Kuwait voices alarm at ambiguous destiny of the missing in Syria

The State of Kuwait on Wednesday expressed deep concern at the plight of missing people due to the conflict in Syria.

According to the relevant international law and the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2474, parties of the armed strife are primarily responsible for taking all necessary measures to determine destiny of unaccounted for persons, due to hostilities, said the Permanent Representative at the UN and International Organizations in Geneva, Ambassador Jamal Al-Ghunaim.

Ambassador Al-Ghunaim was addressing the UN Human Rights Council as part of the interactive dialogue with the independent fact-finding commission in Syria.

The senior Kuwaiti diplomat noted that the commission reported that there had been wide-scale cases of coercive disappearance during the past decade in Syria, where tens of thousands of men, women and children had been held and remained unaccounted for.

In this respect, The State of Kuwait calls on the parties to stop disappearance of persons due to the armed conflict, immediately release all those deprived of their freedom and dedicate special attention to missing children. Moreover, it robustly decries all human rights breaches suffered by the brotherly Syrian people and calls for ending the conflict through a just and comprehensive settlement.

Ambassador Al-Ghunaim expressed deep concern at ongoing and explicit violations of the international humanitarian law and the human rights laws by all parties, namely the continuing attacks on innocent civilians, where some cases are tantamount to crimes against humanity and war crimes.

Furthermore, the State of Kuwait urges the parties in Syria to devote attention to humanitarian issues, such as allowing safe and sustainable delivery of aid and medics to evacuate victims unharmed, abstaining from besieging residential regions or using starvation as a war tool.

Al-Ghunaim affirmed support for the appeal that had been made by the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres for silencing the guns worldwide for allowing delivery of relief assistance to those in need and create the atmosphere for resolving conflicts diplomatically.

Source: Kuwait News Agency

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