YouSaid · the spoken record

Haley

lines on the record: 982
first: 2017-02-02
most recent: 2018-12-18
sittings or episodes: 124
sources: un-security-council

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“He works to save the lives of the Syrian people even after living through missile attacks and air strikes - even after being gassed at Khan Shaykhun. Dr. Morad does not stop; he does not give up. And if he is not going to stop, we must not stop. We must not stop working to rid this world of chemical weapons and holding to account anyone anywhere who uses them. We have done this before. We have committed to a world without chemical weapons. We have signed the treaties banning them. We have destroyed stockpiles. We have launched truly independent and impartial investigations to know who is responsible for using them. As Dr. Morad once said, "I do not care about politics". What he wants is for the world to speak out about the suffering of the Syrian people and for us to do our jobs and make the suffering stop.”
2018-04-04 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8221 (2018) · source
“We gave him what treatment we could, and tried to resuscitate him, but he did not make it." Even as he felt himself being contaminated by sarin, Dr. Morad did not stop. He was just one person, with almost no staff. The hospital had almost no medicine. Much of what was left had expired years ago. However, Dr. Morad did not stop. He did whatever he could to revive the unconscious and to clean off the toxic chemicals from their bodies before they died. He never ceased trying to save lives. Dr. Morad is a hero. He has made the journey to be with us today. I ask him to stand up. We salute Dr. Morad for his bravery, courage and determination to help any Syrian who is in need. Dr. Morad is here today to be an inspiration to all of us.”
2018-04-04 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8221 (2018) · source
“Nevertheless, he continued to save lives. In 2016, Dr. Morad ran out through the door of a hospital hit by an airstrike only to see the building completely destroyed by another strike moments later. Nevertheless, he continued to save lives. In 2017, a missile struck the entrance of the clinic where he worked. He was hit by debris. Nevertheless, he continued to save lives. On 4 April 2017, just after leaving the town's hospital, Dr. Morad saw the warplanes over Khan Shaykhun. He did what he had always done - he told his driver to turn around and to go back. What Dr. Morad saw was a living hell - one victim of the sarin attack after another kept arriving. He recalled: "A boy arrived gasping for breath, with foam coming out of his mouth and with pinpoint pupils. We washed the boy. We washed and we washed and we washed.”
2018-04-04 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8221 (2018) · source
“The United States also fully supports the International Partnership against Impunity for the Use of Chemical Weapons, initiated by France. Such efforts are vital. However, we must not forget that, while we sit here debating chemical weapons, there are people on the front lines in Syria who face the terrifying reality of those heinous weapons. Dr. Mamoun Morad, whom I mentioned earlier, is among them. A year ago, he was on duty in Khan Shaykhun, where the Al-Assad regime used sarin gas in an attack that killed nearly 100 people and injured more than 500 others. Dr. Morad is a humanitarian. He saw that his countrymen were in need. He risked everything, including his own life, to help save others. Dr. Morad is no stranger to working under the toughest circumstances. In 2015, the hospital where he worked was struck by a missile.”
2018-04-04 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8221 (2018) · source
“No one wants to live in fear that a colourless and shapeless gas will suddenly seep into their lungs and leave them gasping for air. If we do not act and do not stop and change the course, that is the world that we could be fast approaching. Even as the Security Council has remained deadlocked, some have stood up to demand accountability for the use of chemical weapons. The General Assembly overwhelmingly endorsed the establishment of the International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism to Assist in the Investigation and Prosecution of Persons Responsible for the Most Serious Crimes under International Law Committed in the Syrian Arab Republic since March 2011, which is collecting evidence for future prosecutions.”
2018-04-04 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8221 (2018) · source
“In only the past few weeks, when the regime seized eastern Ghouta, there were credible reports of chlorine gas attacks. It is a sad fact that just a few years ago, a single chemical weapons attack would have united us in shock and anger. That would have been enough for us to take immediate action. We now have a regime that uses chemical weapons practically every second week. Our lack of action has consequences. When we let one regime off the hook, others take notice. The use of nerve agents in Salisbury and in Kuala Lumpur is testament to that point and reveals a dangerous trend. We are rapidly sliding backwards and moving back into a world that we thought we had left. No one wants to live in a world where chemical weapons are used.”
