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The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic was set up by the
United Nations Human Rights Council The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), CDH is a United Nations body whose mission is to promote and protect human rights around the world. The Council has 47 members elected for staggered three-year terms on a regional group basis. ...
(UNHRC) on 22 August 2011 to investigate
human rights violations during the Syrian Civil War Human rights violations during the Syrian civil war have been numerous and serious, with United Nations reports stating that the war has been "characterized by a complete lack of adherence to the norms of international law" by the warring partie ...
to establish the facts and circumstances that may amount to violations and crimes and, where possible, to identify those responsible to be held accountable with a future
prosecution of Syrian civil war criminals International and national courts outside Syria have begun the prosecution of Syrian civil war criminals. War crimes perpetrated by the Syrian government or rebel groups include List of massacres during the Syrian Civil War, extermination, murde ...
. The Commission posts regular updates via its official Twitter page. The Commission has interviewed more than 6,000 victims and witnesses, produced over 20 reports and prepared several examples of war crimes and crimes against humanity.


Administration

The current commissioners are
Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro (born 8 January 1944) is a Brazilian legal scholar with relevant work within the United Nations System. Career Pinheiro was born in Rio de Janeiro. He has a long career in academia, having held academic positions at the Uni ...
(Brazil),
Karen Koning AbuZayd Karen Koning AbuZayd (born August 21, 1941) is a senior official of the United Nations. She is currently serving as a Commissioner on the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic. On 5 January 2016, she was appoint ...
(United States) and Hanny Megally (Egypt). The former commissioners are
Carla Del Ponte Carla Del Ponte (born February 9, 1947) is a former Chief Prosecutor of two United Nations international criminal law tribunals. A former Swiss attorney general, she was appointed prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former ...
(Switzerland),
Vitit Muntarbhorn Vitit Muntarbhorn ( th, วิทิต มันตาภรณ์) is an international human rights expert and professor of law at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand. Muntarbhorn was designated in September 2016 as the first UN In ...
(Thailand) and Yakin Erturk (Turkey). Shortly after the commission was established, Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro, Karen Koning AbuZayd and Yakin Erturk were appointed by the President of the UNHRC to serve as the Commissioners.Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic - About the Commission of Inquiry
OHCHR.
In March 2012, Erturk stepped down from the position. Two new commissioners, Carla Del Ponte and Vitit Muntarbhorn, were appointed after the extension of the commission's mandate in September 2012. In 2016, Muntarbhorn stepped down when the UNHRC designated him the first United Nations Independent Expert on violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. In August 2017, Del Ponte resigned.UN Syria investigator quits over concern about Russian obstruction
''The Guardian'', 7 August 2017
Hanny Megally was appointed by the President of the UNHRC to serve as the third Commissioner in October 2017.


Del Ponte resignation

In August 2017, Del Ponte resigned from the Commission, due to frustration at the lack of support from the international community: "We could not obtain from the international community and the Security Council a resolution putting in place a tribunal, an ad hoc tribunal for all the crimes that are committed in Syria... Seven years of crime in Syria and total impunity. That is not acceptable."Syria investigator del Ponte signs off with a sting
Reuters, 18 September 2017
She blamed Russia for vetoing action: "Now a prosecutor should continue our work and bring the war criminals before a special court. But that is exactly what Russia is blocking with its veto in the U.N. Security Council".Syria investigator del Ponte says enough evidence to convict Assad of war crimes: SonntagsZeitung
Reuters, 13 August 2017
She said Assad's government used chemical weapons the during the April 2017
Khan Shaykhun chemical attack The Khan Shaykhun chemical attack took place on 4 April 2017 on the town of Khan Shaykhun in the Idlib Governorate of Syria. The town was reported to have been struck by an airstrike by government forces followed by massive civilian chemical ...
, and that the Commission has gathered enough evidence for President al-Assad to be convicted of war crimes.


Houla massacre

The inquiry's investigations have included the May 2012
Houla massacre The Houla massacre ( ar, مجزرة الحولة) was a mass murder of civilians by Syrian government forces that took place on May 25, 2012, in the midst of the Syrian Civil War, in the town of Taldou, in the Houla Region of Syria, a string ...
. Its preliminary report was published in June 2012. The report noted that the commission's investigation was significantly hindered because they had not been allowed access to Syria."Oral Update of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic." United Nations, Office of High Commissioner of Human Rights. A/HRC/20/CRP.1, 26 June 2012.
/ref> Based on the available evidence, the commission did not rule out any of three possible perpetrators but said it was unlikely that anti-government fighters were responsible. In an August 2012 report, following continued investigations focusing on identifying the perpetrators, the commission concluded there was a reasonable basis to believe the perpetrators were aligned to the Syrian government. The report said a "lack of credible information supporting other possibilities" bolstered this conclusion.


