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Syria: UN investigates human rights violations
Human Rights Commissioner Löning welcomes establishment of commission to investigate human rights violations in Syria
Human Rights Commissioner Löning welcomes establishment of commission to investigate human rights violations in Syria
The Federal Government Commissioner for Human Rights Policy and Humanitarian Aid, Markus Löning, issued the following statement today (13 September) on the appointment of the members of an international commission to investigate the human rights situation in Syria:
“I welcome the appointment of the commission to investigate human rights violations in Syria. Now Syria needs to allow the commission to enter the country and must stop stringing along the international community with false promises.
I call upon President Assad to immediately cease the violence against and repression of his own people, and to respect the wish of the Syrian population for political participation, human rights and a life of freedom and dignity.”
The commission is the result of a special Human Rights Council session on Syria which was initiated by Germany. Two-thirds of the Council members voted in favour of the resolution, including the Arab members Jordan, Qatar, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. The resolution explicitly condemned human rights abuses in Syria.
On the evening of 12 September, the President of the United Nations Human Rights Council named the members of an independent commission to investigate the human rights situation in Syria. Yakin Ertürk of Turkey, former UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women; Karen Abu Zeid of the USA, former UNWRA Commissioner-General; and Paolo Sérgio Pinheiro of Brazil, former Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Myanmar and Burundi are to investigate the current situation in Syria following the outbreak of unrest in spring 2011.
