Secretary-General of the Syrian Opposition Coalition (SOC), Haytham Rahmeh, slammed the visit that United Nations officials have recently made to Damascus where they met with officials of the Assad regime to allegedly discuss the impact of sanctions on human rights. Rahmeh stressed that the visit risks paving the way for re-legitimizing and normalizing a regime that is committing the gravest human rights violations against Syrian civilians.
Rahmeh said that the United Nations’ handling of many issues related to Syrian has negatively reflected on the Syrian people and further complicated the crisis. He lamented the UN’s failure to take firm steps to put an end to the Syrian tragedy in the early years of the revolution.
“The meeting of United Nations officials with ministers of the Assad regime represents a tendency to support the Assad regime instead of aiding the Syrian people who are suffering in the camps. The UN is ignoring the suffering of 1.8 million displaced people in the liberated areas by offering half solutions to their plight.”
Rahmeh warned of the consequences of the way the United Nations is handling the Syrian crisis while ignoring the political process outlined in UN Security Council Resolution 2254.
Moreover, Rahmeh denounced the United Nations’ ignoring of the war crimes that the Assad regime and its allies are committing against the Syrian people, and its re-engagement with the Assad regime under various pretexts.
He stressed that the Syrian people began their journey of freedom eleven years ago and made tremendous sacrifices, and that they will not give up their goal until they regain their freedom and dignity and build new Syria after the Assad regime is overthrown and held accountable for its crimes. (Source: SOC’s media department)
