Greg Mulholland – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2015-12-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his international counterparts on forced disappearances in Syria.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
We continue to press (including in international fora) for the immediate end to enforced disappearances in Syria and the release of those arbitrarily detained.
The UK sponsored three resolutions on the human rights situation in Syria at the Human Rights Council during 2015 condemning all arbitrary detention of individuals by the Syrian authorities and other parties to the conflict and demanding the immediate release of all persons arbitrarily detained. We also co-sponsored the UN General Assembly Third Committee Resolution on the human rights situation in Syria which was successfully adopted on 19 November.
We support the UN Commission of Inquiry’s investigations into human rights violations and abuses, including enforced disappearances, in Syria. In partnership with other donor countries, we are funding the collection of documentary evidence on such abuses for use in possible legal processes in the future. We continue to call for the UN Commission of Inquiry to have unhindered access to all persons deprived of their liberty and allow them to investigate.
Last year the UK co-sponsored a UN Security Council Resolution to refer all those responsible for war-crimes and crimes against humanity in Syria, regardless of affiliation, to the International Criminal Court. Russia and China chose to veto this resolution.
