YouSaid · the spoken record

Jaafari

lines on the record: 2,603
first: 2006-07-21
most recent: 2019-11-22
sittings or episodes: 185
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

“It seems that that syndrome is the exclusive property of consecutive United States administrations. Allow me to now think out loud and seek an answer to the question that concerns every Syrian. How long will Syrians continue to suffer from the terrorism that is being backed by Western Governments, which view the United Nations and the Security Council only as an iron fist to further their interests or commercial enterprises and achieve their goals. Governments of the force of law have committed every kind of unlawful act against the Syrian people and continue to believe that they can kill, destroy, deceive and prevaricate without any judicial accountability.”
2017-11-07 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8090 (2017) · source
“Such failed diplomacy is now being repeated in another pathetic scene, reminding the world of the fabricated claims that were made by Secretary of State Powell in a meeting that I personally attended in this very Chamber on 5 February 2003, when Mr. Powell submitted evidence that he called "[f] acts and conclusions based on solid intelligence" (S/PV4701, p. 5). He used those words to justify his country's aggression in Iraq, under the pretext that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction. It is truly bizarre that his colleague, Secretary of State Kerry, returned to this Chamber on 27 September 2013 to use that very same expression to mislead the international community and to justify an aggression in Syria at the time (see S/PV.7038). Secretary of State Kerry used the same words as Secretary Powell.”
2017-11-07 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8090 (2017) · source
“Sigrid Kaag, Head of the Joint Mission of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and the United Nations for the Elimination of the Chemical Weapons Programme of the Syrian Arab Republic, in her report to the Council that was submitted in June 2014 (S/2014/444, annex). My country considers the use of chemical weapons to be an immoral act that must be condemned, regardless of where, when and under what conditions they are used. This report's prefabricated conclusions are the final nail in the coffin, which exposes the real motives of the sponsors of terrorism. The degree that those sponsors have manipulated reality and the facts in this report is unprecedented, and far exceeds the manipulation that this Chamber witnessed on 5 February 2003 (see S/PV.4701).”
2017-11-07 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8090 (2017) · source
“Those reports' misleading conclusions were used by the American administration to attack Al-Shayrat air base. I call on members of the Council to employ logic and good judgment, and to seek clear and real answers to the questions that I have just posed, which have also been posed by other colleagues. Syria reaffirms that it abides by the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on Their Destruction. Since it exceeded to the Convention in 2013, it has possessed no banned toxic chemical supplies, as confirmed by Ms.”
2017-11-07 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8090 (2017) · source
“The report adds that "Medical experts consulted by the Mechanism indicated that the combination of the negative result in the blood and the positive result in the urine was impossible" (ibid). However,theMechanisminsistedthatthe aforementioned proves the use of sarin. It is scientifically impossible for sarin to be absent from someone's blood and present in that same person's urine - that is medically impossible. Despite all of those contradictions, the report acknowledges that the Mechanism's leadership did not make any effort to uncover the reasons behind them, even though the reason is quite clear - to manipulate evidence and information, in order to make accusations against the Syrian Government, as was the case with the conclusions of the Mechanism's former leadership in its third and fourth reports.”
2017-11-07 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8090 (2017) · source
“The Mechanism itself has stated that "the absence of a chain of custody relating to the munition remnants diminishes their probative value" (S/2017/904, annex, para. 58). However, that did not prevent the Mechanism from concluding that the incident was the result of an aerial bomb. Eleventh, from paragraphs 74 to 79 of the report, the Mechanism notes that there is a conflict between information and witness testimonies, as well as unusual and inappropriate measures that were taken. I would like to give just one example to demonstrate the degree of manipulation regarding the incident. The report states that "In sample No. 13, the blood sample tested negative for sarin or a sarin-like substance, while the urine sample tested positive for the sarin degradation product isopropyl methylphosphonate" (ibid., para. 78).”
2017-11-07 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8090 (2017) · source
“It is therefore likely that the party that destroyed the stock has kept part of it, because they cannot manufacture what our scientists are able to produce. That kind of DF is a strictly Syrian brand that only Syrian scientists can manufacture. Americans are unable to create anything like it, so they may have kept part of the Syrian stock that they were tasked with destroying in the Mediterranean. American scientists learn from our scientists when it comes to chemistry. Tenth, does the absence of a tailfin at the crime scene, as stated in paragraph 58 ofthe report, not indicate that a certain party manipulated the scene to create the impression that an aerial bomb had been dropped?”