2018-04-04 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8221 (2018) · source
“The United Nations found definitively that the Al-Assad regime, as well as the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, had been responsible for such use. Once again, we dared to believe that, despite all our differences over Syria, the consensus against the use of chemical weapons by anyone would persist. Of course, we know what happened next. The Al-Assad regime continued to use chemical weapons against the Syrian people. One member of the Council shielded the Al-Assad regime from any consequences, and then prevented us from renewing the mandate of the Joint Investigative Mechanism. Our consensus broke down. Today, the world is a far more dangerous place because of that. The Al-Assad regime continues to drop chlorine bombs on innocent men, women and children.”
2018-04-04 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8221 (2018) · source
“Then came Syria. The Al-Assad regime used chemical weapons against its own people. In 2013, the world reacted with horror at the pictures of hundreds of men, women and children dead as a result of the regime's use of sarin on the outskirts of Damascus. Although we disagreed about almost every aspect of the war, we once again found consensus on chemical weapons. Our shared disgust led us to act together. In 2013, we adopted resolution 2118 (2013), which mandated the destruction of the Al-Assad regime's arsenal ofchemical weapons. In 2015, we established the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons- United Nations Joint Investigative Mechanism so that we could identify anyone who used chemical weapons in Syria.”
2018-04-04 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8221 (2018) · source
“Morad experienced, but the horror and the terror of experiencing the use of chemical weapons are exactly the same. Chemical weapons were first used in the First World War. However, over the decades that followed, an international consensus grew. The world saw the unique destructive power of such weapons and rightly turned away in disgust. As early as in 1925, the Protocol for the Prohibition of the Use in War of Asphyxiating, Poisonous or Other Gases, and of Bacteriological Methods ofWarfare banned the use ofchemical weapons in armed conflict. Decades later, the Chemical Weapons Convention banned their production, stockpiling and use. It was an unambiguous ban. We dared to believe that one day, chemical weapons would be something that we would only read about in history books. We dared to believe that we could banish the threat forever.”
2018-04-04 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8221 (2018) · source
“I gasped, choked and felt the extreme terror of a man who goes under in the water." This is the second account: "The situation is more desperate than I can describe. There are no words. It was like Judgment Day - the apocalypse. You just cannot even describe the scene. You cannot even begin to scratch the surface of explaining what happened. We did not have any protective equipment for gas." The first account is from the diary of an American soldier, Stull Holt. He was gassed on the First World War battlefield Verdun, France, in 1917. The second account comes from a doctor named Mamoun Morad. On 4 April 2017, he was one of the only doctors on duty in the small Syrian town of Khan Shaykhun. A hundred years had passed between what Lieutenant Holt and Dr.”
2018-04-04 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8221 (2018) · source
“We would like to congratulate you, Mr. President, and the delegation of Peru on your assumption of the presidency of the Security Council for this month. The United States stands ready to support you in every way possible. I thank Mr. Markram for his briefing. We often talk about chemical weapons. However, I am concerned that we sometimes lose sight ofthe human side of those attacks. I want to begin by providing some insight into what such attacks are like for the people actually on the ground who experience them. We have two different accounts. This is the first account: "Something hit me on the head I was dazed, knocked down I got several breathes [sic] of the strong solution right from the shell My eyes were running water and burning, so was my nose, and I could hardly breathe.”
2018-04-04 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8221 (2018) · source
“The Security Council, the Secretariat, regional organizations, such as the African Union, troop- and police-contributors and host Governments have to work together. As we move forward, we need to always remember why we deploy peacekeeping missions in the first place. We send peacekeepers to the front line to help those who have been victims of war and who have often experienced unimaginable atrocities. If we think about the people whom peacekeepers are meant to serve and keep them at the forefront of our minds, none of us should hesitate to do our part to make peacekeeping as effective as it can be.”
