Human Rights Council – 49th session
Interactive Dialogue with the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic
18 March 2022
Australian Statement
Australia thanks the Commission for its update on the situation in Syria.
It is disheartening that the Syrian people enter the twelfth year of conflict with so few signs of hope for peace and security.
Australia remains deeply concerned by the dire humanitarian conditions faced by the 6.7 million people internally displaced in Syria since 2011. Tragically, many of those displaced - including women and children - remain vulnerable to multiple human rights violations, with little hope of returning home.
Australia condemns Syria’s continued use of artillery strikes in densely populated civilian areas in Idlib. The killing by shell-fire of a family of six, including two children, while drinking tea outside their home in the village of Maara al-Naasan is deeply distressing.
We further condemn the practices of forced disappearances and unlawful detention, and reports of torture and sexual violence against people detained in regime-managed facilities. These abhorrent practices must cease immediately.
We ask the Commission how can states support the resumption of the UN-facilitated peace process and effective engagement in negotiations, in good faith, by all parties?