Urum al-Kubra aid convoy attack

A March 2017 report included the commission's investigation of the September 2016 Urum al-Kubra aid convoy attack."War crimes committed by all parties in battle for Aleppo – UN-mandated inquiry on Syria"
UN News. March 1, 2017.
The report said satellite imagery and forensic evidence implicated Syria's air force, and no Russian or coalition aircraft were in the area during the time of the attack. According to the report, the
Syrian Air Force ) , mascot = , anniversaries = 16 October , equipment = , equipment_label = , battles = * 1948 Arab-Israeli War * Six-Day War * Yom Kippur War ...
dropped barrel bombs from helicopters on a
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
humanitarian aid convoy, then fired rockets from jets, and then strafed survivors with machine guns. 14 aid workers were killed, 17 trucks carrying aid supplies were destroyed, and the attack led to the suspension of all humanitarian aid in the country. The attack was described as "meticulously planned" and "ruthlessly carried out".Cumming-Bruce, Nick; Barnard, Anne (March 1, 2017)
""U.N. Investigators Say Syria Bombed Convoy and Did So Deliberately"
''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
''.
Due to the intentional targeting of aid workers and civilians, as well as the denial of humanitarian aid, the report described the attack as a war crime.


Al-Jinah airstrike

A September 2017 report investigated the al-Jinah airstrike which occurred on March 16, 2017.Masri, Lena (September 7, 2017)
"US airstrikes on Syria mosque compound violated international law, UN says"
ABC News ABC News is the news division of the American broadcast network ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast ''ABC World News Tonight, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other programs include Breakfast television, morning ...
.
According to the report, United States forces hit a building, described as a mosque complex in the report, with ten bombs and an additional two missiles were fired at the people fleeing.Nebehay, Stephanie (September 6, 2017)
"Syrian government forces used chemical weapons more than two dozen times: U.N."
Reuters.
The airstrikes killed 38 people, including five children, and another 26 were injured. The commission's findings did not corroborate an allegation from the United States that an
al-Qaeda Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremism, Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arab, Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military ta ...
meeting occurred and, according to the commission, no evidence was released by the United States to support this claim. The report said that the United States team did not sufficiently verify the target before the strike. The commission concluded that the forces of the United States had violated international humanitarian law.


Ma'arrat al-Nu'man and Hass attacks

In March 2020, a report from the commission investigated two incidents involving the bombing of civilian areas.Borger, Julian (March 3, 2020)
"Russia committed war crimes in Syria, finds UN report"
''The Guardian''.
The first was the
Ma'arrat al-Numan market bombing The Maarrat al-Numan market bombing or Maarrat al-Numan market massacre was a war crime through an aerial bombing of cities, aerial bombardment of a marketplace and the surrounding houses in the Syrian rebels, Syrian opposition-held town of Ma'ar ...
on 22 July 2019. At least two Russian planes had circled the area after leaving Hmeimim Air Base.Nebehay, Stephanie (March 3, 2020)
"Russia, Turkey may have carried out war crimes in Syria, U.N. says"
Reuters.
A series of airstrikes on the market killed 43 civilians, including four children, and wounded at least 109 others. Two residential buildings and 25 shops were also destroyed. When aid workers arrived there was another wave of bombing, described in the report as a "double tap" airstrike. The second attack was the Hass refugee camp bombing on 16 August 2019, which killed 20 people and injured 40 others. Of the 20 people killed, 14 were women and children. Based on the available evidence, the commission had reasonable grounds to believe Russian aircraft participated in both incidents and, according to the report, both attacks were war crimes by the
Russian Air Force " Air March" , mascot = , anniversaries = 12 August , equipment = , equipment_label = , battles = , decorations = , bat ...
.