2017-11-07 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8090 (2017) · source
“Ninth, paragraph 45 of the report notes that some of the evidence that was used to level accusations at the Syrian Government were samples of a precursor chemical, known as methylphosphonyl difluoride (DF), from the original stock from the Syrian Arab Republic. I ask the leadership of the Mechanism: Why does it insist on misleading those who read the report by giving the impression that that sample is as reliable as a DNA sample, and that it can be manufactured only by the Syrian Government? Any specialized Western laboratory could manufacture such a sample. Are Syrian scientists the only ones able to create the DF precursor? Can it be manufactured only in Syria? I would like to remind members of the Council that the Syrian chemical stock was destroyed on-board the United States vessel MV Cape Ray, in the Mediterranean.”
2017-11-07 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8090 (2017) · source
“An expert stated that it was possible, and the Mechanism immediately latched onto that assertion without challenging it. Eighth, paragraph 41 of the report states, "The Mechanism also examined whether an improvised explosive device could have caused the crater. While that possibility could not be completely ruled out...". Would the Mechanism's leadership explain how it does not dismiss the fact that the crater could have been caused by an improvised explosive device, while also stating that it is confident that the crater was caused by the impact of an aerial bomb? How do we reconcile those two assertions? On the one hand, they say that the crater could have been caused by an improvised explosive device, yet on the other they say that the crater was caused by an aerial bomb.”
2017-11-07 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8090 (2017) · source
“Seventh, paragraph 30 of the report notes that the Mechanism had received information about an aircraft that was located 5 kilometres of Khan Shaykhun. It states that the expert it consulted concluded that, depending on a number of variables, such as altitude, speed and flight path taken, it would be possible for such an aerial bomb to be dropped on the town from the aforementioned distance. Despite the fact that, from a technical perspective, it is impossible for a Su-22 to deliver a strike to the town, according to the flight path determined by the Mechanism, the expert consulted by the Mechanism used a conniving, misleading and inconclusive expression. He stated that it would be possible to deliver a strike - and here we go back to the words "unlikely" and "likely" - and the Mechanism rushed to adopt that conclusion.”
2017-11-07 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8090 (2017) · source
“If the sponsors of that terrorist organization had nothing to hide, would it not have been better for them to facilitate the investigation and prevent the crime scene from being compromised? Sixth, why did the JIM. not collect samples from the Al-Shayrat air base, which the United States Administration claimed was the launch point of the chemical attack? It is an interesting paradox that Mr. Mulet himself told me that he decided not to go to Khan Shaykhun, and that it was not within the Mechanism's mandate to take samples from the Al-Shayrat air base. I ask the members ofthe Council an important question: What could have caused Mr. Mulet to make those serious decisions, which would affect the credibility of the Mechanism's conclusions? All of those questions would surely have caused Britain's Alfred Hitchcock to be outraged.”
2017-11-07 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8090 (2017) · source
“In that regard, I would like to recall that there is a pattern of not visiting the crime scene, which is nothing new to the Mechanism. To date, the United Nations has not acquiesced to the request made by the Syrian Government on 22 June 2013 to investigate the crime of the use by terrorist armed groups of chemical weapons in Khan Al-Asal, despite the fact that former Secretary-General, Mr. Ban Ki-moon, had sent Mr. Sellstrom to investigate. Five years have passed - I repeat, five years - and the Khan Al-Asal incident has not been investigated. Fifth, why did the Al-Nusra Front, which controls Khan Shaykhun, rush to cover the crater with asphalt, and why did it tamper with the crime scene?”
2017-11-07 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8090 (2017) · source
“The only party that benefits is the terrorist Al-Nusra Front, and the Governments of the States that level accusations at the Syrian Government, whose goal is to obstruct the progress of the Syrian army against terrorists who have been genetically modified into moderate terrorists, as their sponsors like to call them. Some believe that the Al-Nusra Front is a moderate terrorist organization. Fourth, why did the Fact-finding Mission and the JIM. not visit the crime scene in Khan Shaykhun? Can a crime be investigated remotely, like a PlaySation game, without visiting the scene of the crime? Let us bear in mind that, as stated by my colleague of the Russian Federation, the United Nations Department of Safety and Security confirmed the possibility of conducting such a visit.”