2018-03-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8218 (2018) · source
“The United States has long been the largest financial contributor to United Nations peacekeeping by far. That will not change, but peacekeeping is a shared responsibility. With shared responsibility comes shared burdens and shared cost. One country should not shoulder more than one quarter of the United Nations peacekeeping budget, and we look forward to a more equitable distribution of the budget among Member States. Moving forward, the United States will not pay more than 25 per cent of the peacekeeping budget. That is a cap required by United States law. We pledge to work with Member States and the Organization to ensure we make that adjustment in a fair and sensible manner that protects United Nations peacekeeping. All of us have a role to play and all of us must step up.”
2018-03-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8218 (2018) · source
“As part of that effort, we must intensify our work to eliminate sexual exploitation and abuse in peacekeeping. The Secretary-General took positive action to address abuses in the Central African Republic, but that behaviour is still happening. There can be no excuses. We encourage the full use of resolution 2272 (2016) authorities to end the culture of impunity, including in responding to allegations concerning the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the United Nations Mission in the Republic of South Sudan. All Member States need to support the Secretary-General when he takes action to make sure that peacekeepers meet the highest standards of conduct. Resources are important for peacekeeping, of course.”
2018-03-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8218 (2018) · source
“When a mission no longer support a political solution, we need to get the parties back to the table or ask ourselves: Should the mission be there at all? The United States strongly believes that we need robust performance standards and data-driven analysis on the performance of peacekeepers. The United States encourages the Secretariat to develop and implement a comprehensive performance policy that identifies clear standards, evaluates the performance of all personnel and includes measures to ensure accountability when those standards fall short. We need to develop a culture of performance when it comes to the peacekeeping operations at the United Nations. The people the United Nations serves deserve to know that when Blue Helmets arrive, they are qualified, appropriately equipped and ready to perform their duty.”
2018-03-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8218 (2018) · source
“We have supported responsible drawdowns of peacekeeping missions, most recently in Liberia, while pushing peacekeepers in Lebanon to actually use all of their mandated authorities to be more effective in carrying out their tasks. Yet, we still have a lot to do. A prime example is in Mali, where the Mission struggles to protect itself from terrorist attacks that have made that Mission the most dangerous peacekeeping assignment in the world. We have a responsibility to make that mandate realistic and achievable. However, when a mandate is no longer realistic or achievable, we need to change it and focus on addressing the most pressing priorities. When a Government stands in the way of a United Nations peacekeeping mission, we need to put real pressure on the Government to change course.”
2018-03-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8218 (2018) · source
“Peacekeeping missions need to support political solutions. They need host country cooperation. Mandates must be realistic and achievable. Missions need to have an exit strategy. And we need to be willing to change mandates when things are not working. Those principles do not reflect the narrow interest of a single Member State, but rather we should all agree that they can improve peacekeeping across the board. Every time the United States has looked at a peacekeeping mandate, we have gone back to those principles. We believe that missions are changing for the better. Missions are becoming more effective and more efficient. We reconfigured the Mission in Haiti to focus on police and the rule of law. We changed the mission in Darfur and downsized it to reflect current political and security realities.”
2018-03-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8218 (2018) · source
“Around the world, the Blue Helmet is the most instantly recognizable symbol of this Organization's mission. We send peacekeepers to take on some of the world's toughest challenges: protecting defenceless civilians, separating warring parties and helping to build State institutions where the rule of law is nowhere to be found. The Charter of the United Nations makes no mention of peacekeeping. No one thought of those kinds of missions when the Security Council first met, but when given an appropriate mandate and when properly managed and equipped, no one doubts that those missions can play an essential role in supporting peace and saving lives. That is why peacekeeping reform remains a top priority for the United States. When I arrived here, we laid out a few principles that continue to guide our approach.”
