HIGHLIGHTS OF RESULTS HIGHLIGHTS OF RESULTS Peace and Security (PS) NO ONE UNAFFECTED BY SEXUAL AND GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE IN THE SYRIAN CONFLICT Preventing violations and strengthening protection of human rights, including in situations of conflict and insecurity Peace and Security in numbers 12 14 621 22 out of UN peace missions have a human rights component human rights staff serve in UN peace missions staff deployed for 10 emergency response missions supported by the Contingency Fund 2 Action for Peacekeeping (A4P)/ Declaration of shared commitments endorsed by “light team” deployments in situations at risk of serious human rights violations 151 4 Member States and intergovernmental organizations reassert the UN’s commitment to the Human Rights Due Diligence Policy (HRDDP) for all UN support to non-UN security forces New Gender Responsive United Nations Peacekeeping Operations Policy established in 2018 ensures human rights components include gender analysis and approach in all their work At least HRDDP implementation supported in 6 2 19 peace missions (MONUSCO, MINUSCA, MINUJUSTH, UNIOGBIS, UNSOS and UNSOM) and public reports issued by human rights components of peace operations (UNAMA, UNAMI, UNSMIL, UNSOM, UNMISS, MINUSCA, MONUSCO) highlighted the devastating human rights situations in regional frameworks (AU-UN Partnership on Peace and Security, and G5 Sahel Joint Force) 7 28 UN HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT 2018 “The officer took two girls, held their faces down on the desk, and raped them in turn. The girls tried to resist but there was nothing they could do. He then told me, ‘you see what I am doing to them, I will do this to your wife and daughter.’” This statement, given by a detainee of the Damascus Political Security Branch in Syria, was one of hundreds of accounts of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) that have taken place in Syria since the uprising began in 2011. For thousands of women, girls, men and boys, the conflict has meant even more than bombs, destruction of cities, life in inhumane conditions. The conflict has also brought sexual violence, including assault, rape and torture practices targeting genitalia. “It is utterly repugnant that brutal acts of sexual and gender-based violence have been perpetrated throughout Syria for over six and a half years,” said Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro, Chair of the Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic. Pinheiro spoke during the launch of I lost my dignity: Sexual and gender-based violence in the Syrian Arab Republic, a new report by the Commission. Based on 454 interviews with survivors, defectors, healthcare practitioners, lawyers and other members of affected communities, the report examines the use of SGBV by all parties to the conflict. The report also names and lays the blame for acts committed by the militia, government forces or other armed groups investigated to be responsible. “In this way, the crimes are documented Syrian women react as they flee their homes in the village of Tal Aswad, 5km north of the town of Afrin. © AFP/Nazeer al-Khatib and accountability can, eventually, take place,” said Commissioner Karen Koning AbuZayd. felt their fathers would no longer respect them if they found out about the rapes,” AbuZayd said. “For any lasting peace to hold, regardless of military losses and victories, there needs to be an accounting of the sexual and gender-based crimes...and the victims need to have a voice in the peace process to ensure accountability and full inclusion,” she said. Serena Gates, SGBV Adviser to the Commission, noted that despite the horrific nature of the accounts, she “never ceased to be amazed by the strength of many of these people and how they survive.” While women and girls are still disproportionately affected, the report shows that men and boys have also been routinely assaulted. The psychological consequences can be severe. “Some said they Gates hoped that the report, by documenting their acts, would help bring those responsible to justice noting how important it is for people to know that this kind of violence has an influence on the continued fighting. countries UN HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT 2018 29