UN SECURITY COUNCIL ADOPTS A RESOLUTION ON EVACUATION IN ALEPPO (SYRIA)

Picture of airstrikes on Aleppo, from the article: End Abusive Invocation Of 'Self-Defence' In Response To Terror, published in Canada, with the following indication:"Smoke rises after U.S.-led coalition airstrikes hit DAESH positions in Aleppo, Syria"

Last December 19th, United Nations Security Council adopted resolution 2328 in which we can read that, unanimously,

"1. Takes note of the efforts to carry out evacuations of civilians and fighters from the districts of the city of Aleppo affected by the conflict; 2. Stresses that these evacuations must be conducted in accordance with international humanitarian law and principles and emphasizes that the evacuations of civilians must be voluntary and to final destinations of their choice, and protection must be provided to all civilians who choose or who have been forced to be evacuated and those who opt to remain in their homes; 3. Requests the United Nations and other relevant institutions to carry out adequate, neutral monitoring and direct observation on evacuations from the eastern districts of Aleppo and other districts of the city, and to report as appropriate thereon, to ensure further deployment of staff for these purposes as needed and demands all parties to provide these monitors with safe, immediate and unimpeded access"

(see full text in English and in French a the very end of this note).

The discussions took place among the Permanent Members since December 16th, with a French initial draft trying to force Syrian authorities to accept the presence of international monitoring and observers in Aleppo without their formal consent. In the text of the draft presented by French Permanent Mission we read that: " 6. Requests the Secretary General as a first step immediately to redeploy the United Nations humanitarian staff already on the ground to carry out adequate, neutral monitoring, direct observation and to report on evacuations from besieged parts of Aleppo, to ensure further deployment of staff for these purposes as needed and demands all parties to provide these monitors with safe, immediate and unimpeded access". As well known, the presence of an international body of observators in the territory of a State needs a previous consent of its authorities. On this particular aspect, France, supported by United Kingdom and United States, seemed to be extremely innovative, as it has been for many other other legal aspects related to the conflict in Syria. The Operative Paragraph 6 of the original French draft suffered some changes in order to be accepted as Operative Paragraph 7 (OP 7) of the Resolution adopted by UN Security Council unanimously: this OP 7 states that the Secretary General will have to act "in consultation with interested parties, to allow the observation by the United Nations and other relevant institutions of the well-being of civilians" (see final text adopted reproduced in English and in French at the very end of this note).As predictable, no mention of theses changes in official MFA French Communiqué de Presse celebrating the adoption of this resolution.

It must be recalled that UN General Assembly on December 9, 2016 adopted a resolution (see note on this same blog) expressing “outrage” due to the violence in Syria, particularly during what some observers consider the last assault in Aleppo initiated a few days before on the groundbattle. The first Operative Paragraph of this resolution stated that the General Assembly

"1. Demands an immediate and complete end to all attacks on civilians and civilian objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population, as well as an immediate end to all sieges in Syria, including in Aleppo; ".2. Also demands the immediate cessation of hostilities, as described in Security Council resolution 2268 (2016), as well as rapid, safe, sustained, unhindered and unconditional humanitarian access throughout the Syrian Arab Republic for the United Nations and its specialized agencies, and all humanitarian actors"

The UN General Assembly adopted this resolution by 122 votes in favour, 13 against and 36 abstentions and 22 "No shows" (delegates that, for some reason, are not present when the vote is registered). This vote at UN General Assembly followed another diplomatic battle at the Security Council that took place a few days before: a draft resolution on Aleppo situation (see text of the draft has been initially presented by Egypt, New Zealand and Spain. On December 5th, 2016, the draft resolution on Aleppo battle establishing a seven-days-ceasefire presented by France, United States and United Kingdom has been vetoed by China and Russia. Immediately after the vote, French Minister of Foreign Affairs stated that:

