Thank you to those constituents who have contacted me about the Saydnaya military prison in Syria. The UK is also extremely concerned about those being detained in Saydnaya.
The Government’s most recent assessment of the human rights situation in Syria labelled it as one of the most appalling in the world. The assessment listed multiple serious violations, including arbitrary detention, torture, sexual violence, and severe restrictions on civil and political rights, that continue unabated – many of which have been reported to occur in military prisons, including Saydnaya.
The UN Human Rights Councils most recent report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic could not have been clearer in its findings - grave violations of fundamental human rights and humanitarian law continue to be committed within Syrian prisons.
The UK is committed to ensuring that those responsible for the most serious crimes in Syria are held to account. It is for this reason that the Government has contributed over £9 million since 2012 to various accountability mechanisms and NGOs gathering evidence and assisting victims. The UK has also contributed over £14 million since 2012 in support of Syrian and international efforts to gather evidence and assist victims of human rights abuses and violations.
Moreover, when leaving the EU in 2020, the UK’s sanctions regime effectively paralleled the EU sanctions regime of 353 Syrian officials and entities. Since then, the UK Government has continued to review and add Syrian regime figures who continue in failing Syria and its people, such as Faisal Mekdad. As a penholder for the Syria Human Rights Council Resolution, which was adopted again in September 2022, the UK continues to use our leadership of the regular Syria Resolutions at the UN Human Rights Council, and our position on the UN Security Council to draw international attention to the ongoing human rights violations and abuses in Syria.
Due to the Assad regime’s atrocities against the Syrian people, the UK suspended all services of the British Embassy in Damascus and withdrew all diplomatic personnel from Syria in 2012. From outside of Syria, the UK works for a political solution that will establish a lasting settlement to the conflict and protects the rights of all Syrians. This Government is adamant that a UN-facilitated peace process, in line with UN Security Council resolution (UNSCR) 2254, is the only existing means to achieving this end; it consistently upholds this resolution and urges all other parties to do the same.
Ministers have assured me that protecting and prioritising the most vulnerable, including those in Syrian prisons, remains a Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office priority, just as ensuring that those who undermine the international system are held to account. The UK will continue to use its position at the UN Security Council to encourage a collective response to these gross human rights violations.
Thank you again for taking the time to contact me.