2018-03-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8218 (2018) · source
“I thank the Secretary-General for being at this meeting and for his commitment to peacekeeping. I also thank Chairperson Mahamat for his briefing, and I have to tell Ms. Toure that her advocacy and passion and the way she fights for the people is to be admired. It is inspiring, but it is to be listened to. She spoke of many truths today, and I think that we need to make sure that when those truths are spoken, they are acknowledged. It takes courage to say those truths and we should not let that courage fall by the wayside. We need to honour that courage by responding, and so I thank her for her honesty. I would also like to thank you, Mr. Prime Minister, for coming to preside over this important meeting on the future of United Nations peacekeeping.”
2018-03-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8218 (2018) · source
“This should be a day of shame for every member of the Council and it should be a lesson about what happens when we focus on fleeting displays ofunity instead of on what is right. For those who think otherwise, the people of eastern Ghouta deserve an explanation.”
2018-03-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8217 (2018) · source
“A responsible Security Council would recognize that the provision of humanitarian aid was never safe, unimpeded or sustained, and that there was no lifting of sieges. A responsible Security Council would express its outrage that at least 1,700 civilians were killed during a military campaign that it demanded to come to a halt - 1,700 civilians who should have been spared in the ceasefire we demanded, but who died on our watch. But we cannot. We cannot take those actions because Russia will stop at nothing to use its permanent seat on the Council to shield its ally Bashar Al-Assad from even the faintest criticism. And we cannot take those actions because instead of calling out the ways in which Al-Assad, Russia and Iran made a mockery of our calls for a ceasefire, too many members of the Council wanted to wait. That is a travesty.”
2018-03-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8217 (2018) · source
“Their deception, hypocrisy and brutality have overtaken the chance of a ceasefire in eastern Ghouta, and for that we should all be ashamed. If we were upholding our responsibility as a Security Council, we would adopt a resolution today recognizing the reality of what happened in eastern Ghouta. A responsible Security Council would condemn the Syrian authorities, along with Russia and Iran, for launching a military offensive to seize eastern Ghouta the same day that we called for a ceasefire. A responsible Security Council would condemn the Al-Assad regime for deliberately blocking convoys of humanitarian aid during its military campaign and removing medical items from convoys that attempted to reach eastern Ghouta.”
2018-03-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8217 (2018) · source
“That is the ugly reality on the ground in Syria today. Cynical accusations of bad faith from Russia will not stop us from speaking out, and their blatantly false narratives will not keep us from telling the world about Russia's central role in bombing the Syrian people into submission. Fifteen days ago, when it was apparent that the Russian, Syrian and Iranian regimes were utterly ignoring the ceasefire, the United States developed a plan for a tougher and more targeted ceasefire focused on Damascus city and eastern Ghouta. Despite overwhelming evidence that the ceasefire was being ignored, some of our colleagues urged us to give resolution 2401 (2018) a chance to work. Reluctantly, we agreed and put off introducing the resolution. Now, more than 80 per cent of eastern Ghouta is controlled by Al-Assad and his allies.”
2018-03-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8217 (2018) · source
“Russia and Syria's rationalization is that they have to continue to bomb in eastern Ghouta in order to combat what they call terrorists. That is a transparent excuse for the Russians and Al-Assad to maintain their assault. Meanwhile, from the very beginning, the opposition groups in eastern Ghouta expressed their readiness to implement the ceasefire. They told the Council that they welcomed the resolution. Russia's response was to call those groups terrorists and keep pummelling civilians into submission, while the people of Syria continue to starve. Last week, after Syrian civilians had spent years barely surviving, an agreement was reached to allow them to leave eastern Ghouta. Who brokered it? Russia. So we see the cycle being completed. The people of eastern Ghouta are surrendering.”
2018-03-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8217 (2018) · source
“How can that possibly be true when in the first four days after the so-called ceasefire, Russian military aircraft conducted at least 20 daily bombing missions on Damascus and eastern Ghouta, while the people of Syria remained under siege? The so-called ceasefire was intended to allow humanitarian access to sick and starving civilians. Russia even doubled down on its cynicism by proposing five-hour pauses in the fighting. It said that they were necessary to allow humanitarian convoys to get through, but Russian and Syrian bombs continue to prevent the delivery of humanitarian aid. Only after territory falls into the hands of the Al-Assad Government and its allies do they allow food and medicine to be delivered.”