2017-11-07 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8090 (2017) · source
“Third, paragraph 9 of annex II of the report notes that, on 21 March, the Al-Nusra Front and its affiliate groups launched an offensive against forces of the Syrian Arab Republic in the direction of Hama city. The report states that, by 3 April, the Syrian army regained control of and moved deeper into areas that had been lost. That means that it occurred until one day before the Khan Shaykhun incident - just one day. My question to everyone is this. If the Syrian army was achieving decisive victories, as the report states, and was at the gates of Khan Shaykhun, which was under the control of the terrorist Al-Nusra Front, just one day before the incident took place, why stage a crime with such well-known repercussions? Why would chemical agents be used? Who would truly benefit from it?”
2017-11-07 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8090 (2017) · source
“The report therefore candidly states that the Al-Nusra Front terrorists fabricated and transported the evidence to Turkey; that the Al-Nusra terrorists allegedly sent samples to the French, British, Turkish and American intelligence services, and provided false witnesses in the Turkish town of Gaziantep; and that the Al-Nusra Front terrorists also staged and manipulated then concealed the crime scene. In the light of such information, how is it possible for the Mechanism's leadership to be sure that the conclusions it has drawn, based on the so- called the chain of custody, were not manipulated by the Al-Nusra Front, which has been classified by the Council as a terrorist organization? The Al-Nusra Front is a terrorist organization and it has more credibility with Mr. Mulet than the Syrian Government.”
2017-11-07 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8090 (2017) · source
“Early on the morning of that day, 16 August, I met urgently with Mr. Mulet in his office at my request, in order to provide him with a copy of the Syrian national committee's report on its investigation into the Khan Shaykhun incident. Ipersonally informed him that he is the only United Nations official with a copy of that report. Second, on several occasions, the report states that the Al-Nusra Front is primarily in control of the city of Khan Shaykhun, including the crime scene.”
2017-11-07 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8090 (2017) · source
“Despite that fact, the JIM's leadership found no problem in using the word "confident" in its conclusions to point a finger of accusation at Syria regarding the Khan Shaykhun incident, despite the fact that the investigation was partial and ignored and manipulated the three main pillars of any criminal investigation.In that respect, I should like to make the following points. First, paragraph 54 of the Mechanism's report states that the Syrian Arab Republic has not provided the Mechanism with the outcomes of the internal investigation conducted by the Syrian national committee. This is what the paragraph says, and in that regard I would like to pose the following question directly to Mr. Mulet, who is seated right next to me, doodling. What are the documents that I myself handed to him during the meeting we had in his office on 16 August?”
2017-11-07 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8090 (2017) · source
“That is the state of the Fact-finding Mission and the Joint Investigative Mechanism, whose report we are discussing today. I will prove to the Council right now, with scientific and legal evidence, that the report is not neutral or professional and that its wrongful accusations against Syria are based on fabricated evidence and manipulated information. It has used sly remarks and ambiguous statements that no criminal report should use in forming its allegations. Let us refer to the report to count how many times the report uses the words "likely" and "unlikely" in discussing scientific evidence that must only be cited with certainty. I will save the Council the effort. Those two words "likely" and "unlikely" are used 32 times.”
2017-11-07 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8090 (2017) · source
“I can almost see him today observing the behaviour of the Governments of some States that proclaim their morality and declare themselves the guardians of respect for international law and the principles of the Charter of the United Nations, while they themselves practice policies that belittle those very same noble principles and misuse them in order to further their destructive and interventionist agendas. I can almost see Machiavelli here today, standing and observing the behaviour of some United Nations committees that are supposed to be neutral, professional and credible, while their work and reports prove that they are biased, politicized and immoral. They excel in using false witnesses, sources they call "open" and fabricated evidence.”
2017-11-07 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8090 (2017) · source
“Mulet to say that all the crimes that we sent him information about, and that have killed thousands of Syrians, are strictly a technical matter rather than a political one. His briefing was completely devoid of any understanding of the complex political scene in my country. The Mechanism's mandate cannot be strictly technical. That is not convincing proof. Machiavelli - who was from your country, Mr. President - said nearly 500 years ago, "Politics have no relation to morals". This is what was said by Machiavelli.”
