Press release
Syrian Opposition Coalition – Syria
Department of Media and Communications
December 22, 2020
The Syrian Opposition Coalition (SOC) condemns the decision by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to award the so-called Syria Trust for Development the rank of international arbitrator during the elections of the International Evaluation Body.
The accolade represents an affront to millions of victims of the Assad regime’s war machine and an offense to the values of the international organization. Syria Trust for Development is a non-profit and non-governmental organization, but it is directly linked to Asma al-Assad, the wife of the head of the Assad regime, Bashar al-Assad.
Asma al-Assad is known to have showed unwavering support for her husband throughout his war against the Syrian people. She is also on the Western sanctions list in response to her financial support for the Assad regime’s war machine and her involvement in human rights violations.
The behavior of the Assad regime blatantly contravenes the UNESCO’s mission as it is destroying antiquities and cultural and human heritage, let alone destroying thousands of schools, and killing and displacing millions of schoolchildren and teachers.
The SOC calls on UNESCO to reverse this decision and deny the Assad regime any role in examining the nomination files submitted by countries for inclusion on the lists of human heritage.
Moreover, the SOC calls for stripping the Assad regime of representation in UNESCO and suspending Syria’s seat in the United Nations until it is handed over to the true representatives of the Syrian people.
