Ambassador Sabbagh: The decision of the General Assembly to establish the so-called (Independent Institution for Missing Persons) is politicized and is blatant interference in Syrian affairs

New York (ST): Syria’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Bassam Sabbagh, affirmed that the decision of the United Nations General Assembly to establish the so-called “Independent Institution for Missing Persons in Syria” is another politicized decision targeting Syria. It clearly reflects blatant interference in Syria’s internal affairs, and constitutes additional evidence of the continuation of the hostile approach of some Western countries against Syria, led by the United States, which pushed a small group of countries that have no awareness of the actual reality in Syria to submit the resolution.

In a speech before the United Nations General Assembly today, Sabbagh said, “The United States of America has always presented a resolution within the framework of the Third Committee of the General Assembly under the so-called “the situation of human rights in the Syrian Arab Republic,” which constitutes a model for politicized  decisions that target specific countries under the pretext of protecting human rights in it, and a reference to the issue of missing persons in Syria was inserted in it, in order to open another targeting window through the establishment of a new politicized mechanism.”

Sabbagh added: The report submitted by the United Nations General Secretariat on the issue of missing persons and the discussions that followed were based on a selective approach in dealing with this issue, as it basically ignored that this issue was solely Syrian and that there was a need for consultation and engagement with Syria and then Syria’s formal agreement to launch the course of discussing this issue.

Sabbagh explained that the countries sponsoring the resolution bypassed these fundamental principles , and went towards establishing a strange mechanism with vague features, that does not provide any specific definition for the term missing.

Syria’s permanent representative to the United Nations stressed that all of the above confirms, beyond any doubt, the seriousness of the intentions of those seeking to establish it, which will be used as a cover to interfere in its internal affairs, and as a tool to exert more pressure on Syria and its people.

Sabbagh said, “Syria has not hesitated to deal with the issue of missing Syrians on the grounds because it is a Syrian national issue, and has dealt with all requests that have been registered about the facts of missing persons submitted to law enforcement authorities, and has conducted, in accordance with Syrian laws and regulations, independent investigations in this regard based on what it has of  relevant information and capabilities.

Sabbagh added, “Syria has formed specialized medical teams to deal with the issue of mass graves, and has trained, in cooperation with the International Committee of the Red Cross, Syrian forensic doctors to carry out the task of exhuming human remains.

Sabbagh stressed that Syria is keen to deal with this humanitarian issue, but it rejects the politicization approach that has been taken regarding it, and stresses that humanitarian issues cannot be fragmented, and cannot be dealt with selectively, as there are thousands of missing persons who fell victims to the acts of military aggression launched by the United States. There are thousands of missing persons who were kidnapped and detained by armed terrorist groups and separatist militias who are agents of the US forces illegally present in northeastern Syria.

Sabbagh concluded: “We are absolutely certain that the countries behind the establishment of this institution will not allow it to deal

with the missing as a result of these crimes.”

K.Q