Good afternoon Mr. Chair and members of the committee.
I am the executive director of the Middle East Relations division. In keeping with the alphabetical order, I am here to speak to you about Syria.
There are frequent human rights violations in Syria. Unfortunately, they continue to occur today. By watching the news, we can follow the situation very closely.
Canada follows closely the deplorable situation of human rights in Syria. We condemned, in the strongest terms, the gross violations and abuses of human rights in Syria over the past five years, and in particular since the Arab Spring.
Canada repeatedly expressed grave concerns over the violence, including torture and sexual violence, and has called for an end to arbitrary detentions and enforced disappearances, and for greater attention to the situation of detainees.
Canada condemns in the strongest terms the unlawful, indiscriminate, and disproportionate attacks we see in Syria to this day, and all eyes these days are turned to Aleppo. The repeated use of barrel bombs and incendiary weapons in the Syrian conflict, as well as the siege and starvation tactics, are unacceptable.
Canada was deeply concerned by the recent findings of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. There's also a joint investigative mechanism there that Canada contributes funding to, and we strongly condemn the repeated use of chemical weapons by the Syrian regime and the use sulphur mustard by Daesh.
Canada made clear that it is unacceptable that civilians, including children, humanitarian and health care workers, and civilian infrastructures, especially medical facilities and schools, are deliberately targeted in this conflict. Canada is actively engaged in providing humanitarian assistance to the victims of the Syrian conflict, in Syria and across the region, and has consistently called for sustained humanitarian access in Syria, in particular in besieged areas.
Lastly, I want to emphasize that Canada is an active participant in international efforts to pave the way for a resumption of peace talks. Many activities in this area took place in New York last week.
I will be pleased to answer your questions.
Thank you.