GENEVA, August 23 (Itar-Tass) — A resolution of the UN Human Rights Council on Syria is politicized and aimed at continuing to put pressure on the Syrian authorities.
This opinion was expressed in an interview with Itar-Tass by Russian permanent representative to the UN branch and other international organizations in Geneva Valery Loshchilin, commenting on the results of the voting, held by the special session of the Council on Tuesday. The resolution, motioned by Poland on behalf of 23 countries, was backed by 33 Council members, four, including Russia and China were against and nine abstained.
“The resolution is politicized, it aims at continuing to put pressure on the Syrian authorities and, of course, will be exploited by the opposition for further spiraling of violence and confrontation in the country,” the diplomat said. “This is dangerous not only for Syria, but also for the region as a whole, since Syria is one of key countries in the Middle East, and the situation as a whole will depend on how events will develop there.”
In Loshchilin’s opinion, the draft resolution could have been balanced if its co-authors, including the EU and the US, would have adopted part of amendments, submitted by the Russian and Chinese delegations. “They were aimed at showing that not only Syrian authorities are guilty of violating human rights, but all the sides, including the opposition.
“Regrettably, the draft resolution does not contain a call for a dialogue. We believe that all these problems inside the country should be settled by domestic forces, above all, on the basis of a political dialogue,” the diplomat underlined.
He noted that “the Syrian authorities were ready to demonstrate cooperation with the international community” and to welcome an international commission on investigation. “Although this was done at the last moment, that was a substantial move from Damascus,” Loshchilin continued.
However, according to the diplomat, though “our Western partners and the EU insisted precisely on this” when they received agreement, “this was not enough for them”.