Syrian Arab News Agency S A N A
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Geneva, SANA – Syria’s Permanent Representative at the United Nations in Geneva Hussam Eddin Ala said that the report issued by the independent international committee on investigating human rights in Syria is politicized, biased, and lacks professionalism, as it relies on falsified information and misleading testimonies with questionable credibility.
Responding to the 8th report issued by the committee during a session at the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) on Tuesday, Ala said that the committee’s poor methodology does not show objectivity in depicting what is happening in Syria.
He said that the report relied on 480 interviews conducted outside Syria with people and sources that are known for their hostility towards the Syrian state, all while ignoring the daily suffering of milli0ons of Syrians in the country and their testimonies on the crimes committed by terrorism, including their testimonies about the mortar rounds fired by terrorists on residential areas almost every day.
Ala said that this methodology only leads to selective and biased conclusions that seek to fulfill a preset goal which accusing the Syrian government of violating human rights, stressing that the committee’s persistence in accusing the government while completely overlooking the crimes and massacres committed by terrorist group falsely labeled by the report as “opposition groups.”
He noted that the presence of representatives of certain states and sides in the UNHRC itself certainly won’t lead to reaching objective and credible conclusions and recommendations, adding that the report singled out the crimes of the ISIS terrorist organizations while ignoring the crimes committed by other terrorist organizations, which is hardly professional or objective.
“Isn’t Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist organization, which is classified in your report as armed opposition groups, responsible for tens of terrorist suicide bombings that claimed the lives of hundreds of Syrians, as well as the abduction of the nuns from Maaloula, other Muslim and Christian clergymen, around 50 UNDOF soldiers, and Lebanese soldier in Ersal?” Aala asked, noting that Jabhet al-Nusra was classified as a terrorist entity alongside ISIS by the Security Council, so how is it possible to classify it as an opposition group and how can silence over this organization’s crimes be justifiable?
He said that the direct complicity of Qatar with Jabhat al-Nusra is cause for investigating the arming and funding operations between them, and therefore investigating Qatar’s responsibility for the crimes committed by this terrorist organization.
Ala said that the key to understanding what is really happening in Syria lies in acknowledging the responsibility of terrorist organizations and the states supporting them for humanitarian suffering in Syria, wondering how the report fails to mention the role of some states in smuggling and stealing resources from Syria.
He also noted that the government provided UN organizations with reports and documents on the suffering caused to the Syrian people due to economic sanctions and terrorism, wondering why the negative repercussions of sanctions on the human rights of Syrians and their living conditions are being ignored.
Syria’s representative asserted that the entirety of humanitarian work in Syria is carried out within the country and via coordination with the Syrian government, with the World Food Program (WFP delivering food aid to 4.1 million Syrians thanks to the support of the Syrian government, something which is acknowledged by the Secretary-General’s recent report on implementing Security Council resolutions 2139 and 2165, saying that those who accuse the government of hindering the distribution of human aid in the committee’s report should refer to the aforementioned Secretary-General report.
Ala said that the committee, which is supposed to be neutral, should refrain from leveling accusations at the Syrian government’s forces, particularly ones related to the use of chlorine gas, based on reports and evidence dismissed by the committee in the past when the accusations were directed at armed groups.
He asserted that the persistence in accusing the government’s forces of targeting civilians in a methodical manner is an unreal and illogical accusation, as UN teams have witnessed firsthand how armed groups use civilians as human shields and hold them hostage, noting that this is proven by the fact displaced citizens always head to areas secured by the Syrian Arab Army when armed groups enter an area.
Ala said that continuing to issue such prejudiced reports against the Syrian government and relying on questionable information to reach conclusions while ignoring documents and materials provided by the government prompts Syria to reject the reports of the committee and its conclusions which overstep its jurisdiction, as these reports are biased, prejudiced, and serve the agendas of countries involved in shedding Syrian blood.
Hazem Sabbagh
