MOSCOW, June 15 (RIA Novosti) – The Russian Foreign Ministry has described a resolution on Syria passed by the United Nations Human Rights Council as “biased” and said that it is an attempt to legitimize one particular Syrian opposition group.
“The resolution is biased and counterproductive,” the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement published on its website Saturday, adding that it placed too much emphasis on the role of Hezbollah militants fighting for Syrian President Bashar Assad. “It is directed against the Syrian government and ignores the crimes committed by the radical opposition… the authors [of the resolution] are not worried that thousands of trained, armed and well-paid terrorists hired from abroad are fighting in the country.”
The resolution was passed by the United Nations Human Rights Council, or UNHRC, on Friday with the support of 37 countries. Venezuela opposed the motion, and nine countries abstained. Russia’s delegation could not vote because it only has observer status.
The Russian foreign ministry also alleged that the resolution was part of an effort to give greater credibility to the Syrian National Council, a leading opposition group coordinating the insurrection against Assad.
“The resolution contains an attempt to legitimate the Syrian opposition National Coalition,” the foreign ministry statement said. “And alongside this it ignores many moderate opposition groups.”
The text of the UNHRC motion was proposed by Qatar on behalf of the United Kingdom, the United States, Saud Arabia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, Reuters reported. All these countries are seen as strong supporters of the Syrian opposition.
The resolution came just one day after the United States said that it would begin supplying arms to Syrian rebels.
Russia is seen as a strong backer of the Syrian regime, and has vetoed several Western-sponsored UN Security Council initiatives designed to pressure Assad into ending the use of force in a civil war that the UN says has claimed over 90,000 lives.