2018-03-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8217 (2018) · source
“Russia voted for the so-called ceasefire in Syria last month (see S/PV.8188). More than that, Russia took its time painstakingly negotiating resolution 2401 (2018), which demanded the ceasefire. If we watched closely during the negotiations, we could see our Russian friends constantly leaving the room to confer with their Syrian counterparts. The possibilities for what was going on are only two. Either Russia was informing its Syrian colleagues about the content of the negotiations, or Russia was taking directions from its Syrian colleagues about the content of the negotiations. Either way, Russia cynically negotiated a ceasefire that it instantly defied. Russia even had the audacity to claim that it is the only Council member implementing resolution 2401 (2018).”
2018-03-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8217 (2018) · source
“In the 30 days since the Security Council demanded a ceasefire, the bombardment of the people of eastern Ghouta has only increased and now, at the end of the so-called ceasefire, eastern Ghouta has nearly fallen. History will not be kind when it judges the effectiveness of the Council in relieving the suffering of the Syrian people. Seventeen hundred Syrian civilians have been killed in the past month alone. Hospitals and ambulances are being deliberately targeted with bombs and artillery. Schools are being hit, like the one in eastern Ghouta that was bombed just last week, killing 15 children. Siege, starvation and surrender. I would like to ask my Security Council colleagues to consider whether we are wrong when we point to the Russian and Iranian forces working alongside Al-Assad as being responsible for the slaughter.”
2018-03-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8217 (2018) · source
“Ithank you, Foreign Minister Blok, for presiding over this meeting, and I thank Under-Secretary-General Lowcock for once again laying out the facts about what is happening in Syria. I also want to personally welcome Karen Pierce to the Council as the new Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom. I know all of us in the Chamber look forward to working with her. Today we have a very difficult subject to address: siege, starvation and surrender. That is the awful, unceasing rhythm of the Syrian war. As we meet today, the third step, surrender, is taking place in eastern Ghouta. After years of enduring siege and starvation, residents are surrendering eastern Ghouta. The terrible irony of this moment must be stated and acknowledged.”
2018-03-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8217 (2018) · source
“If we do not take immediate, concrete measures to address this now, Salisbury will not be the last place we see chemical weapons used. They could be used here in New York or in cities of any country that sits on the Council. This is a defining moment. Time and time again, Member States say that they oppose the use of chemical weapons under any circumstance. Now, one member stands accused of using chemical weapons on the sovereign soil of another member. The credibility of the Council will not survive if we fail to hold Russia accountable.”
2018-03-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8203 (2018) · source
“If the Russian Government stopped using chemical weapons to assassinate its enemies and helping its Syrian allies to use chemical weapons to kill Syrian children, and if it cooperated with the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons by turning over all information related to this nerve agent, we would stop talking about it. We take no pleasure in having to constantly criticize Russia but we need Russia to stop giving us so many reasons to do so. Russia must fully cooperate with the United Kingdom's investigation and come clean about its own chemical weapons programme. Russia is a permanent member of the Security Council. Under the Charter of the United Nations, it is entrusted with upholding international peace and security. It must account for its actions.”
2018-03-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8203 (2018) · source
“A growing concern in all that dangerous and destabilizing activity is Russia. Russia failed to ensure that Syria destroyed its chemical weapons programme. Russia put an end to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons-United Nations Joint Investigative Mechanism when it found that Al-Assad was liable for chemical attacks. Russia used its veto to shield Al-Assad five times last year. It has also provided cover for Syria at the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in The Hague. The Russians complained recently that we criticize them too much.”
