Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro highlighted the establishment of the National Transitional Authority and the National Authority for Missing Persons which are expected to help reveal the fate of the more than 100,000 Syrians estimated to have been forcibly disappeared or gone missing.

They are also expected to expose the truth about systematic violations like arbitrary detention, torture and ill-treatment, and about widespread attacks which killed hundreds of thousands of civilians and maimed millions during hostilities.

Syria continues along the path to transition following the overthrow of the Assad regime last December.

Wave of retaliatory attacks

Mr. Pinheiro said the security vacuum left after the dismissal of the armed forces and security services, together with a lack of clarity on the new framework for justice, contributed to an atmosphere where victims of past crimes and violations attempted to take the law into their own hands and settle scores.

Retaliatory attacks that took place in coastal areas in March, and on a smaller scale in other parts of the country, were “in part a response to five decades of systematic crimes perpetrated by security forces with impunity which affected all Syrians,” he said.

“More recently, sectarian fault lines have also been fuelled by widespread hate speech and incitement against Alawis, off and online, including posts with false information reportedly often originating from abroad.”

Eyewitness accounts

The Commission conducted its latest visit to Syria last week and travelled to several locations on the coast where killings and looting had occurred.  The team met with several civil and security authorities, as well as eyewitnesses and victims’ families.

“First-hand accounts by survivors of these events…revealed in detail how residential areas were raided by large groups of armed men, many of them members of factions now affiliated with the State. They told us how the assailants detained, ill-treated and executed Alawis,” he said.

He acknowledged the interim authorities’ establishment of a National Inquiry to investigate the violations as well as an additional High-Level Committee to Maintain Civil Peace.  Furthermore, dozens of alleged perpetrators have been arrested.

“Protection of civilians is essential to prevent further violations and crimes,” he said. 

“We welcome the commitment of President (Ahmed) al-Sharaa to hold those responsible accountable to restore confidence for State institutions amongst the affected communities.”

He also pointed to a deadly attack on a Greek Orthodox church in Damascus last Sunday, saying the authorities must ensure the protection of places of worship and threatened communities, and perpetrators and enablers must be held accountable.

Foreign intervention

Mr. Pinheiro told the Council that “the Syrian conflict has had no shortage of internal challenges and grievances, many of which were made worse by foreign interventions.”

In recent weeks, Israel has carried out a wave of airstrikes in and around Damascus, including near the presidential palace. Military bases and weapons depots in Daraa, Hama, Tartous and Latakia have also been targeted as part of its sustained military campaign in Syria. Several civilians were killed.

Civilian casualties were also reported in the context of Israeli operations in the buffer zone in Quneitra and southwestern Daraa monitored by the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF)

“These actions raise serious concerns of violations of international human rights and humanitarian law as UN Secretary-General (António) Guterres further stated recently,” he said.

Millions in need 

Mr. Pinheiro reported that more than two million Syrians have returned home since December, including nearly 600,000 from neighbouring countries and just under 1.5 million internally displaced persons (IDPs).

“For many of the over seven million Syrians who remain displaced, massive property-related challenges will need to be tackled in the wake of industrial-scale destruction, pillage and confiscation of homes and lands,” he said.

Moreover, he noted that “despite the recent encouraging steps towards lifting of sectoral sanctions and opening the country to new investments, nearly 16.5 million Syrians remain in need of humanitarian assistance.” Among them are nearly three million people facing severe food insecurity.

Mr. Pinheiro concluded his remarks, saying “the interim authorities’ repeated commitments to protect the rights of everyone and all communities in Syria without discrimination of any kind are encouraging” and “should be met with the necessary support from the international community.”

About the Commission

The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic was by the Human Rights Council in August 2011 with a mandate to investigate all alleged violations of international human rights law since March 2011.

The members are Mr. Pinheiro and Commissioners Hanny Megally and Lynn Welchman.

They are not UN staff and do not receive any payment for their work.

On Friday, the UN Security Council heard sobering briefings from Martha Ama Akyaa Pobee, UN Assistant Secretary-General for Africa, and Shayna Lewis, Sudan Specialist and Senior Advisor with Preventing and Ending Mass Atrocities (PAEMA), a US-based organization.

Ms. Pobee stressed that front lines continue to shift as the RSF and SAF press on with their military objectives, warning, “the warring parties appear unrelenting in their resolve to pursue military objectives.”

She noted the growing use of advanced weaponry, including long-range drones, which have expanded the violence into previously stable areas.

Ms. Pobee further warned of the conflict spilling further into the region, citing recent reports of violent clashes in the tri-border area between Sudan, Libya and Egypt, involving the SAF, RSF and forces affiliated with the Libyan National Army.

Human rights violations

Ms. Pobee also referenced UN human rights reports documenting a tripling of arbitrary civilian killings between February and April this year.

“Entrenched impunity is fuelling these and other gross human rights violations and abuses. All parties to the conflict must be held accountable,” she stressed.

Ms. Lewis’s briefing focused on the worsening humanitarian situation, highlighting the over 15 million children now in need of assistance due to ongoing attacks on civilians.

