Corporate report

Syria - country of concern, update 30 June 2014

Updated 21 January 2015

This was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government

Over the last three months, there has been a further deterioration in human rights and the humanitarian situation in Syria.

UNSC Resolution 2139, which demanded that all parties to the conflict allow unimpeded humanitarian access, continued to be flouted. UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Valerie Amos reported to the Security Council on 26 June that the humanitarian situation has significantly worsened. 10.8 million people within Syria are in dire need of humanitarian aid, an increase of 1.5 million over the last six months. The regime continues to arbitrarily deny humanitarian access to opposition-held areas, using starvation as a weapon of war, while some non-state armed groups, including the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), have obstructed the delivery of vital aid. UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon has called for further UNSC action to ensure that those in need receive humanitarian assistance. The UK fully supports these calls and has been at the forefront of international efforts to secure a new UNSC resolution authorising the delivery of aid across borders without the consent of the Assad regime.

The position of civilians has likewise continued to deteriorate. The Assad regime continued its bombardment of towns across the country, with barrel bombs being dropped on civilian areas on a daily basis. The UN Commission of Inquiry referred to this as being part of a regime “strategy of terrorising civilians” which also involved preventing medical supplies from reaching opposition areas. There have also been increased attacks on essential infrastructure with, for example, the UN Commission of Inquiry reporting that the main water supply in Aleppo was cut off from 5 to 14 May.

On 22 May, an attempt to pass a UN Security Council (UNSC) Resolution referring the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court (ICC) was vetoed by Russia and China. The resolution had overwhelming international support, including from 13/15 members of the UNSC, 65 co-sponsors, over 100 NGOs from all over the world, and the Syrian National Coalition. On 27 June, the UN Human Rights Council passed a resolution on Syria which condemned all violations and abuses of human rights, noted the regime’s particular responsibility to protect the Syrian population and, noting the role of the ICC, made clear that all those responsible for atrocities must be held to account. The UK is stepping up efforts to work through multilateral fora to build support for ICC referral as well as supporting the documentation of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The second quarter of 2014 saw repeated reports of the use of chemical weapons, particularly chlorine. On 29 May the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) announced a fact-finding mission to Syria to establish the facts around these alleged attacks. The interim report of the OPCW fact-finding mission concluded that it is likely that toxic chemicals have been used in recent months. We cannot say for certain who is responsible, but we know that Syria lied about the existence of their chemical programme for many years and used chemical weapons on a significant scale in 2013.

On 23 June, the final consignment of Assad’s declared chemical stockpile was removed from Syria. Nonetheless, we remain deeply concerned about the gaps and discrepancies in Syria’s declarations to the OPCW. The regime’s history of lies and obstruction make it impossible to take its claims at face value, and the UK supports the OPCW in its efforts to press Syria for full disclosure.

On 3 June the Assad regime held presidential elections in areas under its control. No credible opposition candidates were allowed to stand and journalists on the ground reported widespread and obvious fraud. These “elections” were condemned as a parody of democracy by the US and EU while both Lakhdar Brahimi, then the UN and Arab league Joint Special Representative for Syria, and Ban Ki Moon said that they would obstruct efforts to find a peaceful solution to the crisis.

June saw the ISIL, in conjunction with tribal and former Ba’athist forces, take over large parts of north-western Iraq. ISIL’s capturing of sophisticated weaponry, a swelling of its ranks and improved morale places them in a position to pose an increased threat within Syria. The moderate opposition in Syria have continued to fight against ISIL. The longer the conflict in Syria continues the greater is the danger from extremist groups such as ISIL.

On 30 April, the National Coalition, whom the UK recognise as the sole legitimate representatives of the Syrian people, along with the Supreme Military Council of the Free Syrian Army, publicly supported the Declaration of Commitment to End Sexual Violence in Conflict and committed to “taking all steps necessary to eliminate such violence and to hold perpetrators accountable.” The National Coalition’s Vice-President, Noura al-Ameer, attended the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict along with the Minister for Culture and Family Affairs of the opposition Interim Government, Taghrid al-Hagli. The UK is looking to see how we can support the National Coalition and Interim Government’s plans to establish safe houses for survivors.

On 12 June, the Foreign Secretary, Secretary of State for Defence, Phillip Hammond, and Secretary of State for International Development, Justine Greening, launched the UK government’s third National Action Plan on Women, Peace & Security. This sets out our ambition to put women and girls at the centre of all efforts to prevent and resolve conflict, to promote peace and stability, and to prevent and respond to violence. Six priority countries have been identified, including Syria. We are developing an implementation plan, which will be made available to the public later this year.