Hague welcomes new UN mandate in Syria

British Foreign Secretary William Hague has welcomed a decision by the United Nations Human Rights Council to extend the international body’s mandate in war-torn Syria. The 47-member Human Rights Council adopted with an overwhelming majority a resolution extending the mandate of a commission of enquiry created by the council in 2011 for another year. The resolution, submitted by Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), also demanded that the regime in Damascus “cooperate fully” with the investigation team and give it “immediate, full and unfettered access throughout the Syrian Arab Republic.” Adopted with 41 votes in favour, one opposed and five countries abstaining, the resolution said the commission should continue “to investigate all alleged violations of international human rights law.” Hague has praised the news, citing growing concerns over human rights abuses being committed by both sides in the conflict. “The Commission has our full and unwavering support,” he said in a statement on Friday. “The evidence they are gathering will help ensure that all those responsible for human rights violations and abuses will be held to account.” “The deteriorating situation in Syria and worsening human rights violations and abuses deserve the strongest possible condemnation.” Britain’s Foreign Secretary called on opposition forces and Syrian armed forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad to halt violence and seek a political solution to the conflict, now in its third year. “The UN has labelled the situation in Syria as a level-three humanitarian crisis, the worst humanitarian situation of the 21stcentury,” he added.