Shayna Lewis, Senior Advisor and Sudan Specialist at Preventing and Ending Mass Atrocities (PAEMA), addresses the Security Council meeting on the situation in Sudan.

Returning from a recent visit to Sudan, she shared accounts of severely injured children in hospitals and stressed that up to 80 per cent of health facilities in conflict areas are no longer functioning.

She also cited examples of indiscriminate attacks on hospitals by both the SAF and RSF, including a suspected SAF drone strike on 21 June that hit a hospital in West Kordofan, killing over 40 people and destroying critical lifesaving equipment.

Both Ms. Lewis and Ms. Pobee raised alarm over the warring parties’ widespread use of sexual and gender-based violence against women and girls across Sudan.

Government of Hope

Despite the ongoing violence and human rights abuses, Ms. Pobee underscored the significance of the new “Government of Hope.”

On 31 May, a new interim Prime Minister was inaugurated, announcing reform plans and immediately appointing a cabinet of professional technocrats.

Ms. Pobee also acknowledged the efforts of the Personal Envoy of the UN Secretary-General for Sudan, Ramtane Lamamra, who has been engaging with the Prime Minister, civilian groups and the warring parties.

Through this crucial communication, the Personal Envoy is helping these stakeholders work toward an inclusive political resolution.

“I urge this Council – once again – to unite in lending full support to Personal Envoy Lamamra’s efforts, and to use its influence with the parties and their external backers to press for a genuine commitment to dialogue and de-escalation,” Ms. Pobee said.

Ambassadors also heard a briefing from the Chair of the Sudan Sanctions Committee, established by the Council pursuant to Resolution 1591 (2005), on the work of the Committee. Following the open briefing, the Council held closed consultations during which Personal Envoy Lamamra also briefed members.

In a stark briefing to the Human Rights Council in Geneva, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk described a country gripped by war, repression and deepening suffering.

Since the military coup in February 2021, nearly 6,800 civilians have been killed and over 22,000 remain arbitrarily detained, he said. Humanitarian needs have soared, with nearly 22 million people in need of assistance and more than 3.5 million displaced by conflict.

“The report I am presenting today is about the people of Myanmar and their aspirations for a better future,” Mr. Türk said.

“Despite massive challenges, people from across society are striving to build a peaceful, sustainable, democratic and diverse Myanmar, grounded in human rights.”

A crisis worsened

However, conditions on the ground have only worsened.

Following a 28 March earthquake that killed nearly 4,000 people and left six million in urgent need, the military intensified attacks instead of facilitating relief, Mr. Türk said.

The UN human rights office, OHCHR, documented more than 600 military strikes since the quake – 94 per cent of them occurring during supposed ceasefires – with schools, religious sites and other protected locations frequently targeted.

Situation in Rakhine

The situation in Rakhine state remains particularly dire, with civilians – the minority Muslim Rohingya in particular – caught between the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army, an ethnic armed group. In addition, the military’s ongoing obstruction of humanitarian access has worsened an already acute crisis.

Throughout the country, economic collapse and the breakdown of public institutions have compounded the suffering.

Nearly four in five people now live below or just above the poverty line and an estimated 1.3 million have fled the country – many undertaking perilous journeys by land and sea. So far in 2025, nearly one in five people attempting sea crossings in the region have been reported dead or missing.

End violence, ensure accountability

The High Commissioner’s report outlined four key pathways to lay the groundwork for a transition toward a peaceful and democratic Myanmar: justice and accountability, democratic governance; economic reform to serve the people, and sustained international engagement.

Mr. Türk stressed that accountability must begin with the release of all political prisoners and prosecution of those responsible for grave human rights violations.

“It is imperative for the military to immediately end the violence, allow unhindered humanitarian access and release all arbitrarily detained people,” he said.

“Amid the turmoil, planning for a future with human rights front and centre offers people a sense of hope. We owe it to the people of Myanmar to make that hope a reality.”

Independent expert’s alarm

Tom Andrews, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation in Myanmar, echoed the High Commissioner’s warnings, raising alarm over a collapse in international humanitarian support and the military’s repression.

“The junta has chosen to use aid as a weapon,” he told the Council.

“I have spoken with humanitarian workers physically blocked at checkpoints and received reports of earthquake survivors evicted from shelters with no place to go.”

Mr. Andrews, who has been appointed and mandated by the Human Rights Council and is not a UN staff member – also warned that drastic cuts in international funding have already had severe consequences.

As of 27 June, the $1.14 billion comprehensive humanitarian response plan for the country is only 12 percent funded and the $275 million addendum for the earthquake response is about 37 per cent.

At a time when the people of Myanmar need an enhanced level of support from the international community, they are getting the opposite, Mr. Andrews said, warning that the cost in human lives and human suffering will soon very likely get “significantly worse.”

“This dangerous trend begs the question – do human rights matter?” he asked.

“Because if human rights matter, if saving the lives of children in Myanmar matters, why are so many governments reluctant to invest even a modest amount of resources to save lives?”