Report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic

In its resolutions 43/28 and 45/21, the Human Rights Council requested the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic to present its findings and analysis of key recurrent human rights concerns over the course of the conflict and continuing trends. As the conflict nears its tenth grim anniversary, the Commission presents its analysis covering the period from March 2011 to 24 December 2020.

I. Introduction

1. The present report complements the report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic on arbitrary imprisonment and detention and is based on 21 mandate reports, 12 conference room papers, nine Arria formula briefings to the Security Council, two briefings to the General Assembly, 27 briefings to the Human Rights Council and dozens of other publicly available documents. In order to meet its standard of proof, the Commission primarily drew on the 7,874 interviews conducted between the establishment of the Commission by Human Rights Council resolution S-17/1 of 23 August 2011 and the time of submission of the present report.
2. Despite the formal and informal requests and resolutions of the General Assembly and Human Rights Council, the Government of the Syrian Arab Republic has continued to refuse the Commission and its staff access to its territory.