This plea aims to achieve a political resolution to realise the legitimate aspirations of the Syrian people and facilitate the safe return of refugees.

Qatar has called on the international community to exert pressure on the Syrian regime to reignite and actively engage in the sessions of the Syrian Constitutional Committee.

This plea is aimed at achieving a political resolution under the Geneva Communique and Security Council Resolution 2254, to realise the legitimate aspirations of the Syrian people and facilitate the safe return of refugees.

The appeal was voiced in a statement delivered by Second Secretary Abdullah bin Ali Behzad of the Permanent Mission of Qatar in Geneva, during an interactive dialogue with the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic, as part of the 55th session of the UN Human Rights Council.

Qatar expressed gratitude for the Commission’s efforts to compile its report, highlighting the 14-year-long Syrian conflict marked by the government’s repression of peaceful protests, resulting in widespread displacement, loss of life, and the use of prohibited chemical weapons, which have endangered entire generations in Syria.

The statement stressed the collective responsibility to end impunity in Syria amid the ongoing grave human rights violations and atrocities against its people.

Qatar also commended the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for its ruling on November 16 last year, which mandated the Syrian government to take decisive measures to prevent torture and other human rights abuses.

The statement also reiterated Qatar’s call for sustained efforts to ensure accountability and justice for the victims.

Meanwhile, in May 2023, Syria’s membership in the Arab League was reinstated following more than a decade of isolation.

This topic emerged as a talking point in interviews with officials from Qatar, a staunch opponent of normalisation with the Syrian government.

During an interview with CNN in September, Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani reiterated that his country’s position towards Bashar al-Assad remains unchanged, and said the Gulf state does not “see anything that makes him eligible to come back to the Arab League.”

“We don’t want to break the consensus on the decision because at the end of the day one vote won’t matter and we try to explain our position, the other Arab countries have a different perspective than us, so we didn’t want to object to that decision in the session itself,” the Qatari top official, who is also the country’s foreign minister, said.

The bloc had suspended the Syrian regime in 2011 as a response to Assad’s violent crackdown on peaceful protests, which had plunged the country into war and brought on a major refugee crisis.

During the Arab League summit in May, Qatar’s Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani left the meeting ahead of Assad’s speech – his first such appearance since Syria was reinstated into the bloc.

The move was widely seen as a clear rejection of Assad’s presence in the regional bloc.

Sheikh Tamim also reiterated his vocal stance against the Syrian regime at the UNGA in September, slamming Assad’s chokehold over the country.

“It is not permissible to condone the gross injustice that has befallen the brotherly Syrian people as if it is its destiny. The crisis is still awaiting a comprehensive settlement through a political process leading to a political transition,” Sheikh Tamim said at the time.

Qatar’s prime minister echoed Sheikh Tamim’s remarks during the interview with CNN.

“His Highness just mentioned that in his speech, we cannot tolerate war criminals, we cannot see the Syrian people still suffering and we just give the government there a waiver to be normalised,” Sheikh Mohammed said.

The Qatari diplomat added: “We cannot reward someone for not implementing Security Council resolutions.”