I thank Special Envoy Pedersen for his briefing on the political situation, and Mr. Bernard Duhaime on the status of detained and missing people in Syria. Today marks ten years since the start of peaceful protests in Syria. Instead of answering these demands of dignity and justice, the Syrian regime responded with brutal violence.
After more than half-a-million deaths, the repressions still continue. Millions have been displaced. Thousands are arbitrarily detained and missing; complete destruction of the country; chemical weapons and barrel bombs used against its own people. I recall the words of Secretary General from last week: the situation remains a living nightmare.
Madam President – it is the task of the Security Council to uphold and promote international law by acting decisively to the widespread violations of international human rights law in Syria. Many of these acts amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity. The Secretary General noted that the parties to the Syrian conflict have repeatedly violated international humanitarian law with almost absolute impunity.
Estonia reiterates the call of Mr. Duhaime and European Union on the need to create an international mechanism to locate missing people or their remains. There must be accountability for the many war crimes and crimes against humanity – and an end to impunity.
Investigative mechanisms, such as the IIIM of the General Assembly, Commission of Inquiry of the Human Rights Council, Fact Finding Missions of OPCW – all these bodies play a central role in collecting evidence and uncovering crimes against Syrian people, and moving towards accountability. We fully support these efforts, and hope to bring their work closer to the Security Council, and in its agenda.
The conflict will not end until the Syrian regime stops using torture to suppress free speech and silence its citizens. We demand the release of arbitrarily detained people: especially women, children, and elderly.
Looking at the political process, the Syrian Constitutional committee has not produced expected results. The deadlock continues, as the regime refuses to meaningfully engage in the process.
Legitimate claims of the Syrian opposition must be taken into account, when looking into the future, and rebuilding Syria. Estonia and other EU member states support free and fair elections in Syria in accordance with Security Council resolution 2254 under supervision of the United Nations, with all Syrians, including members of the diaspora, eligible to participate. Anything else would be considered yet another farce.
We remind the Syrian authorities and its allies that European Union will not fund Syria’s reconstruction and lift sanctions until a genuine political process is firmly in place.
Estonia and the European Union remain committed to finding a lasting and credible political solution to the conflict in Syria. We encourage all international actors to support Syrians in achieving these aims, which are also implicit in the road-map for peace, set out in the Security Council resolution 2254 and the 2012 Geneva Communiqué.
