“France will continue its fight against impunity in Syria.”

Thank you Mr. President,

I would like to thank Geir Pedersen and Joyce Msuya for their presentations, and for their actions in favor of peace and the protection of civilians in Syria.

I would like to highlight three points.

First, the political process is held hostage. Russia continues to paralyze the political process by providing an excuse for the Syrian regime not to participate in the meetings of the Constitutional Committee, because of considerations about the venue of the meeting. The terms of reference are clear: the meetings of the Constitutional Committee must be held in Geneva.

After 11 years of conflict, no political solution in accordance with resolution 2254, which was adopted unanimously, is in sight. This is however a prerequisite for any lasting peace in Syria.

Under these conditions, the French and European positions on the lifting of sanctions, on normalization and on reconstruction will remain unchanged.

The second point is humanitarian aid. The renewal of the cross-border humanitarian mechanism for six months, with a single crossing point, remains largely insufficient compared to the scale of humanitarian needs.

We will be extremely committed, next January, to ensuring that this vital mechanism is renewed for a year.

We hope that progress on access across the front lines will continue. However, we must be confident that even if convoys across the front lines were deployed on a regular basis, they would not be a substitute for cross-border operations, which enabled 1,200 truckloads of aid to be delivered last June and July, as mentioned earlier.

I also recall that all parties, in particular the Syrian regime, must protect civilians and guarantee full humanitarian access. Indeed, respect for international humanitarian law is an obligation that is incumbent on all.

Third, impunity. France will continue its fight against impunity in Syria. The Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs has received important documentation of possible crimes committed by Syrian regime forces during the 2013Tadamon massacre in. The alleged actions, which are likely to constitute the most serious international crimes, have been reported to the National Counterterrorism Prosecutor’s Office under the jurisdiction of the French courts with regard to crimes against humanity and war crimes. We salute the courage of the human rights defenders whose resolute work made it possible to collect these documents.

These elements are added to the documentation that is unfortunately already well supplied concerning the violence suffered by Syrians. I will mention two examples: the well-known Caesar report and the United Nations reports on the systematic use of sexual violence by the regime.

Those responsible for these crimes must be held accountable. This is also the condition for any lasting peace in Syria.