Final Communiqué of the Executive Committee at the level of Permanent Representatives on the Situation in Syria Especially in the City of Aleppo

Date: 09/10/2016

1. At the request of the State of Kuwait, the Executive Committee held a meeting at level of Permanent Representatives to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation on the deteriorating situation in Syria on 9 October 2016 at the headquarters of the OIC General Secretariat in Jeddah.
2. The meeting reaffirmed the commitment of the OIC Member States to the sovereignty, independence, political unity and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic.
3. The meeting also reiterated the resolutions and statements adopted by the Organization on Syria at the Summit and the Council of Foreign Ministers levels, the latest of which was the Islamic Summit held in Istanbul on 14-15 March 2016 and the 42nd Session of the Council of Foreign Ministers held in Kuwait on 27-28 May 2015.
4. The meeting condemned the Syrian regime for stepping up military operations and aerial bombing through systematic and arbitrary use of barrel bombs and incendiary materials and heavy bunker-buster bombs in residential areas, continued ground operations across Syria and reported use of chemical weapons, crimes committed against unarmed civilians, particularly in the city of Aleppo, which led to the death and injury of hundreds of civilians and the aggravation of the humanitarian situation in the city. It also condemned the heinous assaults on hospitals, health facilities, water plants, schools, and humanitarian convoys and the continued use of siege and starvation and forced displacement as a tactic of war, which are considered as war crimes for which the Syrian regime must be held accountable and the Russian Federation and other states supporting the regime must be held responsible for the continuation of these violations, as such massacres and crimes constitute serious violations of the UN Charter, the OIC Charter, the international low and international humanitarian law.
5. The meeting stressed the need for the Security Council to assume its responsibilities under the UN Charter, through the implementation of its resolutions on the situation in Syria, calling for the implementation of the ceasefire, for putting an end to hostilities and providing humanitarian aid. It further called on the international parties having pledged to impose a cessation of hostilities and consolidate the humanitarian truce for rapid intervention to stop the killings to which residential areas are subjected, lift the blockade on besieged civilians while providing protection to them and to children, women and to Syrian civilians in general as well as humanitarian workers, and withdraw foreign militia, particularly from the city of Aleppo or provide safe corridors to civilians and impose an immediate humanitarian ceasefire at least for sufficient time.
6. The meeting called on the UN General Assembly to shoulder its responsibility in line with the provisions of the UN Charter, should the UN Security Council continue its failure to fulfill its duty in the maintenance of international peace and security in Syria
7. The meeting underlined the need for the peaceful resolution of the Syrian crisis through the resumption of the negotiating process within the framework of the implementation of the Geneva Declaration 1 and relevant Security Council resolutions.
8. The Meeting reiterated the commitment of the OIC and its Member States to fight and eradicate terrorism. It stressed the importance of international cooperation to combat terrorism and extremist thought, particularly in Syria. It condemned the gross and systematic violations of human rights, international humanitarian law and despicable terrorist crimes perpetrated by the Daesh and Al-Nusra Front terrorist organizations in Syria. It affirmed the need to isolate and separate terrorist organizations on the field, in accordance with relevant resolutions of the Security Council.
9. The meeting called for the implementation of Security Council Resolutions in particular resolutions 2254 and 2268 in order to reinstate the cessation of hostilities in all parts of Syria, and resolutions 2139 and 2191 on the provision of unhindered humanitarian aid to Syrian civilians. It urged Member States and the Humanitarian Department at the General Secretariat as well as civil society organizations active in the humanitarian field, to provide urgent humanitarian assistance to all Syrian refugees and displaced persons and to the countries hosting refugees.
10. The Meeting expressed support for the commission of inquiry set up on 19 September 2016 by the UN Secretary General on the attack against the humanitarian aid convoy carrying aid to Aleppo. It stressed that the Security Council will, in the light of the outcome reached by the commission, determine the responsibility of the perpetrators of the attack which is a grave violation of international humanitarian law.
11. The Meeting called on the Permanent Representatives of the OIC Group in New York to convene and follow-up on the humanitarian situation in the Aleppo.
12. The Meeting called on the Islamic Group in Geneva to coordinate with international and regional organizations, geographical and political groups, to urge the Human Rights Council to stop the gross human rights violations and systematic crimes committed by the Syrian regime and its allies against innocent civilians in Syria.
13. The Meeting called on donor States participating in donor conferences to support the humanitarian situation in Syria by expediting the payment of their contributions pledged previously in those conferences.
14. The Meeting called on H.E. the OIC Secretary General to work towards the convening of the meeting of the Executive Committee at the summit level, in the framework of implementing the resolution of the 13th Islamic Summit held in Istanbul to reconcile positions of Member States, particularly to end the war in Syria and other conflicts in the Muslim world.
15. The Meeting requested the OIC Secretary General to continue contacts with all international and regional parties concerned with the Syrian dossier, particularly international organizations and the member states of the Security Council, for the implementation of previous Security Council resolutions on Syria, in particular resolution 2254, and the adoption of a new resolution calling for a cessation of military acts in all parts of Syria, especially in the city of Aleppo, and to inform the UN Secretary General, the President of the Security Council, the President of the General Assembly and members of the Security Council, of the outcomes of this meeting.

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