The UK statement was delivered by Ambassador Simon Manley, the UK Permanent Representative in Geneva, during the Interactive Dialogue with the UN Commission of Inquiry on Syria.
Here is the transcript of the speech, exactly as it was delivered:
Thank you, Mr President,
Thank you, Commissioners, for your important update today. You have made it clear – the situation in Syria remains dire. The Syrian regime and their Russian backed allies continue to systematically violate the human rights of Syrian people across the country. Indiscriminate attacks against civilians continue. Tens of thousands of people are still looking for their loved ones. Syrian children have been subjected to 11 years of violence, hunger and deprivation.
It is deeply horrifying that we continue to hear reports of the Syrian regime and their allies using sexual and gender-based violence in places of detention. Women, girls, boys and men have been subjected to rape, to sexual torture, and to humiliation. Enough is enough. This has to stop. Independent monitors must be granted unimpeded access to all detention sites.
Commissioners,
I would be interested in hearing your views on the effect sexual and gender-based violence has had on specific groups of people – for example to those belonging to the LGBTI community?