Interactive Dialogue with the Commission of Inquiry on Syria
Statement by the Delegation of the United States of America
As Delivered by Ambassador Michèle Taylor
Human Rights Council 51st Session
Thank you, Mr. President.
And I thank you, Commissioners, for your valuable documentation, particularly regarding the regime’s ongoing atrocities perpetuated against the Syrian people.
We strongly condemn the abuses inflicted upon detainees in regime facilities including but not limited to torture, gender-based violence, and enforced disappearances.
These abuses are deliberately perpetrated by regime security forces on a systemic, massive scale to punish, spread fear, and stifle dissent.
For over a decade, Syrian victims and families of the missing and disappeared have suffered. It is beyond time for the regime to provide information on the fate and whereabouts of those missing, free those who remain alive and arbitrarily detained, and release the remains of those who have been killed to their families.
We appreciate the persistent documentation and advocacy by the COI and OHCHR on the fate of the missing and arbitrarily detained in Syria. We are committed to advancing progress with our partners on this issue.
Question: Commissioners, how can the international community effectively encourage the disclosure of information on the fate and whereabouts of the missing, press for the release of those who remain arbitrarily detained, and help survivors begin the healing process?
I thank you.
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