2017-11-07 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8090 (2017) · source
“say that the information concerning the use by terrorist groups of chemical weapons and the smuggling of such weapons through neighbouring States - which was information submitted by my country's Government to him, to the Fact-finding Mission before him, to the counter- terrorism committees before that, to the Committee established pursuant to resolution 1540 (2004) before that, and to the Security Council as a whole, in 130 letters on the use of chemical weapons and their smuggling through neighbouring States by terrorist groups in Syria - is a strictly technical matter? We submitted 130 letters amounting to practically a book, from 6 November 2012 to 6 November 2017 - five year exactly. All of these letters concern the use of chemicals by armed terrorist groups in my country. Then comes Mr.”
2017-11-07 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8090 (2017) · source
“Mulet and the members of the Council is: Since when is chemical terrorism considered to be a strictly technical and non-political issue? Saying that the JIM's mandate is a strictly technical part of work to be undertaken in a complex political atmosphere, as my dear friend the Ethiopian Ambassador has said, is akin to some lazy students in school saying that focusing on physical education alone is enough to succeed in education, and that there is no need to study the rest of the curriculum. How can the head of the JIM.”
2017-11-07 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8090 (2017) · source
“Mr. Ja'afari (Syrian Arab Republic) (spoke in Arabic): I would like to thank you, Mr. President, for convening this important meeting. We would also like to thank our colleagues, who have clearly pointed out the shortcomings that beset the report under consideration (S/2017/904, annex). I note in particular Mr. Mulet's statement in his briefing to the effect that his mandate and that of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons- United Nations Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM) to investigate the incident in Khan Shaykhun is not a political matter. He said that it is not a political issue. The strange contradiction is that, in that same briefing, Mr. Mulet expressed his opinion that the use of chemicals in Khan Shaykhun was an instance of chemical terrorism. My question to Mr.”
2017-11-07 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8090 (2017) · source
“That must include Israel's withdrawal from the occupied territories in the Syrian Golan, Palestine and parts of southern Lebanon, to the borders of 4 June 1967, as well as the implementation of resolutions 497 (1981), 338 (1973) and 242 (1967).”
2017-10-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8072 (2017) · source
“That means that Israel is not only supporting Da'esh in the occupied Syrian Golan but also supporting terrorist elements inside Syria itself. It is supporting the Da'esh terrorist gangs in Syria. My country believes that the Security Council still shoulders a historical responsibility in rectifying its course and restoring justice. The goal that has brought us here every month for many years must take the form of immediate, necessary measures by the Security Council - if it is indeed keen to achieve peace and security in the region in order to end the Israeli occupation of Arab territories, including the Syrian Golan.”
2017-10-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8072 (2017) · source
“The world's suspicious and continuing silence in the face of Israel's policies and practices has encouraged Israel to continue to violate the Separation of Forces Agreement and the resolutions of Security Council. It has provided all forms of support to armed terrorist groups in the area of separation, including Jabhat Al-Nusra and Da'esh, and has facilitated those groups taking over sites of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force, thereby jeopardizing the lives of its personnel. In fact, groups of troops were kidnapped from the Fiji and Philippines contingents. Israel has continued to commit crimes by providing direct and indirect support to Da'esh and other terrorist groups and launching repeated attacks on the territories of the Syrian Arab Republic.”
2017-10-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8072 (2017) · source
“My country, as the Council is aware, is a key party in Security Council debates on the situation the Middle East, and we reiterate once again that Syria's sovereign rights in the Golan Heights, along the borders of 4 June the 1967, are not subject to compromise or surrender. All of our occupied lands and rights will be returned fully to their rightful owners - the settlers will have to leave our land sooner or later. We will not abandon our right to reclaim our occupied land and liberate our citizens living under Israeli occupation in the Syrian Golan, using all the instruments available under the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations and the principles of international law and the Council's resolutions.”
2017-10-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8072 (2017) · source
“Israel was to comply with resolution 181 (II), which provided for the establishment of the Palestinian State. It was also required to comply with resolution 194 (III), of 1948, which provided for the return of Palestinian refugees to their homeland. However, unfortunately, what happened afterwards was the complete opposite. The United Nations implemented half of resolution 181 (II). It allowed for the creation oflsrael in Palestine, but denied Palestinians their right to establish their State. It has also completely abandoned implementation of resolution 194 (III), which provided for the return of Palestinian refugees to their homeland. That served to compound the injustice suffered by the Palestinian people, whose destiney has remained under a racist occupation that is unparalleled in history.”
