Cancelling UNSC Session on Human Rights in Syria a Political Message to Western Countries Manipulating the Council

DAMASCUS, (ST) – Cancelling the UN Security Council’s session on human rights in Syria is an important political message to western countries which have been trying to manipulate the council, Syria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Bashar al-Jaafari has underscored.

In a statement on Monday, al-Jaafari said “what happened today is very important from the political side, because it shows that the Security Council is politically divided concerning the Syrian file.”

One of the important elements of failure to hold the session was the fact that the mandate of the Security Council doesn’t give it the authority to discuss and decide about human rights issues as this is the work of the Human Rights Council in Geneva, al-Jaafari added.

 “The attempt to hold a Security Council session today is a cheap move and a strategic mistake by the western countries, because it exposed the weakness of their calculations as permanent members of the council, and it also formed a defeat for three countries together, Americas, Britain and France,” he said.

The Syrian diplomat went on to say that western countries are trying to hold as many Security Council meetings on Syria as possible with the purpose of politically blackmailing the Syrian government and its friends at the council. This was evident in these countries’ repeated requests to hold Security Council sessions on the use of chemical weapons, on eastern Ghouta, on human rights and on the refugees situation in a bid to exploit the council’s mechanisms to pressure Syria and its friends, he pointed out

Al-Jaafri affirmed that the western countries have become desperate about attempts to exploit the council’s mechanisms to serve their agendas in the light of the presence of heavyweight friends of Syria at the council who are completely aware of what is going on and what is on the agendas of the western countries.

Today’s session aimed at investing the presence of the so-called Higher Commissioner for Human Rights who is known of his anti-Syria agenda, al-Jaafari said.

Earlier, the Security Council cancelled a session on human rights in Syria over its contradiction of the charter. The cancellation came after a procedural voting requested by Russia’s permanent representative at the Security Council.

Hamda Mustafa