"The UN Security Council failed to adopt a draft resolution aimed at establishing a ceasefire and restoring immediate and unrestricted access to humanitarian assistance due to a new veto by Russia. In the face of an exceptionally serious humanitarian situation in Syria, marked by the tragic situation in Aleppo, France supported this text without any hesitation. I deplore the fact that, as a result of Russian obstruction, the UN Security Council is still not able to assume its responsibilities with respect to the civilian populations in Syria who are facing the destructive folly of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, as well as the terrorist groups, starting with Daesh. France has believed since the start of the Syrian crisis that the only way to put Syria back on the path toward peace and stability is through a political solution. On the contrary, military escalation results in deadlock which only serves to exacerbate the suffering of the people and fuel terrorism" (see official statement).



Text in English (Document 1) and in French (Document 2) of Resolution 2328 (2016) adopted by UN Security Council on December 19th, 2016

DOCUMENT 1

Resolution 2328 (2016)

Adopted by the Security Council at its 7841st meeting, on 19 December 2016

The Security Council,

Recalling all its relevant resolutions, especially 2139 (2014), 2165 (2014), 2191 (2014), 2258 (2015) and 2286 (2016),

Reaffirming its strong commitment to the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic,

Alarmed by the continued deterioration of the devastating humanitarian situation in Aleppo and by the fact that urgent humanitarian evacuations and assistance are now needed by a large number of Aleppo inhabitants, Recalling the need for all parties to respect the relevant provisions of international humanitarian law and the United Nations guiding principles of humanitarian emergency assistance,

1. Takes note of the efforts to carry out evacuations of civilians and fighters from the districts of the city of Aleppo affected by the conflict;

2. Stresses that these evacuations must be conducted in accordance with international humanitarian law and principles and emphasizes that the evacuations of civilians must be voluntary and to final destinations of their choice, and protection must be provided to all civilians who choose or who have been forced to be evacuated and those who opt to remain in their homes;

3. Requests the United Nations and other relevant institutions to carry out adequate, neutral monitoring and direct observation on evacuations from the eastern districts of Aleppo and other districts of the city, and to report as appropriate thereon, to ensure further deployment of staff for these purposes as needed and demands all parties to provide these monitors with safe, immediate and unimpeded access;

4. Stresses the importance to ensure the voluntary, safe and dignified passage of all civilians from the eastern districts of Aleppo or other areas, under the monitoring of and coordination by the United Nations and other relevant institutions, to a destination of their choice; stresses that in such circumstances, priority should be given to the most seriously wounded people and the most vulnerable and calls on all the parties to cooperate with the United Nations in this regard;

5. Demands that all parties allow complete, immediate, unconditional, safe and unhindered access for the United Nations and its implementing partners, in order to ensure that humanitarian assistance reaches people through the most direct route in order to meet basic needs, including the provision of medical care, consistent with the provisions of its resolution 2258 (2015) for the whole of Syria and respect and protect all civilians across Aleppo and throughout Syria; stresses that all parties must respect their obligations under international humanitarian law and, in particular, to respect and protect civilians and civilian objects;

6 Calls on all parties to respect and protect all medical and humanitarian personnel, their means of transport and equipment, as well as hospitals and other medical facilities throughout the country, consistent with its resolution 2286 (2016);

7. Requests the Secretary General to take urgent steps to make arrangements, including security arrangements in consultation with interested parties, to allow the observation by the United Nations and other relevant institutions of the well-being of civilians, as well as the full respect of international humanitarian law, inside the eastern districts of the city of Aleppo; notify the Security Council about these arrangements and to carry out the above mentioned activity immediately thereupon;

8. Further requests the Secretary General to report to the Security Council on the implementation of this resolution, including by the parties on the ground, within 5 days of adoption of this resolution;

9. Decides to remain actively seized of the matter.

DOCUMENT 2

-------------------Text in French of Resolution 2328 adopted by UN Security Council on December 19th, 2016 -------------------

Résolution 2328 (2016)

