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Resolution 1878 (2012) Final version
The situation in Syria
1. The Parliamentary Assembly is appalled
by the situation in Syria, where, in the last thirteen months, more
than 11 000 people have been killed, tens of thousands have fled
the country and hundreds of thousands more have been internally
displaced as a direct result of the brutal repression by the Syrian
autocratic leadership of an uprising with democratic aspirations.
2. The Assembly firmly condemns the widespread, systematic and
gross human rights violations, amounting to crimes against humanity,
committed by Syrian military and security forces, such as the use
of force against civilians, arbitrary executions, the killing and
persecution of protesters, enforced disappearances, torture and
sexual violence, including of and against children. It equally condemns
the human rights violations committed by some of the armed groups
combating the regime.
3. The Assembly reiterates that there can be no impunity for
those who commit crimes against humanity, whoever they are. All
allegations of violations and crimes must be properly investigated
and their perpetrators brought to justice, including, as appropriate,
before the International Criminal Court.
4. Two draft resolutions of the United Nations Security Council
condemning the violence in Syria were vetoed by Russia and China
in October 2011 and March 2012. Following the international community’s
failure, for more than a year, to agree on action on Syria, the
Assembly notes that, today, a common position is gradually emerging:
two resolutions were unanimously adopted by the United Nations Security
Council on 14 and 21 April 2012 authorising the deployment of United
Nations unarmed military observers to Syria to report on the implementation
of a full cessation of armed violence. This emerging unity can at
last constitute the basis for effective action by the international
community in a situation the emergency and gravity of which cannot accommodate
individual countries’ geopolitical considerations.
5. The Assembly fully supports the six-point peace plan proposed
by the joint envoy of the United Nations and the League of Arab
States, Mr Kofi Annan, and calls for its full implementation by
all parties to the conflict. Although violence levels have dropped
markedly since the ceasefire began on 12 April, the Assembly regrets the
continuing violations of the ceasefire and the increasing number
of deaths. It calls for the immediate withdrawal of government troops
and weapons from population centres.
6. Kofi Annan’s peace plan should be given every chance of success
in order to avoid fully fledged civil war. The Assembly thus welcomes
the deployment of United Nations observers on the ground and calls
on the Syrian authorities and the international community to ensure
that observers are granted full freedom of movement and access to
the whole territory of the country, as well as all the means necessary
to monitor the respect of the ceasefire and of the right to demonstrate
peacefully.
7. The Assembly stresses, however, that Kofi Annan’s peace plan
is not solely about establishing a UN-supervised ceasefire and ensuring
urgently needed humanitarian assistance. Its implementation and
the total cessation of violence should ultimately guarantee the
creation of a space where democratic changes can be brought about
in Syria in a peaceful manner. The conditions should thus be gradually
created to allow for a “Syrian-led political process”, as advocated
by the peace plan, and eventually for free and fair elections. The Syrian
people should be free to build their own future. To facilitate this
objective, the Assembly calls on the United Nations Security Council
to urgently put in place an embargo on the importation of all weapons
and military material into Syria.
8. The member States of the Council of Europe should deploy every
effort to ensure respect of the agreed peace plan, including sanctions
agreed by the European Union, the League of Arab States and some
individual States, the implementation of which is being co-ordinated
by the Group of Friends of the Syrian People. The Assembly emphasises
that these are directed not against the Syrian people but against
individuals and institutions associated with the repression or supporting
or benefiting from the regime.
9. The dictatorship which has oppressed the Syrian people for
decades has no future. It is impossible to anticipate how much time
it will take and how much more suffering it will cause, but it seems
clear that Assad’s regime is coming to an end. This places great
responsibility on both the international community and the domestic
opposition.
10. The Syrian population is a mosaic of ethnic, cultural and
religious groups and this diversity, together with the territorial
integrity of Syria, must be preserved in a future post-Assad Syria.
The Assembly calls on the various groups of domestic opposition
to unite in order to be considered as a legitimate alternative offering
all Syrian citizens, irrespective of their ethnic origin, culture
or religion, the prospect of a peaceful, democratic and pluralist
Syria. Noting the under-representation of Christians in the Syrian
National Council, any post-Assad future must guarantee the religious
tolerance that Christians have enjoyed until now.
11. The Assembly underlines that respect for human rights, the
recognition of ethnic, cultural and religious minorities and the
choice in favour of dialogue and democracy are not mere declarations
of principle but the prerequisites for uniting and strengthening
the opposition. The latter is currently divided due to lack of clarity on
these fundamental principles and the ensuing fear, among various
minority groups, of a change which they perceive as a threat.
12. The Assembly therefore insists that human rights must be respected
now and any violations, also those committed by the opposition,
must be firmly denounced and stopped so as to give credible evidence
that human and minority rights will be effectively respected in
a new Syria. Building this new Syria will require the active engagement
of all parts of Syrian society in a sincere effort of pacification
and reconstruction after a dramatic year of division and violence.
13. The Assembly supports all efforts, both at international and
domestic level, to help build a new, democratic and pluralist Syria,
respectful of human rights and the rights of ethnic, cultural and
religious minorities. It appeals to the international community
to support initiatives aimed at uniting the opposition with a view
to bringing about democratic change in Syria. It urges caution vis-à-vis
those forces which, because of specific geopolitical interests or
for sectarian reasons – in Syria as in other countries of the Arab
Spring – are providing political and financial support to extremist
groups.
14. As an immediate priority, with 1.5 million people in need
of urgent humanitarian assistance, the Assembly urges the provision
of unhindered humanitarian assistance to the wounded, refugees,
displaced persons and all those in need. Humanitarian supplies and
services must be made available under conditions which protect civilians
and aid workers. The Assembly, welcoming the hospitality extended
by Turkey and congratulating the Turkish authorities, considers
it important to build, where appropriate, possible future refugee
camps further away from the border with Syria so as to allow for
the better safety of refugees.
15. The Assembly calls on the Council of Europe member States
to respond positively to the appeals launched by the relevant agencies
of the United Nations in order to address the humanitarian needs
of the tens of thousands of refugees fleeing from Syria into Turkey,
Lebanon, Iraq and Jordan, as well as of the estimated 1.5 million
people affected by the crisis in Syria itself. The Assembly urges
all bordering countries to allow persons fleeing Syria access to
their territory and access to protection without fear of refoulement and calls on all member
States of the Council of Europe to provide individual Syrian asylum
seekers with appropriate protection, whether this be asylum or subsidiary
protection.