The head of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria, Paulo Pinheiro, said that the Syrian regime and the international community are strangely satisfied with maintaining the status quo in Syria.
This was stated during his speech on Wednesday, during the interactive dialogue within the activities of the 56th session of the Human Rights Council held in Geneva.
“There has been a constant disregard for the lives and well-being of the Syrian people with no end in sight,” he said.
He also expressed concern that the country’s deepening fragmentation on all fronts would have serious long-term consequences, including for the social fabric and unity of Syria.
“Horrific cycles of violence continue,” he said, citing an incident in al-Sanamayn in Daraa governorate on April 7, when ten civilians, including two children, were killed by a pro-regime militia in response to an improvised explosive device attack that killed at least seven children.
“Such massacres evoke atrocities committed with impunity during the conflict, including during the darkest days of ISIS rule,” he said.
“The root causes of the war are still present”
The head of the International Independent Investigation Commission explained that while the pace of the war is fluctuating, the root causes that led to it are still largely present.
Incommunicado detention and enforced disappearances persist, with families of unlawfully detained people often forced to pay large sums of money to obtain information about the fate of their loved ones.
“Impunity and lawlessness have been a grim reality for all Syrians, with no end in sight,” Pinheiro said.
He added that world leaders involved in the conflict in Syria are failing to make progress towards a peaceful settlement and are failing the Syrian people alongside the Syrian regime.
“The failure of the Arab normalization process with the Syrian regime”
Pinheiro pointed out that the normalization process led by some Arab countries in 2023, which saw the Syrian regime return to the Arab League, has not yet achieved results, as the Syrian government has not made any meaningful concessions.
“The regime and the international community seem strangely satisfied with maintaining the status quo. However, this is not a viable option for the Syrian people, both inside and outside the country.”
Speaking about the situation of Syrians in neighbouring countries, Pinheiro said they are increasingly at risk of deportation and forcible return to Syria, where they risk arrest, disappearance, or returning to find their homes and farms destroyed with no way to make a living.
This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