Chemical weapons use in Syria

On 5 May 2013
Carla del Ponte Carla Del Ponte (born February 9, 1947) is a former Chief Prosecutor of two United Nations international criminal law tribunals. A former Swiss attorney general, she was appointed prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former ...
accused the Syrian rebels of using chemical weapons, a view of Syrian opposition chemical weapons capability diametrically opposed by the majority of Western government officials. She stated, "We still have to deepen our investigation, verify and confirm (the findings) through new witness testimony, but according to what we have established so far, it is at the moment opponents of the regime who are using sarin gas." On 6 May 2013, in an apparent reaction to Del Ponte’ comments the Commission issued a press release clarifying that it “has not reached conclusive findings as to the use of chemical weapons in Syria by any parties in the conflict”.Los Angeles Times, May 06, 2013
"U.N.'s Carla del Ponte say Syrian Rebels May Have Used Sarin"
/ref> In June 2013, the Commission reported that there was reason to believe that "limited quantities of toxic chemicals" had been used in the Khan al-Assal attack, but that it was not then in a position "to determine the precise chemical agents used, their delivery systems or the perpetrator".
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, 9 July 2013
Russia claims Syria rebels used sarin at Khan al-Assal
/ref> On 5 March 2014, the "Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic" (dated 12 February) published a report that stated that the chemical agents used in Khan-al-Assal bore "the same unique hallmarks as those used in Al-Ghouta" in the August 2013 chemical attack. The report also indicated, based on "evidence available concerning the nature, quality and quantity of the agents used" that the perpetrators of the Al-Ghouta attack "likely had access to the chemical weapons stockpile of the Syrian military". In none of the incidents, however, was the commission’s "evidentiary threshold" met in regards to identifying the perpetrators of the chemical attacks.U.N report A-HRC-25-6

Reuters, 5 March 201

/ref> In March 2017, the Commission documented violations including chemical attacks and civilian executions perpetrated between 21 July and 22 December 22, during the final period of the
Battle of Aleppo (2012–2016) {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Battle of Aleppo{{lang, ar, مَعْرَكَةُ حَلَبَ , partof = the Syrian Civil War , image = , caption = Clockwise from top-left: A destroyed tank ...
. According to a report in September 2017, 25 chemical attacks had been documented by the commission from the period of March 2013 to March 2017.Shulov, Martin (September 6, 2017)
"Syrian regime dropped sarin on rebel-held town in April, UN confirms"
''The Guardian''.
The commission attributed 20 of these attacks to forces of the Syrian government, and said civilians were the main targets. By September 2018, the commission had documented 39 attacks involving chemical weapons since 2013.Nebehay, Stephanie (September 12, 2018)
"U.N. war crimes team documents further Syrian govt. use of banned chlorine"
Reuters.
Government forces were identified as having carried out 33 of these attacks. The commission had not attributed responsibility for the remaining six attacks.


Khan Shaykhun chemical attack

The
Khan Shaykhun chemical attack The Khan Shaykhun chemical attack took place on 4 April 2017 on the town of Khan Shaykhun in the Idlib Governorate of Syria. The town was reported to have been struck by an airstrike by government forces followed by massive civilian chemical ...
, which occurred on 4 April 2017, was investigated in a September 2017 report.Cumming-Bruce, Nick (September 6, 2017)
"U.N. Panel Faults Syria’s Military for Chemical Attack"
''The New York Times''.
According to the report, the attack was carried out by the Syrian Air Force with a Sukhoi 22 aircraft. The report says the aircraft conducted four airstrikes at 6:45am. One bomb carried a
nerve agent Nerve agents, sometimes also called nerve gases, are a class of organic chemicals that disrupt the mechanisms by which nerves transfer messages to organs. The disruption is caused by the blocking of acetylcholinesterase (AChE), an enzyme that ...
and impacted a road. According to the report, 83 people were killed in the attack, mostly women and children, and almost 300 were injured. The report said the use of
sarin Sarin (NATO designation GB G-series, "B"">Nerve_agent#G-series.html" ;"title="hort for Nerve agent#G-series">G-series, "B" is an extremely toxic synthetic organophosphorus compound.


See also

*
United Nations Mission to Investigate Alleged Uses of Chemical Weapons in the Syrian Arab Republic The United Nations Mission to Investigate Allegations of the Use of Chemical Weapons in the Syrian Arab Republic was a United Nations fact-finding mission to investigate possible use of chemical weapons in Syria. The mission was established by the ...
* Use of chemical weapons in the Syrian civil war


References


External links


Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic website

Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic on Twitter
{{authority control United Nations Human Rights Committee Human rights in Syria Organizations established by the United Nations International reactions to the Syrian civil war Syria and the United Nations