Syrian Arab News Agency S A N A
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Geneva, SANA – Syria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva, Ambassador Hussam Eddin Ala, said that the results of the voting on a resolution regarding the situation in Syria at the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) reflects the division among its members regarding this issue and the growing dismay over the exploitation of the UNHRC by certain countries for achieving political goals.
Ala said that statements issued at the UNHRC by states like Russia, China, Cuba, South Africa, Algeria, and Brazil showed rejection of the selective nature of the aforementioned resolution and its lack of balance, as it attempted to lay the blame for the results of the current events on the Syrian government alone and ignored the crimes of ISIS, al-Nusra, and other terrorist organizations.
He noted that over a third of the member states voted against the British resolution, which is unprecedented at the UNHRC when it comes to the situation in Syria.
Earlier, in a statement during the session to discuss the resolution, Ala said that the draft resolution is full of contradictions, lies, and fabrications, and it constitutes a deliberate targeting of a state for political reasons, something which has damaged the credibility of UN organizations.
Ala had said that the U.S., Britain, France, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar who sponsored the draft are the very same states that support terrorism and instability in Syria, and that such resolutions seek to provide political cover for the violations committed by these states and their support for terrorism.
He said that Syria rejects the draft because its sole aim is to defame the Syrian government and ignores the crimes of terrorists that are labeled “moderate” by their sponsors, adding that talk of protecting civilians doesn’t align with ignoring the responsibility of states that supports terrorists, ignore the Security Council’s counterterrorism resolutions, and promote politicized reports that accuse the Syrian authorities.
Ala also criticized the attempts to discredit Syria’s success in fulfilling its obligations towards the chemical weapons treaty which were carried out in record time, stressing that this oversteps the jurisdiction of the UNHRC, and that accusations about responsibility for the use of chlorine gas contradict the results of the investigations conducted by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.
Syria’s Representative said the draft also ignores the impact of terrorism on humanitarian needs in Syria as well as the negative effect of the sanctions imposed on Syria, describing the draft as hypocritical and contradictory to the reports of humanitarian organizations which confirm that the Syrian government is cooperating to deliver aid to affected people without discrimination.
He went on to say that attempts to link the work of the UNHRC to that of the Security Council and the International Criminal Court is another instance of overstepping the UNHRC’s jurisdiction, and that interference in the efforts of UN Special Envoy on Syria Staffan de Mistura and attempting to railroad them to fulfill specific goals are unacceptable as they are attempts by certain states to supplant their Syrian people’s right to self-determination.
Ala said that in order for the UNHRC to preserve its credibility, it mustn’t permit states to exploit human rights to achieve political goal that serve their own narrow needs and plans, therefore Syria calls on the UNHRC to vote against the draft resolution and reject politicized and selective courses of action.
Hazem Sabbagh