2018-03-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8203 (2018) · source
“When our friends in Great Britain face a challenge, the United States will always be there for them. Alone, Russia's crime is worthy of the Council's action. However, this is not an isolated incident. The assassination attempt in Salisbury is part of an alarming increase in the use of chemical weapons. Last year, the North Korean regime used the nerve agent VX to publicly assassinate Kim Jong Un's brother in a Malaysian airport. In Syria, the Al-Assad regime continues to kill its own people with chemical weapons years after the Council adopted resolution 2118 (2013) to remove the threat from Syria's chemical weapons programme. When the Security Council created a mechanism to investigate chemical weapons attacks, the mechanism was targeted when it began to shine a spotlight on Al-Assad's role in killing his own people.”
2018-03-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8203 (2018) · source
“I thank my British colleagues for calling this important meeting. We are here today to discuss the use of a chemical weapon by one Council member on the territory of another Council member. Let me make one thing clear from the very beginning - the United States stands in absolute solidarity with Great Britain. The United States believes that Russia is responsible for the attack on two people in the United Kingdom, using a military-grade nerve agent. Dozens of civilians and first responders were also exposed. Police officer Nick Bailey was the first to arrive on the scene and remains hospitalized in serious condition. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Victims of that atrocious crime. No two nations enjoy a stronger bond than that between the United States and the United Kingdom. Ours is truly a special relationship.”
2018-03-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8203 (2018) · source
“However, we also warn that any nation that is determined to impose its will through chemical attacks and inflicting human suffering, most especially the outlaw Syrian regime, the United States remains prepared to act if we must. It is not the path we prefer, but it is a path we have demonstrated we will take. We are prepared to take it again.”
2018-03-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8201 (2018) · source
“Almost a year ago in the aftermath of the Syrian regime sarin gas attack on Khan Shaykhoun, the United States offered a warning to the Council. We said that when the international community consistently fails to act, there are times when States are compelled to take their own action. The Security Council failed to act, and the United States successfully struck the air base from which Al-Assad had launched his chemical attack. We repeat that warning today. We welcome all nations that will work together to finally provide relief for the Syrian people, and we support the United Nations political process that seeks to end the war in Syria.”
2018-03-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8201 (2018) · source
“If Russia, Iran and Al-Assad cannot agree to stop the bombing in that limited part of Syria for that limited amount of time, they will not agree to anything that is worthwhile. If they will not keep their word once they have agreed to a ceasefire, then how can we trust them? In the end, that is what makes the work of the Council possible: trust. If we cannot count on the members of the Council to honour their agreements, we cannot accomplish anything. If we cannot act when children are dying, we have no business being here. If we cannot save families that have not seen the sun for weeks because they have been hiding underground to escape barrel bombs, then the Security Council is as impotent as its worst critics say it is.”
2018-03-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8201 (2018) · source
“During the negotiations, the United States put all parties on notice that we needed to act if the ceasefire was not honoured. Members of the Security Council agreed. Now that day has come. The ceasefire has failed. The situation of the civilians in eastern Ghouta is dire. The United States is acting. We have drafted a new ceasefire draft resolution that provides no room for evasion. It is simple, straightforward and binding. It will take effect immediately upon adoption by the Council. It contains no counter-terrorism loopholes for Al-Assad, Iran and the Russians to hide behind. And it focuses on the area the Secretary-General has identified and that the world can see holds the greatest urgency for the lives of innocent civilians, that is, Damascus city and eastern Ghouta.”
2018-03-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8201 (2018) · source
“There are terrorists in Syria, but the Russian and Syrian regimes label anyone as terrorists who resist their absolute control. In the eyes of Russia, Iran and Al-Assad, the neighbourhoods of eastern Ghouta are full of terrorists. The hospitals are full of terrorists. The schools are full of terrorists. The Syrian and Russian regimes insist that they are targeting terrorists, but their bombs and artillery continue to fall on hospitals and schools and on innocent civilians. They have deliberately and with premeditation exploited a loophole they negotiated in the ceasefire to continue starving and pummelling hundreds of thousands of innocent Syrian civilians. They have made a mockery of this process and this institution. For the sake of the Syrian people and the integrity of the Council, we must respond and take action.”
