Syrian Arab Republic

Syria

Table of Contents

Overview

The Syria Office enjoys a full mandate to protect and promote human rights. The Office monitors and reports on the human rights situation in Syria, seeking in particular to highlight emerging human rights concerns and provide early warning analysis. The Office regularly provides legal analysis of the evolving and complex situation in Syria. Read more >

Syrian Arab Republic also falls under the UN Human Rights Training and Documentation Centre for South-West Asia and the Arab Region established by General Assembly Resolution 60/153 of 2006. The Centre’s main objective is to strengthen the promotion and protection of human rights through technical cooperation, national capacity-building, public information and education, within the region stipulated in the mandate.
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Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic >

News & Statements

Latest news

16 Nov 2023

Multiple Mechanisms

UN Syria Commission welcomes landmark ICJ order to Syria to prevent torture and destruction of evidence

22 Sep 2023

Multiple Mechanisms

Nearly 12 Years in, the Parties to the Conflict in the Syrian Arab Republic Continue to Perpetrate War Crimes and Violate Basic Human Rights, Commission of Inquiry Tells Human Rights Council

14 Sep 2023

Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights

Türk warns civilians will again pay price as Syrian conflict fragments

12 Sep 2023

Independent investigation

Marked increase in fighting and a rapidly plummeting economy require urgent Syrian and international responses, UN Syria Commission of Inquiry warns

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Latest statements & messages

24 Oct 2023

Independent investigation

Statement by Paulo Pinheiro Chair of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic

22 Sep 2023

Independent investigation

Statement by Paulo Pinheiro Chair of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic

05 Jul 2023

Independent investigation

Statement by Paulo Pinheiro, Chair of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic

12 Jun 2023

Independent investigation

Gendered impact of the conflict in the Syrian Arab Republic on women and girls

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Featured Stories

Two Syrian women walk next to destroyed buildings in central Raqqa city, Syria, 31 March 2019. © EPA-EFE/AHMED MARDNLI
11 May 2023 Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights

Behind the data: Recording civilian casualties in Syria

In the ten years of the conflict in the Syrian Arab Republic, UN Human Rights and several civil society organizations working on the ground have carried out the grueling work of documenting and reporting deaths of civilians during active hostilities.
Wassim Mukdad plays the oud during a recent UN Torture Fund Meeting
29 April 2022 Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights

Torture survivors and NGO make big strides towards justice

Thanks to universal jurisdiction — a little-used feature of international law —some of Syria’s intelligence officers face their crimes
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UN and OHCHR Reports

UN Secretary-General and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights

A/78/529: The occupied Syrian Golan - Report of the Secretary-General - Advance Unedited Version

A/76/890: Missing people in the Syrian Arab Republic — Report of the Secretary-General

A/HRC/50/68: Civilian Deaths in the Syrian Arab Republic - Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights

A/HRC/49/84: Human rights in the occupied Syrian Golan – Report of the Secretary-General

A/HRC/46/64: Human rights in the occupied Syrian Golan — Report of the Secretary-General

A/HRC/43/69: Human rights in the occupied Syrian Golan — Report of the Secretary-General

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Special Procedures

Reports

A/HRC/54/23/Add.1: Visit to the Syrian Arab Republic - Report of the Special Rapporteur on the negative impact of unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rights, Alena Douhan

A/HRC/42/42/Add.2: Visit to Austria - Report of the Working Group on the use of mercenaries as a means of violating human rights and impeding the exercise of the right of peoples to self-determination

A/HRC/39/54/Add.2: Report of the Special Rapporteur on the negative impact of unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rights on his mission to the Syrian Arab Republic

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Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Syrian Arab Republic

Special Procedures country visits

Treaty Bodies

Reports

CRC/C/SYR/CO/5: Concluding observations on the fifth periodic report of the Syrian Arab Republic by the Committee on the Rights of the Child

CEDAW/C/SYR/CO/2: Concluding observations: Syrian Arab Republic

CRC/C/SYR/CO/3-4: Consideration of reports submitted by states parties under article 44 of the convention on the rights of the child in Syrian Arab Republic

CAT/C/SYR/CO/1: Concluding observations on Syrian Arab Republic

CMW/C/SYR/CO/1: Concluding observations of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families

CRC/C/OPAC/SYR/CO/1: Concluding observations: Syrian Arab Republic

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Status & Reporting

Status of Ratifications Reporting Status Standing invitation to Special Procedures General Assembly Resolutions, Decisions and Chairperson's Statements Human Rights Council Resolutions, Decisions and Chairperson's Statements Commission on Human Rights Resolutions, Decisions and Chairperson's Statements

Resources

Oral Update on the Extent of Conflict-Related Deaths in the Syrian Arab Republic: Background Note on the Statistical Analysis + Q&A Syria Figures (24 September 2021) Technical Guidebook on People centric approach to programming & advocacy (1 June 2020) UN Human Rights Recommendations to the Syrian Arab Republic: 2nd Cycle of the UPR (1 September 2020) UN Human Rights Recommendations to the Syrian Arab Republic: Human Rights Mechanisms (1 September 2020)

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Contact Information

Headquarters

Field Operations and Technical Cooperation Division (FOTCD)
Contact is in Geneva, Switzerland.

Middle East and North Africa Section
Tel. + 41 22 917 9777

Field

OHCHR Office for Syria (based in Beirut)
OHCHR, 8th Floor, Arab Bank Building, Riad El Sohl, Downtown Beirut,
LEBANON

Photo credit:  UNICEF/UN0187064/Nader

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