76th Session of the United Nations General Assembly
Statement by Estonia at the General Assembly debate on Syrian accountability mechanism IIIM
Delivered by the Deputy Permanent Representative of Estonia to the UN, Ms Kristel Lõuk
April 1, New York
Mr President,
Estonia aligns itself with the statement delivered earlier on behalf of the European Union. I will add some remarks in our national capacity.
We are grateful for the presence of Ms Catherine Marchi-Uhel, Head of the IIIM here at the United Nations today, and thank her for the presentation of the IIIM’s eigth report, and for her dedicated leadership.
The conflict in Syria began in 2011 when peaceful demonstrators demanding basic rights and dignity were met with violent crackdown by the Syrian regime. The ensuing and ongoing atrocities have displaced almost 7 million Syrians internationally as refugees outside Syria, and another 7 million displaced in their own country. The war has uprooted about two-thirds of Syria’s population. The situation remains desolate. Renewing the cross-border aid mechanism by the Security Council remains of utmost importance.
We note that Russia – complicit with the Syrian regime in creating and sustaining the humanitarian crisis and responsible for attacks against civilian infrastructure and loss of life in Syria, is following the same pattern of violations against civilians and is responsible for the massive humanitarian crisis and loss of life in Ukraine, brought about solely by Russia’s aggression against Ukraine in blatant contravention of international law, including the UN Charter. The impact of its actions is felt by people around the world, including through increased food insecurity, especially for the most vulnerable.
Mr President,
The only solution to the situation in Syria can be political, in line with UN Security Council Resolution 2254 of 2015. However, it is clear that there can be no long-term peace without justice.
Estonia welcomes steps taken on a domestic level in several countries to uphold accountability. At the same time, we deplore the fact that the Security Council has continued to collectively fail to do anything impactful towards ending the conflict in Syria and establishing justice.
During our Council membership that ended last year, Estonia, together with twelve other UN member states convened a Security Council Arria meeting [S/2021/1112] on 29 of November to highlight the role of the Council and the international community in advancing comprehensive and impartial accountability in Syria. The meeting provided an opportunity to hear about the situation in Syria also from the Syrian civil society.
Estonia continues to call for the Security Council to step up its efforts to ensure accountability, including by referring the situation of Syria to the International Criminal Court.
Mr President,
Investigative mechanisms, such as the IIIM of the General Assembly, the Commission of Inquiry of the Human Rights Council, and the Investigation and Identification Team of the OPCW play a central role in collecting evidence of the crimes committed.
Estonia remains highly supportive of the work and mandate of the IIIM, and welcomes the Mechanism’s latest, now annual, report [A/76/690]. The important work of the IIIM on developing its central repository and enhancing its analytical output is invaluable for a number of investigations regarding crimes committed in Syria.
We welcome the efforts by the Mechanism to ensure victim/survivor-centered and inclusive justice, by paying attention to sexual and gender-based crimes and crimes against children. We look forward to the publication of the gender strategy of the IIIM.
Considering the gravity and scale of the issue of missing persons, Estonia further appreciates the Mechanism’s work on increasing transfer of information on missing persons.
We also welcome the continued engagement by the IIIM with Syrian civil society actors to better understand and reflect the needs of the local communities through its work.
Estonia highlights the latest efforts by the mechanism to employ innovative technological solutions for its analytical processes.
Finally, we continue to support the financing of the IIIM from the UN regular budget and take this opportunity to call on all States in this room to do so.
Mr President,
In closing, allow me to reiterate that Estonia remains committed to rules-based international order. We cannot look away while atrocities continue to be committed in many parts of the world with impunity. We call on all States and the international community to support all available accountability efforts, including the important work of the IIIM in Syria.
Justice has to prevail. In the face of growing turmoil, we cannot fail or forget the Syrian people.
Thank you.