2018-03-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8201 (2018) · source
“The bombing was so severe that the United Nations could barely unload the food the trucks were carrying. And in the past 16 days, there have been three separate allegations of chlorine-gas attacks. This is no ceasefire. This is the Al-Assad regime, Iran and Russia continuing to wage war against their political opponents. And there is another reason we know the Syrians and Russians never intended to implement the ceasefire: they planned for it. Over the past two weeks, the Russian and Syrian regimes have been busy labelling every opposition group in eastern Ghouta a "terrorist group". Why? So they can exploit a provision in the ceasefire resolution (resolution 2401 (2018)) that allows for military operations against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria and Al-Qaida.”
2018-03-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8201 (2018) · source
“In the past 16 days, over 500 civilians have died. Some reports put the death toll even higher. That is unacceptable. Thousands of Syrians are in desperate need of medical care. But none of the United Nations list has been evacuated. We have heard the conversations are ongoing with the regime to medically evacuate 25 people in the coming weeks. While those civilians should be rushed to medical care, we ask why it took so long. When will the more than 1,000 identified medical cases be evacuated? There have been almost no deliveries of medicine or surgical equipment, because the Al-Assad regime remove them from the United Nations humanitarian convoys. The convoy that made it to eastern Ghouta on 5 March had to navigate around constant regime airstrikes.”
2018-03-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8201 (2018) · source
“Today we see their actions do not match those commitments, as bombs continue dropping on the children of eastern Ghouta. Today we must ask whether Russia can no longer influence the Al-Assad regime to stop the horrific destruction of hospitals, medical clinics and ambulances and to stop dropping chemical weapons on villages. Has the situation in Syria reversed, and Russia is now the tool of Al-Assad - or worse, Iran? We must ask those questions because we know the Russians themselves have continued their own bombing. In the first four days following the ceasefire, Russian military aircraft conducted at least 20 daily bombing missions in Damascus and eastern Ghouta. The Russians negotiated the wording of the ceasefire down to the commas and the periods. They voted for the ceasefire. And they immediately disregarded it.”
2018-03-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8201 (2018) · source
“We attempted to work with Russia in good faith to end the violence in Syria. As a result, 16 days ago we came to an agreement. Russia cast its vote in favour of the agreement (see S/PV.8188). With that vote Russia promised its support for a 30-day cease-fire, as did the rest of the members of the security Council. With that vote Russia said that it too wanted to create the conditions for food and medicine to reach starving Syrian families. With that vote Russia told us it would use its influence with the Syrian regime to silence the guns in Syria. It told us that the Russians would themselves honour the ceasefire they voted to demand. With that vote Russia made a commitment to us, to the Syrian people and to the world - a commitment to stop the killing in Syria. Today we know that the Russians did not keep their commitment.”
2018-03-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8201 (2018) · source
“I would like to congratulate the Netherlands and your team, Mr. President, on having assumed the presidency of the Security Council for this month. I also want to thank Secretary-General Guterres for his briefing and for all of his efforts on behalf ofpeace in Syria Sixteen days ago, we sat around the negotiating table with our Security Council colleagues and agreed to a 30-day ceasefire in the brutal bombardment of civilians in Syria. The negotiations were long and difficult. Every minute we delayed meant more innocent people were killed. But the Russian delegation stalled and drew out the talks. They had conditions they insisted on before they would allow the killing to stop. The United States was reluctant to accept those conditions. But, in order to stop the killing in Syria, we accepted them.”
2018-03-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8201 (2018) · source
“Our goal with this resolution is clear. The Al-Assad regime needs to stop its military activities around eastern Ghouta, and for once allow humanitarian access to all of those who need it. We are deeply skeptical that the regime will comply, but we supported the resolution because we must demand nothing less. We owe that to the innocent people of Syria begging for help. In the days to come, our resolve to stand by our demands in the resolution will be tested. All of us must rise to the challenge of maintaining this ceasefire, just as we came together today. All ofus must do everything we can to make the demands of the resolution a reality. That is the only way to restore the credibility of the Council. The Syrian people have been waiting long enough.”
