US proposes UN draft resolution condemning Syrian regime for its crimes against civilians

NEW YORK — The United States submitted to the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) the text of a draft resolution on the human rights situation in Syria based on UNGA resolutions, Human Rights Council resolutions, UN Security Council (UNSC) resolutions, and reports of special rapporteurs and representatives.

The draft resolution strongly condemns the systematic and widespread violations and abuses of international human rights law and international humanitarian law committed by the regime of Bashar al-Assad, and the Hezbollah and Iranian militias present in the country, and called for them to be put to an end.

The draft resolution highlights the indiscriminate attacks on civilian populations and infrastructure, forced displacement and demographic engineering. It urges the UNSC to renew the authorization to use the Bab al-Salama and Al-Yarubiyah border crossings for humanitarian aid, stressing the Syrian regime’s responsibility for the systematic use of enforced disappearance. It also welcomes the work of the international impartial mechanism to discover the fate of the missing.

The draft resolution affirmed that a political solution is the only way to resolve the conflict in Syria, in accordance with UNSC Resolution 2254, and called for a comprehensive implementation of the Geneva Statement (2012), “including through the establishment of an inclusive transitional governing body with full executive powers.”