Syria: Human Rights Council holds fourth Special Session on "the deteriorating situation of human rights in the Syrian Arab Republic"

05 Jun 2012
On 1 June 2012, the Human Rights Council held a Special Session to discuss the further deteriorating situation in Syria [1]. A particular focus was the events in Al Houla, north-west of Homs, which, according to preliminary investigations, resulted in the killing of at least 108 persons, including 49 children, on 25 and 26 May 2012. At the session, the Human Rights Council adopted resolution in which it condemns the killings committed in a context of continued human rights violations in the strongest possible terms. At the same time, the member States of the Council again failed to find a common stand on the crisis in Syria and did still not call on the Security Council to refer the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court, despite affirming that "violations that may amount to crimes against humanity" are being committed.

The Human Rights Council's 19th Special Session was requested by a group of States lead by Qatar, Turkey and the European Union on 30 May 2012. After Security Council Resolutions 2042 (2012) and 2043 (2012), both of April 2012, established the six-point proposal of the Joint Special Envoy of the United Nations and the League of Arab States and laid the foundations for the UN Supervision Mission in Syria (UNSMIS), this marks yet another attempt by the international community to bring to an end the widespread and systematic human rights violations occurring in the Syrian Arab Republic.

The session started with a statement by the High Commissioner for Human Rights, extending her condolences to the families of the victims of Al Houla. In reference to preliminary reports on what had happened in Al Houla, she said that "these acts may amount to crimes against humanity and other international crimes, and may be indicative of a pattern of widespread or systematic attacks against civilian populations that have been perpetrated with impunity." She therefore once again seized the occasion and urged the Security Council to consider referring the case of Syria to the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The Human Rights Council resolution, however, merely echoed the High Commissioner's call on the Security Council in its preamble without taking it up and it did not directly encourage the Security Council to refer the situation in Syria to the ICC. More weight was given to requesting the International Independent Commission of Inquiry to carry out a special inquiry into the killings of Al Houla to provide the Council with a full report on its findings at the Council's twentieth session. Another paragraph calls for the immediate implementation of all elements of the six-point-proposal by the Special Envoy of the UN and the League of Arab States was followed by an invitation to the Joint Special Envoy, Kofi Annan, to provide a briefing to the Council also at its next session. The Council further mentions the continued failure of the Syrian authorities to protect and promote the rights of all Syrians and states that the "the outrageous use of force against the civilian population (...) constitutes a violation of applicable international law and of the commitment of the Government of the Syrian Arab Republic", including its pledge to implement the Joint Special Envoy's six-point-proposal.

Even though the sponsors of the resolution initially attempted to integrate points raised by States critical of the resolution, an adoption of the text by unanimity, which would have sent a stronger message to the Syrian authorities, was not achieved. Shortly before the closure of the session, the resolution was adopted with 41 votes in favour, 2 abstentions and 3 votes against, coming from Russia, China and Cuba.

Alkarama welcomes the holding of this fourth Special Session on the situation in Syria as well as the adopted resolution as an expression of continued concern by the international community. The request to the Commission of Inquiry to provide the Council with a report on the events in Al Houla as well as inviting the Joint Special Envoy to speak at the next Council session scheduled for the second half of this month, will ensure that the matter remains under the consideration of the Council. On the other hand, we regret that for political reasons and despite the gravity of the crisis, which is on the verge of growing into a full-fledged conflict, an adoption by unanimity was not possible and no direct recommendation to the Security Council to refer the situation to the ICC was included.

Syria