Qatar Mission in Geneva Discusses Civil Society’s Role in Syria

Qatar Mission in Geneva Discusses Civil Society’s Role in Syria
QNA / FANANEWS, 21 Sep 2016

Geneva, September 21 (QNA) – The Permanent Mission of the State of Qatar to the United Nations Office at Geneva, in collaboration with the permanent missions of France, Germany, Italy, United Kingdom, United States, Liechtenstein and the Organization No Peace Without Justice organized today a side event on Syria: the UPR process and civil society’s role in promoting justice and accountability”, on the occasion of the 33th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva.
The event focused on the situation of children, young people and women, the efforts to document the widespread violations committed in the last five years and on how achieve justice and accountability for the victims of these crimes, this side event aims at raising awareness about the role the United Nations Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process can play in reinforcing the importance of including the Syrian civil society community in the pursuit of a political solution to the war in Syria.
The meeting serves as a reminder that the urgent priority of reaching a lasting political solution requires an inclusive and participatory process capable to ensure that the root causes of the conflict be addressed. It aims to articulate the request from Syrian civil society for freedom, democracy and accountability for violations and abuses of human rights and violations of international humanitarian law, irrespective of their ethnic, religious and political affiliation, which must be met to foster national reconciliation and a political solution.
Addressing the meeting, HE Ambassador Faisal bin Abdullah Al Henzab, Permanent Representative of Qatar to the United Nations Office at Geneva, said that in light of the serious deterioration of the situation of human rights and humanitarian situation in Syria, which resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths and prisoners and millions of displaced persons and refugees, mostly women and children, and the complete collapse of the infrastructure and services, the international community must remember that all of this is the great price paid by the Syrians for demanding freedom and democracy and the elimination of injustice, tyranny and dictatorship.
HE Ambassador stressed that the solution to the Syrian crisis must be through empowering the Syrian people for the leadership of the political transition based on the Geneva Principles (1) and the relevant international resolutions, in order to build a new future for its country in a way that Bashar al-Assad does not have a role in it, while keeping with the state institutions.
He also stressed that the prevalence of impunity from accountability in Syria cannot continue neither morally nor legally, and that any failure or lack of seriousness in this aspect, will repeat violations without any deterrent in other places of the world, causing loss of justice and the rights of the oppressed.

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