Reply to Recommendation
| Doc. 13637
| 29 October 2014
- Author(s):
- Committee of Ministers
- Origin
- Adopted
at the 1210th meeting of the Ministers’ Deputies (22 and 24 October
2014). 2014 - November Standing Committee
- Reply to Recommendation
- : Recommendation 2026
(2013)
1. Like the Parliamentary Assembly, the
Committee of Ministers is appalled by the humanitarian tragedy that
has been unfolding in Syria for more than three years now, and by
the widespread violations and abuses of human rights affecting the
Syrian population every day, some of which may amount to war crimes
and crimes against humanity. Already in May 2012, the Committee
issued a statement condemning these violations with the utmost firmness
and calling upon all parties in Syria to cease immediately all forms
of violence.
2. The Committee of Ministers strongly condemns the indiscriminate
attacks against civilians, including the use of barrel bombs as
well as the sieges and starvation as a war weapon, and calls for
increased humanitarian assistance in line with the UN Security Council
Resolutions 2139 (2014) and 2165 (2014).
3. The Committee also notes with grave concern the increased
targeting of civilians based on their ethnicity, religion and/or
confessional affiliations.
4. The Committee calls for the release of all arbitrarily detained
persons, starting with women and children, as well as the sick,
wounded and elderly people, and including United Nations personnel
and journalists. It also calls for the release of the two bishops
kidnapped near Aleppo on 22 April 2013.
5. The Committee of Ministers calls upon all parties involved
to fully implement without further delay the Geneva Communiqué of
30 June 2012, endorsed by the UN Security Council Resolutions 2118
(2013), 2139 (2014) and 2165 (2014).
6. The Committee again underlines that a peaceful and democratic
solution founded on full respect for human rights, and based on
a constructive dialogue, is the only way forward for Syria. In this
connection, the Committee of Ministers fully subscribes to the Assembly’s
view that the Syrian people should be free to build their own future
through a Syrian-led political process and the holding of free and
fair elections. The Committee also agrees with the Assembly that
the governments of all member States should facilitate the launch
of a Syrian-led process that will lead to a genuine political transition,
on the basis of the Geneva Communiqué, that meets the legitimate
aspirations of the Syrian people, regardless of their religion or
belief, for a free and democratic Syria, in which human rights and
persons belonging to minorities are respected.
7. The Committee of Ministers takes note of the removal of the
chemical weapons declared by the Syrian authorities in accordance
with UN Security Council Resolution 2118 (2013) and urges the Syrian
Government to fully co-operate with the Organisation for the Prohibition
of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).
8. The Committee of Ministers also fully endorses the Parliamentary
Assembly’s call to the international community to focus on tackling
the dramatic humanitarian consequences of the conflict in Syria.
It calls upon the Syrian authorities and all other parties to the
Syrian conflict to ensure full implementation of UN Security Council
Resolution 2139 (2014) and, among others, to take immediate steps
to facilitate the expansion of humanitarian relief operations in
line with UN Security Council Resolution 2165 (2014). It takes this
opportunity to pay tribute to the outstanding work done in a perilous
environment by the humanitarian workers present in Syria. As in
its statement in May 2012, the Committee of Ministers also commends
the important efforts made by many countries, including Council
of Europe member States, to take in and provide assistance for Syrian refugees.
In particular, it highly appreciates the efforts made by Turkey,
having received alone, according to information provided by the
Turkish Government on 16 October 2014, an estimated 1,500,000 Syrians
in need, as well as the efforts made by Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq.
9. The Committee agrees with the Assembly’s call to all member
States to show solidarity and shared responsibility in this international
effort, including by responding to the appeals by the United Nations
and other humanitarian organisations for urgent financial and in-kind
assistance. In this connection, it notes that, following the visits
he made to Syrian refugee camps and centres in Armenia, Bulgaria,
Turkey and Germany, the Commissioner for Human Rights called on
European governments to provide greater assistance for all the Syrian
refugees seeking safe haven, in particular children.
