UN Security Council: Adoption of resolution offers first sign of hope for Syria

	Scores of Syrians were evacuated during a humanitarian operation in the besieged Syrian city of Homs on February 10, 2014. © BASSEL TAWIL/AFP/Getty Images

The United Nations Security Council’s (UNSC) unanimous vote to adopt a resolution addressing humanitarian aid and human rights abuses in Syria is a significant step towards alleviating the suffering in Syria, said Amnesty International.

“The resolution adopted today is long overdue but it throws a lifeline to more than a quarter of a million people living under siege in Syria and 9.3 million civilians in need of humanitarian aid, by offering a tangible sign of hope for an end to their suffering,” said José Luis Díaz, Head of Amnesty International’s UN office in New York. 

“This is the first resolution to address the abysmal humanitarian crisis unfolding in the country in the nearly there years since the uprising there began. While some sections of the resolution could and should have been much stronger, especially surrounding the issues of accountability and ending impunity, its adoption is an important step.”

The resolution calls for all parties to put an end to all violence all forms of violence and end human rights violations including those amounting to war crimes and crimes against humanity a call for all parties to lift sieges of populated areas and for unhindered humanitarian access for UN humanitarian agencies and their implementing partners, including across conflict lines and across borders. 

“While the resolution calls for those responsible for human rights violations to be brought to justice, there is no mention of the International Criminal Court (ICC). Also conspicuously absent is any call for bodies such as the UN Commission on Inquiry to investigate all human rights violations and abuses,” said José Luis Díaz.

“The true test will be how far the Syrian government and armed opposition groups will abide by the demands of the resolution. Unless there is palpable improvement in the situation on the ground the resolution will not change things and the Security Council then has to act accordingly.”

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