Adoptée par le Conseil de sécurité à sa 7841e séance,

le 19 décembre 2016

Le Conseil de sécurité,

Rappelant toutes ses résolutions pertinentes, en particulier les résolutions 2139 (2014), 2165 (2014), 2191 (2014), 2258 (2015) et 2286 (2016),

Réaffirmant son ferme attachement à la souveraineté, à l’indépendance, à l’unité et à l’intégrité territoriale de la République arabe syrienne,

Alarmé par le fait que la situation humanitaire désastreuse dans la ville d’Alep continue de se détériorer et que les évacuations d’urgence et l’aide humanitaire sont désormais nécessaires pour de très nombreux habitants,

Rappelant que toutes les parties doivent respecter les dispositions pertinentes du droit international humanitaire et les principes directeurs de l’Organisation des Nations Unies relatifs à l’aide humanitaire d’urgence,

1. Prend acte des efforts faits pour procéder à l’évacuation des civils et des combattants des quartiers d’Alep touchés par le conflit;

2. Insiste sur le fait que ces opérations doivent être menées conformément aux règles et principes du droit international humanitaire et souligne que l’évacuation des civils doit être volontaire et s’effectuer vers la destination finale choisie par les intéressés, et qu’il faut protéger tous les civils qui choisissent d’être évacués ou y sont contraints, aussi bien que ceux qui choisissent de rester chez eux;

3. Prie l’Organisation des Nations Unies et les autres organismes compétents d’exercer une surveillance adéquate et neutre, par l’observation directe, des évacuations des quartiers est d’Alep et d’autres quartiers de la ville, de faire rapport à ce sujet selon qu’il conviendra, et de s’assurer que d’autres agents seront déployés à des fins de surveillance s’il y a lieu, et exige de toutes les parties qu’elles donnent à ces agents un accès en toute sécurité, immédiat et sans entrave;

4. Souligne qu’il importe d’assurer le passage de plein gré, en toute sécurité et dans la dignité de tous les civils se trouvant dans les secteurs est d’Alep et dans d’autres secteurs, sous la surveillance et la coordination de l’Organisation des Nations Unies et d’autres organismes, vers la destination de leur choix, et insiste sur le fait que, en pareilles circonstances, il convient d’accorder la priorité aux personnes les plus gravement blessées et les plus vulnérables, et demande à toutes les parties de coopérer avec l’Organisation à cet égard;

5. Exige de toutes les parties qu’elles autorisent l’Organisation des Nations Unies et ses partenaires d’exécution à accéder immédiatement, en toute sécurité et sans restriction, condition ni entrave aux populations afin que l’aide humanitaire, y compris les soins médicaux, leur parvienne par la voie la plus directe et réponde à leurs besoins essentiels, conformément aux dispositions de sa résolution 2258 (2015), pour l’ensemble de la Syrie, et qu’elles respectent et protègent tous les civils présents à Alep et dans tout le pays; souligne que toutes les parties sont tenues d’honorer les obligations que leur fait le droit international humanitaire et, en particulier, de respecter et de protéger les civils et les biens de caractère civil;

6. Engage toutes les parties à respecter et à protéger tout le personnel médical et humanitaire, leurs moyens de transport et leur matériel, ainsi que les hôpitaux et autres installations sanitaires dans tout le pays, conformément à sa résolution 2286 (2016);

7. Prie le Secrétaire général de prendre des mesures de toute urgence pour mettre en place, en concertation avec les parties intéressées, des arrangements, y compris en matière de sécurité, afin de permettre à l’Organisation des Nations Unies et aux autres organismes compétents de s’assurer du bien-être des civils et du plein respect du droit international humanitaire dans les secteurs est d’Alep, de le prévenir lorsque ces arrangements sont en place et de mener à bien les activités susmentionnées sans tarder;

8. Prie également le Secrétaire général de lui faire rapport, dans les 5 jours qui suivent l’adoption de la présente résolution, sur l’application de ses dispositions, y compris sur la suite que les parties en présence y donnent;

9. Décide de rester activement saisi de la question.