New York, June 1 (SANA) Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro announced Monday his departure from the position of Chair of the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria after 15 years, citing personal health reasons.
In a post on X, Pinheiro said it had been an honor to stand alongside the Syrian people, amplify their voices, and draw attention to the systematic violations of human rights and international humanitarian law committed by all parties throughout the conflict.
He noted that hundreds of thousands of people had been arbitrarily detained, forcibly disappeared, displaced, or killed in Syria since 2011, and that virtually every category of war crime and crime against humanity defined under the Rome Statute had been documented — leaving deep trauma on Syrian society and severely undermining public trust in state institutions and the rule of law. He said the complete absence of accountability was among the principal factors that allowed these crimes to continue unchecked for years.
He called for the active involvement of Syrian civil society, which he said had played a significant role throughout the conflict and had built substantial expertise and capacity.
The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria was established on August 22, 2011, by the UN Human Rights Council, months after the outbreak of the Syrian revolution, to investigate human rights violations and crimes committed by the deposed regime. The Human Rights Council most recently extended its mandate for one additional year under Resolution 58-25, adopted on April 4, 2025.
KhA
