Strasbourg, 23 February 2012 - The Ministers’ Deputies adopted a decision supporting the statement made by the Secretary General of the Council of Europe on 15 February 2012 regarding the situation in Syria. They will readdress this issue at their next meeting on 14 March, in the presence of Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro, Chairperson of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic of the UN Human Rights Council, and members of his Commission.

In his statement on 15 February, Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland called on the international community "to agree on a united and effective response which would help to end the violence, protect human rights and facilitate a search for a peaceful political resolution of the crisis".

Secretary General reacts to the situation in Syria