found that Russian forces were co-located at the base in
the Syrian Arab Republic from which the Syrian regime launched the attack on
Douma,
Noting with grave concern that the Office of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Human Rights, in a report of June 2022, has identified 306,887
civilians by full name, together with an established date of death and location, who
were killed in the conflict in the Syrian Arab Republic between March 2011 and
March 2022 and that, of those identified, 26,727 were women and 27,126 were
children, recalling also that the list compiled by the Office of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Human Rights indicates a minimum verifiable number and is
certainly an undercount of the actual number of killings,
Recalling its demand that all parties, especially the Syrian regime, take all
appropriate steps to protect civilians, including members of ethnic and religious
communities,
Reiterating that the only sustainable solution to the current crisis in the Syrian
Arab Republic is through an inclusive and Syrian-led political process, under the
auspices of the United Nations, that meets the legitimate aspirations of the Syrian
people in line with Security Council resolution 2254 (2015) of 18 December 2015,
with a view to establishing credible, inclusive and non-sectarian governance, with the
full, equal and meaningful participation and leadership of all women and youth at all
levels, underlining the importance of prevention of the effor ts to foment sectarian
tension among Syrians, recognizing the importance of the Constitutional Committee
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