UN HRC53: UK Statement on Syria resolution
Statement on the human rights situation in the Syrian Arab Republic. As delivered by the UK's Ambassador to the WTO and UN, Simon Manley.
Thank you, Mr President,
I have the honour to present draft resolution L.16 on the human rights situation in the Syrian Arab Republic, on behalf of France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Qatar, Türkiye, the United States, and the United Kingdom.
Mr President,
As we conclude this four-week session of this Council, let me begin by drawing attention to the fact that, during this time, a number of targeted strikes on civilians in Syria have taken place.
The targets were villages, towns, markets. The victims were innocent men, women and children. The perpetrators were the Syrian regime and its allies.
This violence inflicted on the Syrian people is all too familiar. As is the continued use of arbitrary detention, torture, enforced disappearances and sexual and gender-based violence. With 80% of the population dependent on humanitarian assistance, any uncertainty around humanitarian access is a further form of torment.
In our resolution we highlight the plight of women and girls in Syria and their inability to exercise many of their economic, social and political rights.
The conflict has left many women as the breadwinners for their families, within a legal framework and a culture that discriminates against them.
Rights to property, inheritance and even custody of children are often not accessible to women, in the absence of male family members who have been killed or are missing.
Lack of equality before the law and protection against violence, in a conflict that has left over seven million Syrians, overwhelmingly women and girls, in need of services related to sexual and gender-based violence, is cruelty in the extreme.
Mr President,
The resolution put forward today condemns the targeting of women and girls in Syria, whether through discriminatory laws and practices, sexual and gender-based violence, or restrictions imposed on women who speak out in the face of multiple injustices.
The resolution welcomes the decision to establish the Independent Institution on Missing Persons, to resolve the fate of the missing in Syria. A protracted issue that has had a unique impact on women.
It also highlights the vital role Syrian women continue to play in the pursuit of justice, accountability, and peace, often in the face of harassment, intimidation and fears for their own safety.
Let me thank all those who have engaged constructively in the informal consultations on this resolution.
Mr President, at a time when the Syrian regime is looking for allies, it is important that this Council adopts this resolution to continue our efforts to hold that regime to account for its crimes. If a vote is called on this resolution, I urge our fellow members of the Council to vote in favour of it.