Vice-President of the Syrian Coalition, Dima Moussa, welcomed with appreciation the efforts of UN Security Council members Kuwait, Belgium, and Germany, through a draft resolution that aimed first and foremost to protect the millions of civilians in Idlib from the military campaigns that the Assad regime is carrying out with the assistance of its Russian ally.
Moussa said that the Assad regime forces supported by Russia have committed and continue to commit war crimes and violate international laws by deliberately targeting civilians and civilian structures, under the pretext of presence of radicals in the area.
Moussa added that “the draft resolution specifically called for complying with international laws including international humanitarian law and international human rights law, and stated that countering terrorism does not absolve the parties of their obligations thereunder.” This part specifically disturbed the regime, and Russia rejected it wanting to include a language similar to that in UNSC Res 2401, which ultimately it used as a green light to carry out military operations that targeted civilians in Eastern Ghouta before forcibly displacing hundreds of thousands of them.
“We welcome the efforts by the member states that supported the draft resolution and voiced disappointment at the inability to pass it in blatant disregard for human life, international laws, and basic human decency,” said Moussa. She added “this is not surprising from a regime whose representative in the UN attacked with lies and accusations the member states that proposed the draft resolution.”
This was in reference to the regime’s UN representative responding to the representative of Kuwait with accusations of harboring and supporting terrorism and terrorist groups, following a comment by Mr. Mansour Al-Otaibi in which he expressed disappointment at the UNSC’s failure to shoulder its responsibilities towards the people of Idlib and Syria, by failing to adopt a resolution that is purely a humanitarian decision.
“The response we saw from the regime’s representative is exactly what we expect from a criminal regime constantly working to cover up its crimes by trying to undermine the efforts of any party that exposes them and calls out the regime on its crimes,” said Moussa.
“We have said it many times, and we say it again, we will not forget those who stood up for the Syrian people and who stand up to this regime’s attempts to undermine not only the political process but all international laws and human decency,” added Moussa.
She stressed that the position of Kuwait and other member states is a reminder that the Syrian people still have friends advocating for their basic rights in an international system that “is obviously broken and unable to maintain international peace and security as was intended when it was created.” (Source: Syrian National Coalition’s Media Department)