2018-02-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8188 (2018) · source
“We hope that the resolution will be a turning point, where Russia will join us in pushing for a political settlement to this conflict and take action to re-establish real accountability for the use of chemical weapons in Syria. Progress starts by adhering to the ceasefire with no excuses. After so many years of defying the Council's demands, the Al-Assad regime must change course. None of us should be so na'i've as to accept that the Al-Assad regime can continue indiscriminately bombing schools, hospitals and homes under the fake excuse of "counter-terrorism". Al-Assad's bombing must stop. The ceasefire must be given a chance to work. We look to the Al-Assad regime's backers, especially Russia and Iran, to address what the Secretary-General rightly called a "hell on Earth". All eyes will now be on the Syrian regime, Iran and Russia.”
2018-02-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8188 (2018) · source
“And after all of this time, hardly anything has changed in the resolution except a few words and some commas. The Syrian people should not have to die waiting for Russia to organize its instructions from Moscow or to discuss them with the Syrians. Why did the Council allow this? There is no good reason we should not have done this Wednesday, or Thursday, or Friday. We may not know the faces that we are talking about. We may not know their names, or these people, but they know us. And we all failed them this week. I guess there is unity in that. Today, Russia has belatedly decided to join the international consensus and accept the need to call for a ceasefire, but only after trying every possible way to avoid it. The resolution marks a moment of Council unity that we must seize and maintain beyond the 30-day timeframe.”
2018-02-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8188 (2018) · source
“And then yesterday, the Council sat around for hours, ready to vote, only to have Russia delay it again. Every minute the Council waited on Russia, the human suffering grew. Getting to a vote became a moral responsibility for everyone, but not for Russia, not for Syria, and not for Iran. I have to ask: why? At least 19 health facilities have been bombed since Sunday. As they dragged out the negotiations, the bombs from Al-Assad's fighter jets continued to fall. In the three days it took us to adopt the resolution, how many mothers lost their kids to the bombing and the shelling? How many more images did we need to see of fathers holding their dead children? All for nothing, because here we are voting for a ceasefire that could have saved lives days ago.”
2018-02-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8188 (2018) · source
“It is critical that the Al-Assad regime and its allies comply with our demand to stop the assault on eastern Ghouta and immediately allow food and medicine to reach everyone who needs it. All of us on the Council must do our part to press the Al-Assad regime as hard as we can to comply. But we are late to respond to this crisis * very late. On Wednesday, the Secretary-General made an emotional plea for an immediate ceasefire in Syria to allow the very basic necessities to get to the people. Kuwait and Sweden had a version of the resolution ready to go for a vote, but Russia called for a delay. On Thursday, in an effort to stall, Russia called for an open meeting on the humanitarian situation in Syria. At that meeting (S/PV.8186), 14 members of the Council were ready to impose a ceasefire, but Russia obstructed the vote again.”
2018-02-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8188 (2018) · source
“At least in heaven there is food." Another message we received yesterday which I think was relayed to Council members in the closed consultations, but which I think it is important to repeat again - was an emergency call from a doctor in eastern Ghouta, who said: "We have a horrible situation here. We are being targeted with all kinds of weapons, non-stop. We lack everything: water, food, medical supplies, shelter. This is a disaster. Everyone is just waiting to die." Today, the Security Council finally took a step towards addressing these devastating levels of human suffering in Syria. The United States wants nothing more than to see the ceasefire in resolution 2401 (2018) implemented immediately across the country.”
2018-02-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8188 (2018) · source
“I want to thank the penholders, Sweden and Kuwait, for their work, their sacrifice and their time in the negotiations. As we look at the negotiations, I think it is also important that we bring the Council some of the voices of the Syrian people in eastern Ghouta, who have suffered so much while waiting for the Security Council to act. A doctor treating patients in a makeshift hospital described the conditions she is facing: "We are mental and emotional wrecks. There is nothing more we can do. We are bled dry." In a haunting video, the doctor walks into a room with a crying mother as she says, "I am waiting for my son to die. At least he will be free of pain. I was just making bread for him when the roof fell in. He is going straight to heaven.”
2018-02-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8188 (2018) · source