UN Commission of Inquiry on Syria: Temporary Agreement on Idlib a welcome provisional step

Geneva, 21 September 2018 – The Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic welcomes the 17 September ceasefire agreement reached between the Republic of Turkey and the Russian Federation. This agreement appears to have spared civilians temporarily from a full-scale onslaught and we strongly call for immediate and unhindered humanitarian access and provision of relief to the civilian population of Idlib.

We are cognizant that a multiplicity of challenges may threaten this temporary ceasefire. The Commission reminds the parties to this conflict, and the governments that support them, that they all have binding obligations under international humanitarian law to protect the civilian population in situations of armed conflict. It also reminds all actors in the conflict that every Syrian – each child, woman, and man – has fundamental human rights that must be respected, protected and fulfilled regardless of who controls the territory in which they are located.