2017-10-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8072 (2017) · source
“The support, assistance and protection provided to Israel by certain States, including some permanent members ofthe Security Council, as well as the systemic and deliberate obstruction of the implementation of dozens of resolutions intended to end this brutal occupation, have led to Israel's arrogance in both the region and the Security Council Chamber. It has led to Israel's expansion and further expropriation of Palestinian Arab land and the perpetration of crimes, aggression and systematic violations of international humanitarian law and human rights law that could constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity. General Assembly resolution 273 (III), of 1949, outlined the conditions for approving Israel's membership of the United Nations.”
2017-10-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8072 (2017) · source
“Both experiences generated racist regimes, including in South Africa in what used to be called Southern Rhodesia. The United Nations did not seek to rectify the mistake of the League of Nations, as it did with many other issues. Instead, it continued the same approach with regard to Palestine and adopted General Assembly resolution 181 (II), in 1947, which provided for the partition of Palestine and the creation of the Israeli entity. That entity later enjoyed membership of the United Nations following pressure exerted by powerful States.”
2017-10-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8072 (2017) · source
“Mr. Ja'afari (Syrian Arab Republic) (spoke in Arabic): On 2 November 1917, almost exactly 100 years ago, a British colonialist declaration was issued unilaterally and without consulting the Palestinians - the landowners. The Balfour Declaration, adopted by the League of Nations, tried to legitimize that act by inserting into it what was referred to as the British Mandate for Palestine in 1922. We heard our British colleague this morning express the pride of his country's Government in issuing that Declaration, which is known legally and internationally as a promise from someone who does not own something to someone who does not deserve it. By then the League of Nations operated as a colonialist company, which replicated in Palestine the experiences of the East India Company and the British South Africa Company.”
2017-10-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8072 (2017) · source
“Either it must make concessions, or the situation of refugees and the so-called moderate opposition - which is genetically modified, as we told Mr. De Mistura - will continue. It is blatant blackmail. That is not how political solutions work; they must be based on our assistance as a Government, and not work against us as a Government and exploit the humanitarian situation to exert pressure on us. The meeting rose at 4.40p.m.”
2017-09-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8058 (2017) · source
“We have no desire to fight the United States, but we want the United States to change its erroneous policies towards my country. What benefit is there to Syrians if millions ofus remain outside the country? My colleague said that the Syrians have fled the practices of the Syrian Government, and I now say before everyone that the Syrian Government wants the host countries to return the refugees to our country. If millions of Syrians are to return with dignity, we must lift the coercive unilateral sanctions so that those millions can find work opportunities, manufacturing facilities and a dignified life, instead of keeping them in neighbouring States. As we have said before, the Syrian Government is being blackmailed.”
2017-09-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8058 (2017) · source
“There were, of course, aerial images captured by our ally and friend, the Russians. These satellite images reveal American troops and the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant forces exchanging locations without fighting. Helicopters transported Da'esh leaders to some unknown location. What I want to say is that the American and European conduct now and their attitude towards what is taking place in my country goes against all resolutions that the Security Council has adopted since the beginning of the crisis in Syria on the political situation in my country and on counter-terrorism. The United States Government must be made aware of and understand that we are a sovereign State, just like the United States itself.”
2017-09-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8058 (2017) · source
“On 21 September, the Syrian Defence Ministry and the Russian Defence Ministry announced that Deir ez-Zor would be liberated from Da'esh within a week and that our army was at the gates of that city. The Russian and Syrian air forces have eliminated 850 Da'esh terrorists in Deir ez-Zor. The terrorists have withdawn and the Syrian Arab Army has regained control of Deir ez-Zor and the surrounding areas. It is easy to imagine what happened next. The international coalition, led by the United States, ceased its operations in Raqqa, which is the stronghold of Da'esh, and pushed the so- called Syrian Democratic Forces, which it supports, to Deir ez-Zor, which our army was liberating. It is almost as if the Americans were racing the Syrian Army to reach Deir ez-Zor instead of fighting Da'esh in Raqqa.”
