Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon (right) and UN and Arab League’s Joint Special Envoy for
Syria Kofi Annan, in Geneva. UN Photo/E. Schneider
“The monitors’ early tasks include liaising with Syrian Government
authorities and security forces as well as the opposition to ensure
that all sides understand the role and work of the team,” UN deputy
spokesperson Eduardo del Buey told reporters in New York.
The Council on Saturday authorized the deployment of an advance team of
30 unarmed military observers to liaise with the parties and to begin
to report on the implementation of a full cessation of armed violence,
pending the deployment of a UN supervision mission that will be tasked
with monitoring the ceasefire.
The rest of the 30-member advance team will arrive in the coming days,
noted Mr. del Buey, who acknowledged the “critical” support of the
Italian Government, which is airlifting UN vehicles from the
Organization’s logistics base in Brindisi and other locations so that
the monitors are able to be mobile quickly and travel to all locations
in Syria.
The violence in Syria, which began in March 2011 as a protest movement
similar to those witnessed across the Middle East and North Africa, has
claimed over 9,000 lives, mostly civilians, and displaced tens of
thousands of people.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who
is currently on an official visit to Europe, today welcomed the arrival
of the advance group of monitors and said that he will present his
proposals for an enlarged official observer mission by 18 April.
The situation in Syria is very fluid, he said, adding that he is very
concerned about the renewed shelling of the city of Homs that has taken
place over the last two days. He once again urged the Syrian
Government, in the strongest terms, to end the violence.
At the same time, Mr. Ban said he expects that as a next step the
political dialogue will continue. A political solution needs to be
found which respects and reflects the aspirations of the Syrian people.
This solution should be Syrian-led.
The Secretary-General has repeatedly called on the Syrian Government to
abide by its commitment under the six-point plan drawn up by the Joint
Special Envoy of the UN and the League of Arab States, Kofi Annan, who
is leading a diplomatic effort to bring an end to the bloodshed.
Mr. Annan’s six-point proposal calls for an end to violence, access for
humanitarian agencies to provide relief to those in need, the release
of detainees, and the start of inclusive political dialogue that takes
into account the aspirations of the Syrian people.
Also today, the UN-mandated Independent International Commission of
Inquiry on Syria welcomed the arrival of the advance team of monitors,
while voicing its hope that the ceasefire will hold and that the
cessation of violence will contribute to an atmosphere conducive to
peace and national dialogue.
“The Commission also hopes that the ceasefire will contribute to
putting an end to the gross human rights violations that it has been
reporting on over the past six months,” stated a news release issued by
the three-member body.
The Commission, which presented its report to the UN Human Rights
Council last month, documented patterns of summary execution, arbitrary
arrest, enforced disappearance, torture, including sexual violence, as
well as violations of children’s rights by Syrian security forces.
Gravely concerned that crimes against humanity had been committed, it
called on the Government to put an immediate end to the violations and
bring the perpetrators to justice.
The Commission added today that it remained concerned with the
deteriorating humanitarian situation, especially in areas where
military hostilities have been more intense.
The UN is scheduled to convene a Syrian Humanitarian Forum on Friday in
Geneva to mobilize the necessary resources to provide humanitarian
assistance to the hundreds of thousands of people uprooted by the
crisis.
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