ANKARA
The United Nations Human Rights Council has adopted a new resolution calling on Syria to allow a Commission of Inquiry to continue its work documenting violations and abuses of Human Rights committed by all parties in the country's conflict.
The resolution was adopted by six votes against and 29 votes in favor on Friday after it was presented by the UK and sponsored by France, Germany, Italy, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, UK and US.
The resolution will renew the mandate of the Commission of Inquiry for another 12 months, the 11 sponsor countries said in a joint statement.
The resolution stated the inquiry will examine indiscriminate attacks and the deliberate targeting of protected civilians, which contravene international law.
It stated the crisis in Syria continues to have a devastating impact on civilians, adding: "Men, women and children are denied their human rights day after day.
"The Assad government, the so-called the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, and foreign fighters, must stop the bloodshed."
'Fear and violence'
The UK Government Minister at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Tobias Ellowood, welcomed the Human Rights Council’s resolution condemning the situation in Syria.
"The Assad regime chose to use fear and violence to repress democratic protests and calls for individual freedoms," Ellowood said.
The UK said in a statement that, in Syria, there were "over 220,000 dead, 12.2 million in dire need of assistance, 7.6 million internally displaced and 3.9 million refugees in the region".
"This resolution condemns the use of barrel bombs, chemical weapons, starvation as a method of warfare, torture and other despicable acts, sending a clear message from the international community to Assad and extremist groups that their actions will not be forgotten or go unchallenged," it said.