2017-09-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8058 (2017) · source
“Sixth, have we forgotten that the former United States Administration spent $500 million to train a mere 39 terrorists to liberate Syria from its ruling regime? Ultimately, those 39 terrorists joined Da'esh and the Al-Nusra Front with their American weapons. Seventh, who attacked the Syrian Army position in Jabal Thurdah, in Deir ez-Zor, on 17 September a year ago? Was it not the United States Air Force that attacked the Syrian Arab Army position in Deir ez-Zor that was protecting 300,000 civilians there from Da'esh? What was the result? The American attack on the Syrian Arab Army position in Jabal Thurdah allowed Da'esh to seize the position and attack Deir ez-Zor for an entire year. This happened again recently.”
2017-09-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8058 (2017) · source
“Can we forget the scandal of the invasion of Iraq and all the resulting afflictions in our region and in that country? Fourth, who asked and permitted the so-called international coalition forces to enter my country, and what is the United States military doing in parts of the national territory of Syria? Is there any justification for that? How can the sovereignty of my country be militarily violated in many areas, in a blatant and extreme violation of international law? What are American forces doing on our land and who asked them to come? Fifth, why has the United States Pentagon run an operations room in Amman since the beginning of the crisis in my country? Is it not to train terrorists and send them across the border to my country?”
2017-09-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8058 (2017) · source
“Mr. Ja'afari (Syrian Arab Republic) (spoke in Arabic): I apologize for requesting the floor once again. First, a scandal concerning WikiLeaks documents has revealed the intentions of the United States Government to overthrow the regime in my country since 2006. The WikiLeaks documents have been published in the United States, and the book is available on Amazon for whoever wants to acquire it. Second, in her memoir, Hillary Clinton confesses that it was the United States Administration that created Da'esh, Al-Nusra, Al-Qaida and others. Many books written in the United States and Europe have all pointed to the manipulation of Islamic political terrorism, particularly to undermine Governments in our Arab and Middle Eastern region. Third, have we forgotten about what happened in Iraq?”
2017-09-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8058 (2017) · source
“Its success therefore depends on establishing a genuine humanitarian partnership and measures that engender mutual trust and transparency between the Syrian Government and the United Nations. I hope that when the next report is published, the Security Council will be able to hear from representatives of United Nations agencies who are actually on Syrian territory.”
2017-07-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8015 (2017) · source
“I would therefore like to ask the Security Council, which is convened today to discuss the humanitarian situation in my country, Syria, to take every measure necessary to end the suffering of those two villages, which are under siege by armed terrorist groups seeking to commit genocide by shelling, sniping and starvation, similar to what we saw in the 15 April bombing of Rashidin, in which, Council members will recall, more than 120 women and children were killed. In conclusion, I must emphasize that the noble goal ofthe humanitarian operation in Syria is to save the lives of millions of Syrians suffering from the effects of the crisis and the terrorist war that has been waged on my country for the past seven years.”
2017-07-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8015 (2017) · source
“They have even refused to send these convoys to many areas that deserve aid and need help. They have focused on areas where armed terrorist groups are located and abandoned the regions where those groups are absent. For instance, the Fu'ah and Kafraya areas have both been under siege by the Al-Nusra Front and other terrorist groups for the past three and a half years. Despite that, the United Nations has stopped sending humanitarian convoys to either town - and I am talking about 7,000 Syrian citizens who are in need of that aid. That has been the case ever since the so-called Four Towns Agreement came to an end several months ago.”
2017-07-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8015 (2017) · source
“In this regard, the Government of my country stresses that the items that have been confiscated are either used for complex surgeries sent to areas where there are no hospitals and no specialized medical personnel to perform such surgeries, or that the number of civilians in those areas and the amounts of medical equipment sent to them are sometimes disproportionate. I note in this regard that the Syrian Government has sometimes responded to calls to evacuate the injured from regions considered by the United Nations to be besieged or hard to reach, removing them to Government hospitals where the medical infrastructure is better and they can receive the care they need. On the other hand, the staff of OCHA have procrastinated and delayed implementing the procedures they need to take in order to dispatch the humanitarian convoys.”
2017-07-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8015 (2017) · source
“We all remember that after the city was liberated, thousands of tons of food and medical supplies were discovered to have been stored in areas controlled by terrorist groups in eastern Aleppo. That scenario is happening again today in other areas, especially in eastern Ghouta, outside Damascus. In spite of all that, the authors of the report, shockingly, have apparently seen none of what has been happening in these areas, except what is negative and questionable, while turning a blind eye to what is real and positive. There have also been accusations that the Syrian Government has been confiscating medical equipment.”
