The Syrian Coalition’s legal committee sent a memorandum to the UN Secretary-General and the UN Security Council to protest against Russia’s refusal to implement UN Security Council resolution 2401. The memorandum stressed that Moscow had hijacked the UN Security Council as it continues to refuse to implement its resolutions and is committing more violations and crimes.
The memorandum, which was signed by head of the legal committee, Haitham al-Maleh, said that the Russian-led ferocious onslaught on eastern Ghouta did not stop despite the UN Security Council’s adoption of resolution 2401 on February 24, 2018. The resolution demanded a 30-day cessation of hostilities, the lifting of the sieges, the delivery of humanitarian aid, and the evacuation of the ill and wounded.
Instead of abiding by the UN Security Council resolution which it recently voted in favor, Russia along with the Assad regime and the Iranian militias continued to bomb towns and villages of eastern Ghouta. The bombings killed and injured dozens of civilians, including many women and children, the memorandum added.
The memorandum cited the Assad regime’s use of the poisonous chlorine gas on February 25 in the town of Shifoniyah in eastern Ghouta, resulting in the death of a child and the injury of 18 people, including children, women, and volunteers with the civil defense.
The legal committee stressed that announcement by Russian President Vladimir Putin of a daily five-hour humanitarian truce represents tacit admission that Russia is leading the onslaught on eastern Ghouta. It also said that the announcement represents a violation of the UN Security Council resolution 2401, adding that Russia has hijacked the UN Security Council which has become unable to maintain international peace and security.
Moreover, the committee emphasized that the Russian-proposed truce, which called on the civilian population to leave eastern Ghouta through so-called safe passages, is part of the plans for bringing about a demographic change in Syria. It said that Russia adopted these plans in favor of Iran as they are aimed at putting the people of eastern Ghouta in front of two options; leave or you will be killed.
The committee concluded its memorandum by calling upon the UN Security Council to confront Russia as a party to the conflict; enforce a comprehensive cease-fire across Syria; lift the sieges; ensure delivery of humanitarian aid to all those in need; ensure the release of detainees; refer the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court; and ensure the departure of all foreign Russian and Iranian-backed militias from Syria.
The committee called for action outside the UN Security Council to avoid a Russian or Chinese veto through the UN General Assembly under resolution 377 which was adopted in 1950 under the title “Uniting for Peace” or to take action through the Conference of Friends of Syria as it represents collective international will. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department)
