Australia commends the Commission on its valuable reporting of ongoing human rights violations in Syria.

Recent incidents under investigation, such as the August shelling of a crowded market in al-Bab that killed at least 16 civilians, including five children, underscore the importance of the Commission’s crucial work.

We share concerns expressed by the Commission in its most recent report regarding the dire humanitarian situation in Syria, as living conditions deteriorate to their worst since the start of the conflict.

Australia remains deeply troubled by ongoing incidents of grave human rights violations, which disproportionately affect women and children.

Continuing patterns of arbitrary detention, enforced disappearances, sexual violence, and torture across the country are shocking, and reveal a sustained disregard for human life and wellbeing. All egregious human rights violations and abuses must cease immediately.

We condemn the ongoing deliberate targeting of civilians, especially the Assad regime’s indiscriminate attacks on densely populated areas and civilian infrastructure, including on schools, hospitals, and mosques.

Over 100,000 people have tragically gone missing or been disappeared by regime forces and non-state armed groups during this protracted conflict. While millions of Syrians desperately seek to find their loved ones, the fate and whereabouts of these missing persons remain unknown.

We would welcome further guidance from the Commission on how it would seek to work with Member States and the UN to implement its proposed mechanism with an international mandate regarding missing and disappeared persons.

Australia asks the Commission: what can be done to ensure accountability for recently reported atrocities committed by warring parties in northwest Syria?