2017-07-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8015 (2017) · source
“The report says that two convoys have reached areas that are very hard to reach, to the benefit of 412,580 families. We say that there were 48 such convoys. I repeat, 48 humanitarian convoys, not two as stated in the report. The report also mentions 11 besieged areas. The Government of my country reaffirms that terrorist groups are responsible for the siege of these towns. Those groups are besieging these towns inside and out, preventing access to them, using civilians in those areas as human shields, and denying civilians access to food, medical and humanitarian aid. In fact, they are selling those items to civilians at exorbitant prices, which many cannot afford. What happened in eastern Aleppo is still fresh in our minds.”
2017-07-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8015 (2017) · source
“To that end, my Government has sent many messages to the Secretary-General, the Security Council and the United Nations Office in Geneva, presenting statistics and precise figures on the humanitarian convoys, with the help of our national humanitarian partners. However, the authors of the report and the representatives of OCHA continue to tamper with those numbers under an agenda that seeks to pressure my Government and in fact blackmail it. We want to know how it is that the authors of the report speak of only two humanitarian convoys since the beginning of this year, when the facts and figures clearly show that 48 such convoys have been able to reach their destinations since the beginning of 2017. That is an enormous difference.”
2017-07-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8015 (2017) · source
“Should not those figures be included in detail in the monthly reports? Should not the United Nations take the initiative to pay compensation to Syrian civilians who have lost their homes, their farms, their factories and their schools, which the children who have been killed can no longer attend? Who will pay the cost of all the losses inflicted by this international coalition on Syrian power and water stations, dams, bridges and oil and gas facilities? The Government of Syria would like to ensure that the realities concerning the implementation of the distribution plan for humanitarian aid are clearly understood, especially for some of the more unstable regions.”
2017-07-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8015 (2017) · source
“I would also like to mention the massacres of civilians in the cities of Mayadin and Al-Bukamal in May. I would also mention attacks in the villages of Sur and Dablan, the region of Mayadin, the village of Ziban on the outskirts of Deir ez-Zor in late June, Tal al-Shayer on 19 June, Zayanat village on 4 July, and the village of Kishkish, in southern rural Hasakah province, on 12 July. Those are just a few examples. I should like to put a question to the authors of this report and to all of United Nations officials on Syrian soil. Are not these losses in human life, which run into the thousands, as well as the losses to Syrian infrastructure, which have cost us billions of dollars, the result of the barbaric bombings of the so-called international coalition and a cause of the suffering of the Syrian people?”
2017-07-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8015 (2017) · source
“That has allowed a number of families to return to their homes and to live normal lives. Does that cause concern to the authors of the report? Is it not something that they should instead encourage and even be positively involved in? With respect to criticizing the reconciliation, the authors of the report had no qualms about rejecting any direct accusation of the aircraft of the so-called international coalition led by the United States. The coalition uses incendiary weapons, causing the deaths of thousands of innocent civilians, as well as the destruction of infrastructure, including dams, bridges, hospitals, schools, development institutions of the Syrian people and the economic resources which it needs for reconstruction. I note in particular wells, and gas and oil infrastructure.”
2017-07-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8015 (2017) · source
“In that regard, my Government draws the attention of the authors of the report to the fact that the criticism of national reconciliation sends a message of support to terrorists and their financiers because this reconciliation is intended to end the suffering of millions of people who have been used as human shields by terrorists for several years now. The national character of such reconciliation is based on the following. We offer the opportunity to all armed persons to regularize their situation, surrender their weapons and either remain with their families in their homes or to leave the area included in the reconciliation agreement and relocate elsewhere. We have made this offer without the slightest pressure on the civilians living in those areas.”
2017-07-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8015 (2017) · source
“Moreover, those international and United Nations officials have affirmed that some OCHA officials encourage those agencies to not cooperate with the Syrian Government. OCHA seems to be saying that it does not need the Syrian Government in order to carry out its humanitarian work, as if the Office were working on another planet or doing its humanitarian assistance work on Mars. It goes without saying that this contradicts the obligations of OCHA towards the Syrian Government under Security Council resolutions 2139 (2014), 2165 (2014) and 2191 (2014).”
2017-07-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8015 (2017) · source